Get What You Want: 4 Steps
Do you know what these five things have in common? Houses. Marriage. Cars. Flights. Raises.
They all involve two or more people. They all require an exchange of some sort. And they all involve negotiations.
Being successful in negotiations is all about getting what you want. The car, the raise, the girl. But this isn’t all about ruthless selfishness. No. Successful negotiation involves something deeper.
Here are the steps you need to take to get there.
Step #1 – Build rapport with your partner
Because there is always someone else on the other side of the table when it comes to negotiations, that person needs to like you. They need to trust you if you want to walk away with what you want.
How do you get someone to trust you? Here are some tips:
- Mirror body language. Is your partner leaning back in his chair with his hands folded? Do the same. Is your partner standing with his hands on his hips? Do the same. Is he drinking coffee? Do the same.
- Look into his eyes. Shady and insecure people avoid eye contact. They stare at the ceiling, the wall or out the window, but rarely look at their partner. This will rob you of trust with that person. Who wants to deal with someone they can’t trust? If you are insecure, then they may try to take advantage of you.
- Mimic the voice. Is your partner soft spoken? Then lower your voice. Is he a fast talker? Then speed up your cadence. Does he avoid foul language? Do the same. Match speed, tone and flavor to make your partner like you.
Know Both Position and Interest of Other Party
Knowing your partner’s position is one thing. Knowing their interests takes the game to a whole new level. Let me explain.
Position trades in the mechanics of a negotiation: “I need a house. I only have $90,000 to spend.” Interest trades in the why: “I just re-located for a job in an economically depressed region of the United States. I have eight children and my wife has cancer.
You, as a real estate agent, are no longer trying to help them buy a house. You are trying to help them make life easier for this struggling family.
Take the time to understand both the position and interests of your clients and you can get what you want.
Get on the Same Page
Failing to reach a satisfying conclusion often occurs because two people are not on the same page. One is thinking about moving into the house right now while the other is crunching monthly mortgage payments and calculating annual taxes.
These two people will not come to a satisfactory conclusion unless they both get on the same page.
If you find yourself in this situation, seek to help that person on their level. Suggest that you will help them think through the numbers, and when you are both satisfied, then you both will talk about moving in.
Overcome Objections with Conditions
Even after all that hard work your partner may still resist closing the deal. One or two red flags still nag at them. You have to alleviate their concerns with a condition.
Fore instance, if your client is holding off on an ideal home (and you’ve already looked at eleven) because of concerns about radon treatment, instead of losing the deal, suggest something like this: “If we can convince them to pay for the radon test and installation, will you put in an offer right now?”
Conclusion
Negotiations are really not that hard. In fact, developing a relentless curiosity on the other person’s needs will actually make the negotiations fun. It’s sort of like figuring out a complex puzzle.
Leave a comment if this post was helpful or if you have anything you’d like to add. And if you like what you read, subscribe to the Real Estate Marketing Blog.
Related Articles
A Sly Negotiation Tactic to Get What You Want
Never Say These 4 Phrases When You Are Negotiating
Every real estate agents spends a good deal of time negotiating. It might be a little haggling with the buyers to go in half on a sump pump for a home or a full-blown, knock-down, drag-out fight with another agent over multiple offers.
Whatever the case and no matter how experienced you are…you can often sabotage your work with careless and silly mistakes.
Mistakes I’ve seen even veterans make.
It’s going to happen. You are in the heat of an exchange and out it pops. This is why you need to be aware and alert.
So let’s look at four phrases you should never use.
“Go to hell.”
It’s easy to get offended. Someone insults our hard work and out pops a snide comment that means nothing less than you wish they were dead.
You might be right, but the problem with this is you’ve just burned down that bridge between you and that other person.
If it’s a client…say good-bye to any trust or rapport you’ve built up with them. If it’s another agent…watch your back. You will more than likely have to work with that person again…and it might not be pretty.
“We’re getting close.”
Signalling to the other side that you are getting tired of the negotiation and you would love simply to come to an agreement is a nothing more than a white flag that says, “I surrender. Come pillage me.”
