Imagine you are having a Deliberate Conversation© with someone about real estate. You are in your zone. You are focused, present, calm, and have all of your senses available to hear and intuit what the other person communicates to you.

As the rapport builds, you try a powerful question to determine their needs. “Have you thought about making a move any time soon?” There is a short pause before they answer, slowly, that no, they aren’t but they inquire about the house down the street that recently sold.

In sales, this is called a soft no. There are two critical things you need to know about this type of no: First, you need to be fully present to recognize it. Second, you need to treat it with respect, grace and care.

If you jump in with a direct scripted approach, you’ll slam the door shut, metaphorically speaking.

Speak slowly, answer their question succinctly and then inquire about their needs again. “The house down the street, the one on the corner – that home sold about three weeks ago for $548,000. Were you familiar with the home?” Hear their answer. “No, we just saw the sign and we were curious.” And your next response may be something like this. “I understand – most of us our curious about the value of our homes. If you were to make a move, even in a few years, where might you want to go to?” In most cases, this will begin a real and honest conversation about their real estate needs. Interestingly, the time lines are almost always significantly shorter than they present.

The soft no is a psychological or internal response to their emotions around moving and around salespeople. Both moving and dealing with salespeople can seem pretty darn scary. The move part is pretty obvious. The salesperson part– that’s based on preconceived ideas they may hold regarding salespeople. These preconceptions could come from their past experience, stories or just general folklore. Many people feel salespeople are going to push, coerce, manipulate and make their lives miserable with persistence – and unfortunately, it’s possible. There are still real estate trainers teaching these old school techniques.

This creates an amazing opportunity for you. By being aware of their internal landscape, you can avoid being everything they are fearful of and be everything they want. We call this Move More People© and it’s about a higher level of sales excellence designed to deliver amazing experiences and amazing results to your clients.