Stop Discounting Your Commission—Start Articulating Your Value
Losing out on a couple of listing presentations can shake your confidence, and it’s natural to use your commission rate as the scapegoat. But before you start slashing your fees, ask yourself: Did you actually lose those listings because of your commission price, or because you failed to communicate your true value?
Most agents approach a listing appointment as a marketing pitch. They show up with a flashy, brokerage-specific presentation, talk about their marketing plan, and outline their pricing opinion. And while those things matter—hot tip: they aren’t actually what gets you hired.
Before you clap back with all the evidence of why this can’t be true, know that this is coming from someone who repeatedly wins listings—without being the agent who suggested the highest list price or the lowest commission.
Hear me when I say…
Sellers don’t choose an agent based on a list of services—they choose based on confidence and contribution to their bottom line and overall experience.
A Marketing Plan Is Not a Listing Pitch
Many agents make the mistake of believing that their marketing plan is their listing presentation. They walk in talking about professional photography, social media ads, and other levers for maximizing exposure. But here’s the truth: most sellers assume those things are standard. Your competitors are promising the same things. So if marketing is your main selling point, you’re not standing out—you’re blending in.
Listing strategy falls into the same trap. A solid pricing, market positioning and negotiation strategy is important, but again, it comes after a seller understands the value you bring to them. They need to believe in you first before they care about the details of your process.
What Actually Wins a Listing?
Sellers aren’t just hiring you to market their home. They are hiring you to:
✔️ Make them more money
✔️ Create an easy, stress-free process
✔️ Ensure their home sells for top dollar in a reasonable time
Your job in a listing presentation isn’t to outline what you do—it’s to help sellers see why hiring you is the smartest financial decision they can make.
The agents who win listings consistently know how to communicate this. They position themselves as advisors and strategic partners, not service providers. They don’t just list homes; they elevate the selling experience, remove risk, and maximize their clients’ returns. And they can clearly explain how.
Your Differentiator
On my team, Home Collective, we use a proven 4 part listing methodology that ensures our sellers outperform their competition. This is what I bring to the table—my unique, proven approach that helps sellers achieve better results. This is my differentiator.
What’s yours?
If you can’t clearly explain how hiring you translates to a higher sale price, an easier process, or a more successful outcome, you’ll always be competing on commission. And when a seller is choosing between three agents who all seem the same, they’ll default to the cheapest option.
But when you know how to articulate your unique value—when you can confidently show a seller why you’re worth every penny—you won’t need to discount your commission to win. They’ll see the value for themselves.
So the next time you walk into a listing presentation, remember: You are not just a marketer. You are not just a service provider. You are the key to your seller’s success. Own that, articulate it, and watch your business transform.
— Kelly Parker is a founding coach of The Helm, the founder of Home Collective™, and the creator and coach of Aligned Ambition. You can learn more about her here.