A negotiator who knows what he is doing will stall and ask for more concessions.
And since you’ve imposed this imaginary deadline on the negotiations you are going to feel pressured to give you because, man, you just want this to be over with!
Don’t do that.
Instead, give your opponent the feeling that you have all the time in the world to close things. Let him or her get fatigued. And when they say, “I think we’re getting close,” come in with your concessions.
“Between.”
Never offer a range–whether it is a price or a date–when it comes to negotiation. If you the person on the other is naturally going to choose the one most beneficial to him.
For example, if a buyer wants to know when he can move in, the wrong thing to say is, “Between December 2 and the 20th.” Why wouldn’t he choose the earliest date?
If a seller says that he would let the house go “between $505,000 and $515,000” any sane buyer is going to offer the lowest price. Using a range concedes negotiation ground without a return concession. Don’t do it.
“You make the first offer.”
Conventional negotiation wisdom always says that you never be the first to name a price. Let the other person do that. That way you understand their position and actually have an advantage.
It may be way higher than you expected…or it may be way lower.
Well, new studies are beginning to reveal that the first number has a way of grounding the conversation.
In other words, even if the number you offered is way higher than what the other person expected you may still get it because they now feel obligated to work around that number.
So, if you have the chance, be the first one to make the offer.
Leave a comment if this post was helpful or if you have anything you’d like to add. And if you like what you read, subscribe to the Real Estate Marketing Blog.
Related Articles
10 Must-Read Post on Great Real Estate Negotiating Ideas
Want the Sale? Then You Have to View Objections This Way
When it comes to closing sales, most real estate trainers will simply hand you a list of counters to the most popular objections. Or they may give you a framework that categorizes each objection in order to deal with the endless variations that objections can come in.
For example, they may categorize each objection as “objections on price” or “objections on lack of interest.”
The first approach is problematic in that, as I mentioned, you cannot possibly cover every objection. You will ultimately run into an objection that isn’t on your list, even though they are the most common, and you’ll be stumped.
The second approach seeks to fix that by widening the net. It’s designed to teach you to recognize objections on principle. But you still have to be somewhat fast on your feet to be able to respond if you aren’t familiar with high you are supposed to respond. The framework trainer will probably give you some counter-objection scripts to deal with each category of objection.
While these aren’t the only approaches in the real estate training world, they are the most common when it comes to real estate sales…and they are really incomplete unless you change your entire mindset about objections.
A bad real estate trainer will treat objections from prospects like they are walls that need to be brought down. Agents who practice this approach usually adopt an aggressive, even combative mindset…that’s because baked into this model is a view that real estate is about transactions and not relationships.
A good real estate trainer, on the other hand, will treat them as opportunities. He’ll see them as an interested prospect who wants to do a deal but has some concern he wants to take care of first.
Here’s how Charles Green describes objections:
An objection means the buyer cares enough about you and the sale to want to explore it with you. They’re telling you about a concern they have, in the hopes you’ll help them resolve it. Your enemy is not the customer; your enemy is disengagement. And an objection demonstrates that the customer is very much engaged.
When you get an objection, recognize it as an opportunity. If you and your customer can resolve it, great, you’ll get a sale. And if you can’t resolves it, well it’s almost certainly because it’s just not the right thing for your customer just now.
Amazingly, you get even more credit if you back out gracefully when your offer isn’t right. Your customer will be surprised, and appreciative. And you’ll increase the odds of getting the next sale, and the one after that.
Anyway, people vastly prefer to buy what they need from people they trust. So help them resolve their objections and be secure in knowing you’ve improved the long-term relationship–and your long-term sales.
Did you catch that in the first paragraph? Objections aren’t your enemy. Disengagement is. In other words, objections are signals that you have an interested prospect or client. That means you have an opportunity in front of you.
So next time you find yourself talking to a prospect, you can easily measure the level of engagement by the number–if any at all–of objections they raise. And, in the end, if you don’t have an answer for an objection, take the high road: admit you don’t know but promise to return with an answer. Then be faithful to that promise.
Leave a comment if this post was helpful or if you have anything you’d like to add. And if you like what you read, subscribe to the Real Estate Marketing Blog.
