How to Get Buyers Off the Fence Without Breaking the Law or an Arm

Only one tool can sway buyers.

It can make you persuasive beyond what you thought was possible…put people in total confidence with you…broaden your sphere of influence so fence sitters in this market will see what you recommend as the right thing. And they will act that instant.

That tool is emotion.

Famed real estate trainer Tom Hopkins once said, “You are in the emotion-building business.”

That is, you’re not selling houses—you’re selling swing sets, fireplaces, backyards, school districts, swimming pools, kitchens and Jacuzzis.

It’s the order taker who says, “Do you like this house? Would you like to put an offer on it?”

But it’s the emotional-conscious salesperson who says, “Mary, I can really tell that you like the fenced-in backyard…you would feel comfortable letting your children play for hours back there, wouldn’t you?”

When she says, “Yes,” you’ve just sold a backyard. The house just happens to go with it.

I wrote about emotions and buyers a couple of months ago and my favorite tip was the call to urgency.

For instance, pointing out that interest rates are rising will push emotional buttons that cause people to cringe at the thought of spending more money than they’d like…or even worse, losing money.

Jeff Tucker in the Agent Inner Circle forum suggested another positive way to close the deal:

“Once we wrote up the ‘Offer to Purchase’ contract I submitted it to the listing agent with a cover letter. I took a photo of the young couple and imported it to MS Word and pasted it on the cover letter with their names under the photo. My cover letter described the couple and why they wanted the seller’s home to be their home. I brought the logical transaction to an emotional point of view.”

On the buyer side of this, take a photograph of the buyer in front of every house you visit with them. Then, when they are sitting on the fence about a particular home, pull that picture out and remind them of how they felt when they stood proud in front of that home.

Another great way to use emotion is simply to maintain an enthusiastic tone—even during tense situations.

When under pressure and buyer’s are confused and indecisive, it’s easy to slip and get frustrated. The moment you do that, however, and introduce a negative emotion, your buyers will back away.

But maintain composure and say, “That’s a good topic. I’m glad you brought it up. Let’s talk about that…” and your buyer’s will see you as a strong pillar in a difficult storm, which creates feelings of awe and loyalty to what you ultimately say.

And one final word of caution: use emotion sparingly. Like former Hilton CEO David Michaels says, “Emotion is a valuable too—if you don’t over use it.”