How to Stop the Buyer from Grinding Away at You

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?”

Roger Dawson calls asking for something in return the Trade-Off Gambit.

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 use the Trade-Off Gambit. 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.

In addition to using the Trade-Off Gambit, as I said in a previous In The Zone article, “lean on the Higher Authority to deflect pressure from yourself. Continue to position
yourself as on the other person’s side and any negative emotion will be directed away from you.”