Related Articles
10 Must-Read Post on Great Real Estate Negotiating Ideas
10 Must-Read Post on Great Real Estate Negotiating Ideas
This finishes out our 4-part series I started on New Year’s Day that focused on the four critical areas of real estate success: sales, prospecting, listing and negotiating.
- 10 Must-Read Posts on Great Real Estate Sales Ideas
- 10 Must-Read Posts on Great Real Estate Prospecting Ideas
- 10 Must-Read Posts on Great Real Estate Marketing Ideas
- 10 Must-Read Posts on Great Real Estate Listing Ideas
- 10 Must Read Posts on Great Real Estate Negotiating Ideas
Today we’ll deliver 10 most-read posts on great real estate negotiating ideas. And don’t forget: take your time reading through these articles. It will only be an investment of 30 minutes, but if you can add at least $1,000 to your bottom line because of an idea you learned…don’t you think it will be worth it?
Enjoy!
10 Must-Read Posts on Great Real Estate Negotiating Ideas
How to Concede Smart and Avoid These 3 Mistakes
When it comes to making concessions in negotiations, here’s a good rule of thumb: If you are going to concede in the opening rounds of a negotiation, concede small. In other words, avoid these three mistakes… Read more.
A Sly Negotiation Tactic to Get What You Want
In football, when you want to give your opponent the feeling that you are moving in one direction but planning on going in another direction, you give them a head fake. That is, you lean your head in one direction… And once your opponent commits to that direction, you go the other direction. The same is true in negotiations. Read more.
How to Stop Ridiculous Buyer Offers
In the throes of a housing market meltdown, ridiculous buyer offers are abundant. Here’s an example… Read more.
Six Effective Ways to Win More Negotiations
A very rich man once said that getting wealthy wasn’t complex. There were just a handful of basics he had to master. The same is true with negotiations. Master these six rules of negotiations and you’ll stand to get win-win agreements nearly every time. Read more.
Nine Dead Simple Ways to Persuade People
“Show business is not hard. It’s all just basic Dale Carnegie stuff,” Jay Leno once said in a Selling Power magazine interview. Easy enough for Leno to say. The thing you should know, though, is that Leno’s back-of-the-napkin statement is supported by decades of smooth, polite and consistent relationship building. And nine easy-to-follow techniques. Read more.
5 Proven Tips to Help you Negotiate in a Buyer’s Market
Before the dismal collapse of the housing market, negotiation skills weren’t quite as important as they are now. In many cases, all you had to do was put the house on the market with a reasonable price and get out of the way. Things have changed. And won’t get better any time soon. Read more.
Why Breaking This Childish Habit Would Be an Ugly Mistake
It’s often not until your child is grown that you appreciate some of their childish habits. Take persistence, for example. If you have children, especially teenagers, you know that sometimes you may give in to their demands just to be able to get on with your life. The same tactic works quite well in the business world. Read more.
Negotiation Tips for the Obscenely Timid Real Estate Agent
Does the thought of negotiating make your throat go dry? Palms sweat? Heart hammer your rib cage? If so, you’re not alone. But don’t try to fix that and you will never succeed. Here’s what you need to do. Read more.
The Oldest Negotiating Trick in the Book
This negotiating trick is a timeless classic. It’s something Aristotle taught Greek lawyers in 300 BC. And it’s something lawyers are still learning today. What is it? Read more.
How to Create, Build and Protect a Fearsome Negotiating Reputation
What does Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla have to do with negotiation reputations…and fearsome ones at that? Well, it turns out a lot. Read more.
Leave a comment if this post was helpful or if you have anything you’d like to add. And if you like what you read, subscribe to the Real Estate Marketing Blog.
How to Concede Smart–and Avoid These 3 Mistakes
When it comes to making concessions in negotiations, here’s a good rule of thumb: If you are going to concede in the opening rounds of a negotiation, concede small.
In other words, avoid these three mistakes:
Mistake No. 1 – Equal-sized Concessions
If you have a negotiating room of $10,000, don’t give it away in increments of $2,500.
