The Cadence for Successful Negotiation

By Bill Butler, RE/MAX Leading Edge Productivity Coach

Handling objections from our clients, colleagues, friends and even family members is an underrated art form.

“We want to list higher”

“I can sell it myself”

“My house is better”

“The other agent will do it for less commission”

“We need to think it over”

“Seems risky”

We hear these and many other objections on a daily basis.  How we handle them can mean the difference between a  buyer or seller netting up to 5%-10% more in their pocket.

When first encountering these concerns, it’s absolutely critical to show that you have heard the client and completely understand them.  If the client isn’t completely confident that you fully understand their concerns, you’ll never gain their trust.

Once there is common ground of understanding each other, you can now go to work on solving the issue….carefully and strategically.

The Cadence for Successful Negotiation

Let ‘em vent.

Let the client vent, vent and vent some more!  Let them ‘get it all out’.  Easy language for this is to merely say, “Tell me more”.

Communicate Understanding

Communicate you have heard them.  Easiest language is “I understand”, “I hear you”.

Transition to a Solution

Now it’s time to move forward…without saying the word “BUT”! This is where most negotiations are lost.  Once you say “but”, you’ve just negated the fact that you understood their problem/objection.  Use the word “and”!  For example: “I understand you want to list higher, but the comparables say otherwise”.  Better transitional language: “I understand you want to list higher, and at the same time, tell me what aspects of the comparables is inferior to yours”.

Ask a Question

Once you’ve transitioned, you can take two paths towards a solution…tell your client the solution or have them self-discover by asking them questions.

This cadence takes practice!  Strike the word ‘but’ from your vocabulary.  Practice on friends and family.  Any child under the age of ten make tenacious role play partners!

Eight year-old son/grandson: “But I don’t want to go to bed now!”

You:  “I can appreciate that, and at the same time, if you knew you went to bed now, you would feel better tomorrow, would you still want to stay up later?”

Ok…fat chance you convert…but it’s about the practice!  ;)