Dear Zuess,

I keep hearing the same objections over and over again and I am really struggling to overcome them.   Here are some I hear a lot:

• Will you reduce your commission? We want to list at x% rather than y%
• We want to deal with the neighbourhood expert – we don’t see many of your signs in the area
• We would like weekly open houses
• We only want a 2 month listing
• We want to list higher than the last sale because we think the market is in our favour (when in fact it isn’t)

I can sometimes get the listing but it’s never great.   The commission is low or the price is high or both and I don’t feel like I have a good relationship with the seller. They often end up not selling.

Neha – Winnipeg

 

Dear Neha,

Congratulations on your success on finding people that need to sell and getting the appointments for the sales presentation. You’ve obviously done an excellent job of getting this far and now it’s time to master your presentation.

It is perfectly reasonable for sellers to have these objections. Selling a property is a big expensive and stressful event and most sellers don’t have very much experience with it. They have gathered a little bit of information from friends and family and likely the media as well. Much of this is inaccurate.

If we “tell” them that it is inaccurate, we create a conflict with them at exactly the moment that we are trying to build trust and rapport and get hired. This won’t work very well so we better find a better way.

The art of the sales presentation is to get beneath their assumptions and beliefs and help them “see” things differently. This takes a very different approach. I call this the inquiring mindset and in a nutshell, it’s all about asking the important questions and having the presence to listen to their answers.

Let’s look at an example:

Seller: “We only want a two month listing.”

Agent: “Ms. Seller – you certainly have the right to limit the listing to two months. May I ask why a short listing period is important to you?“

Seller: “Well, if you are not able to sell the property in two months I would like to be able to take it off the market or perhaps sell it myself” (read between lines – or try another agent)

Agent: “I can understand that – Ms. Seller. Are you worried that if I don’t do a good job you’ll be stuck with me for too long?”

Seller: “well, sort of. I mean, if you can’t sell the property in two months then you probably aren’t going to sell it at all.”

Agent: “Hmmm… I can see how that would make you feel uncomfortable. Ms. Seller, do you know how long it typically takes to sell a property in your market?”

Seller: “well, not exactly but my friend sold her condo last week and it sold in less than two weeks!”

Agent: “nice – that’s great for her and I hope we find a buyer for your place quickly as well. Can I share with you some statistical information about how long homes in your area typically take to sell?”

Seller:   “Sure”

Agent: “Great – thanks”   (Share your stats – keep it simple, go slow and ask question like “does this information surprise you?)

Agent: “Ms. Seller, I want to get your home sold for the most amount of money available. If you limit me to two months when most homes are taking longer than that, you make it difficult for me to commit all of my resources to getting the best possible outcome for you. What is most important to you?”

Seller: “well yes, getting the most amount of money”

Agent: “Can you see how giving me the mandate and the opportunity to use all of my resources to make that happen will get you the best outcome?”

Seller: “yes –   I see that now.”

Agent:   “Great, let’s move forward and get your home on the market so we can start the search for a buyer right away.”