For example, imagine you are selling your house and your asking price is $270,000. You receive an offer of $250,000.
If you counter with $267,500 in the first round, $265,000 in the second, $262,500 in the third, imagine what the other person is thinking: “Hmm. Every time I push, I get $2,500. Why stop pushing?”
Mistake No. 2 – Huge, Final Concession
Let’s say you made a concession of $6,000, then one of $4,000.
You say to the other party, “That’s our absolutely lowest offer. I can’t give you a dollar more.” The problem is the other party has a hard time believing you won’t relent a dollar more when you gave up such huge concessions already.
He’s going to try for more, and when you dig your heels in, he thinks, “Why is he being so difficult? You just made a $4,000 concession and you won’t give me another $1000?”
Making this mistake has the potential for creating hostility.
Mistake No. 3 – Give It All Away Up Front
“Who would do a stupid thing like that?” you ask.
Problem is, people do it all the time. Someone calls and says, “My client doesn’t like to negotiate. So just give me your lowest price and I’ll give you a yes or no.”
Or an agent who looked at your client’s house last week calls and says, “We’ve just located two other homes my client liked equally well. Now we’re just down to the price. We thought the fairest thing to do would be to let all three of you give us your lowest price, then we’ll decide.”
Unless you recognize this ploy, you’ll panic and plead with your sellers to cut the price to the bone, even though the doors to a second round of bidding haven’t completely closed.
The Smart Way to Concede
Although negotiating this way takes time, conceding in small, irregular increments makes it more likely that you will end up with your objective price and both sides of the negotiations will feel happy about the outcome.
Did you find this article useful? If so, leave a comment. And if you like what you read, subscribe to the Real Estate Marketing Blog.
Related Articles
Nine Dead-Simple Ways to Persuade More People
The Two Most Productive Lead Generation Activities in Real Estate
A Sly Negotiation Tactic to Get What You Want
In football, when you want to give your opponent the feeling that you are moving in one direction but planning on going in another direction, you give them a head fake.
That is, you lean your head in one direction…
And once your opponent commits to that direction, you go the other direction.
The same is true in negotiations.
See, there may come a time in your negotiations where you hit a wall and need to break a stalemate.
Or you just want to see if you can get the seller’s to go lower to come in range with your buyers.
Or things have gone south and you’ve lost control of the transaction.
If that’s the case, then you want to give the impression that you are withdrawing the offer without actually doing so, roll out the “Withdraw the Offer” head fake.
Here’s How It Works
Imagine you are negotiating to buy a beautiful home for roughly $300,000. You’ve gone through several days of negotiating on many deal points.
Your client loves the house but the seller’s last concession was still $4,000 above what your client wanted to pay.
So you call the seller’s broker–with your client’s permission–and say that your client is going to have to withdraw from buying the house because he could not make the numbers work to his satisfaction.
You, however, are confident that neither the seller nor the broker would let a $300,000 deal go over a difference of $4,000.
Here’s the deal though: That may be the direction it does indeed go. There’s no guarantees.
But the worse that can happen is the other real estate agent says, “Sorry to hear that. Can’t go any lower,” at which point, because your client is willing to pay the difference, you can return, “Let me talk to my client first and make sure he understands what it means to walk away from this deal.”
How to Stop Ridiculous Buyer Offers
In the throes of a housing market meltdown, ridiculous buyer offers are abundant. Here’s an example…
Friend wants to sell his house for $215,000. Buyer wants to buy it. So he offers $185,000. And demands seller pay closing costs. AND throw in a home warranty.
Never mind the insulting low ball offer. The add-ons are absurd. In this case, the seller flat-out rejected the offer.
Sometimes though, buyers come across a little more subtle. Here’s what to do if you find your self in that position.
First, imagine this:
Let’s say that you have sold your client’s house, and the buyers agent asks you if his clients could move some of their furniture into the garage three days before closing. Although you wouldn’t want to let them move into the house before closing, you see an advantage in letting them use the garage. It will get them emotionally involved and far less likely to create problems for you at closing. So you’re almost eager to make the concession, but…
Before you do anything, remember this: no matter how small the concession someone is asking you for, always ask for something in return.
Say to them, “Let me check with the family and see how they feel about that, but let me ask you this: If we do that for you, what will you do for us?”
One of three things is going to happen when you ask for something in return:
1. You might just get something.
2. By asking for something in return, you elevate the value of the concession. When you’re negotiating, why give anything away? Always make the big deal out of it. You may need that later.
3. It stops the grinding away process. This is the key reason why you should always ask for something in return. If they know that every time they ask you for something, you’re going to ask for something in return, then it stops them constantly coming back for more.
Also, lean on the Higher Authority gambit to deflect pressure from yourself. That way you continue to position yourself as on the other person’s side and any negative emotion will be directed away from you. That’s one of the better ways to
Did you find this article useful? If so, leave a comment. And if you like what you read, subscribe to the Real Estate Marketing Blog.
Related Articles
Nine Dead-Simple Ways to Persuade More People
The Two Most Productive Lead Generation Activities in Real Estate
Take Advantage of This Psychological Buyer Quirk to Sell Any Home Now
Six Effective Ways to Win More Negotiations
A question I seem to get a lot lately goes something like this…
I hate to negotiate. But I’m a real estate agent. So, I have to negotiate. How does a conflict averse real estate agents not only negotiate…but negotiate to win?
The answer is simple.
A very rich man once said that getting wealthy wasn’t complex. There were just a handful of basics he had to master.
The same is true with negotiations. Master these six rules of negotiations and you’ll stand to get win-win agreements nearly every time.
1. Start with a Fair Price and Offer
There’s no question that significantly overpricing a home will turn off buyers. Likewise, making an offer that’s far lower than the asking price is practically guaranteed to alienate sellers. It might seem obvious but asking and offering prices should be based on recent sales prices of comparable homes. Make it reasonable. Make it fair.
2. Respect the Other Side’s Priorities
Knowing what’s most important to the person on the other side of the negotiating table can help you avoid pushing too hard on hot or sensitive issues.
For example, a seller who won’t budge on the sales price might be willing to pay more of the transaction costs or make more repairs to the home, while a buyer with an urgent move-in date might be willing to pay a higher portion of the transaction costs or forgo some major repairs.
3. Be Prepared to Compromise
“Win-win” doesn’t mean both the buyer and the seller will get everything they want. It means both sides will win some and give some. Rather than approaching negotiations from an adversarial winner-take-all perspective, focus on your top priorities and don’t let your emotions overrule your better judgment.
4. Meet in the Middle
Can’t decide who will pay the recording fee? Can’t agree on a close-of-escrow date? Arguing over cosmetic repairs? Splitting the difference is a time-honored and often successful negotiation strategy. Pay half the fee. Count off half the days. Fix half the blemishes.
5. Leave it Aside
Politicians and corporate executives are famous for their “for future discussion” agreements. If you have a major sticking point that’s not material to the overall contract (e.g., the purchase of furniture or fixtures), finish the main agreement, then resolve the other difficulties in a side agreement or amendment.
This technique allows both sides to recognize and solidify basic areas of agreement, then move ahead toward a fair compromise on other terms and conditions.
Summarizing the points of agreement in writing is another helpful strategy.
6. Ask for Advice
Successful REALTORS® tend to be experienced negotiators. They’ve seen what works and what doesn’t in countless real estate transactions, and they’ve established a track-record of bringing buyers and sellers together. Consult a trainer about negotiating strategies, win-win compromises and creative alternatives.
Did you find this article useful? If so, leave a comment. And if you like what you read, subscribe to the Real Estate Marketing Blog.
Related Articles
Nine Dead-Simple Ways to Persuade More People
The Two Most Productive Lead Generation Activities in Real Estate
Take Advantage of This Psychological Buyer Quirk to Sell Any Home Now
Nine Dead-Simple Ways to Persuade People
“Show business is not hard. It’s all just basic Dale Carnegie stuff,” Jay Leno once said in a Selling Power magazine interview.
Easy enough for Leno to say. The thing you should know, though, is that Leno’s back-of-the-napkin statement is supported by decades of smooth, polite and consistent relationship building. And nine easy-to-follow techniques.
1. Try to make a good impression that lasts. That Leno’s everyday personality is nearly identical to his nice-guy image on television doesn’t detract from his success. It adds to it.
2. Get guts. Don’t be afraid to tackle more than you think you are capable of handling. Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you’ll never grow.
3. Take the high road. If during a conversation with a client or prospect someone insults you, avoid the temptation to retaliate. One up them, in fact, by responding in praise and affection. “Gee, I’m hurt that that was said about me, especially since I admire <so and so> so much for his family values, etc….”
4. Ignore failure. Failure will come. That’s a given. What you need to do is bounce back as quickly as possible and keep truckin’ as if nothing even happened.
5. Love what you do. When you love what you do, everything else just seems to fall in place. It’s easy to get out of bed, it’s easy to do the hard things.
6. Fake it before you make it. Even if the ink is still wet on your real estate license, give people the impression that you are the best person at what you do.
7. Treat everyone as a potential customer. This is particularly true for real estate: everyone buys or sells houses, and your market is probably made up of the people you run into everyday.
8. Treat your team as if they are stars. Whether it’s your lender, listing coordinator or buyer’s agent, make the people you work for, and who work for you, feel like your world would collapse without them.
9. Give back to the community. Volunteering your time to worthy causes proves that you are committed to the area you live and work in, which, by the way, provides a good way to meet potential customers.
Did you find this article useful? If so, leave a comment. And if you like what you read, subscribe to the Real Estate Marketing Blog.
Related Articles
Sick of Failure? The Seven Natural Laws of Real Estate Prospecting
The Two Most Productive Lead Generation Activities in Real Estate
Take Advantage of This Psychological Buyer Quirk to Sell Any Home Now
Five Proven Tips to Help You Negotiate in a Buyer’s Market
Before the dismal collapse of the housing market, negotiation skills weren’t quite as important as they are now. In many cases, all you had to do was put the house on the market with a reasonable price and get out of the way.
Things have changed. And aren’t supposed to get any better soon.
What you’re looking at now is a more traditional market where buyers have their share of homes to choose from. That means the negotiation game among you buyers has reached a new level of importance.
Here are four tips to help you negotiate in a buyer’s market.
1. Be Informed
I can tell you without exception who always wins in a negotiation—the one who has the most information and uses it wisely. It’s the one tool that’s imperative in any negotiation. Information leads to the right price for a property. It puts details in perspective. It lessens tensions. And it keeps emotions in check.
Take away: Burn the midnight oil and do your homework.
2. Don’t Lower Your Commissions
This is a key point…because in a buyer’s market, many, many REALTORS® automatically put their commissions on the auctioning block.
But if you lower your commission to get a seller’s business…what does that really say to the seller? That you’re easily willing to come down on price—not what a seller wants to hear!
3. Handle Offers with Care
Never flat out reject an offer. Sure, you’ll get offers that you simply can not accept…and that you might even find insulting…but be careful and tactful with how you respond to those offers.
You’ve done your homework to arrive at the asking price, so explain that to those who make offers instead of a flat rejection.
4. Keep a Positive “This-Will-Work” Attitude
Imagine how comfortable you’d be on the operating table with a surgeon who’s sending out vibes that things might not pan out. You’re confidence in that surgeon sinks. And you want to get the heck out of there!
So, in all situations, focus on solutions and persist without exception. No matter how bad things get, think creatively. There really is a solution to every problem. And if you persist and emerge with a solution to a seemingly impossible situation…you’ll look like a super hero.
This is hard. Cause it will take time. You may look like a fool but keep begging for more time.
5. Ask for Help
At any sign of trouble, go for help. Ask an expert, mentor or coach what you should do in a sticky negotiation situation. Better yet, hook up with someone that will support you and ask them to commit to being available for help.
Best yet, hook up with two people: someone from real estate and someone from a different field. The person outside of your industry will be able to give you fresh insight never heard of before.
Did you find this article helpful? If so, leave a comment or subscribe to the real estate marketing blog.