Many people think negotiating only occurs during sales situations. Not so! Negotiating happens everywhere. It happens when you’re driving and making a lane change, or determining what you and your family will have for dinner, or where you sit or stand in a crowded subway. Your ability to deal with these situations determines your success in sales and life in general. So I define negotiating as gaining the favour and good will of people from whom we want something.
In real estate, it might seem negotiating is only happening when an offer is on the table, but this isn’t true. Negotiating is continually happening in your interactions with prospects and clients. Whenever you speak with an ad caller and try getting an appointment, present at a listing appointment, try to get a lower price for a buyer, and even when working with other real estate salespeople, you are negotiating. So strong negotiating skills are crucial for success in real estate and life in general.
A strong negotiator understands their objective is having clients agree on things. The key to getting mutual agreement to occur is having each party believe they’ve won. Therefore, you must continually demonstrate an “everyone wins” attitude in all your client interactions. Having each party get what they want is even more important than closing the sale.
Naturally, both sides will need to make concessions at some point, but if you’re going to successfully get both sides to agree, your negotiations should have the following:
- The Process Is Worthwhile
- Every Participant Is Winning
- No One’s Self-Respect Is Threatened
- Everyone Achieves Most Of Their Needs
- The Process Is Always Positive
- The Participants Wouldn’t Mind Negotiating With You Again
The Process Is Worthwhile
You must always exude optimism in your client interactions. That is, your words and actions must always indicate there is hope for a positive outcome in any situation. For instance, you must have the seller believe a given buyer is the right one who will pay the highest price they can get for their home.
Every Participant Wins
No one involved in a negotiation must feel like they’ve lost. Therefore, you should eliminate negative or pessimistic attitudes in clients, replacing them with positive messages and win-win solutions.
No One’s Self Respect Is Threatened
Great negotiators make people feel good about themselves. Sales is a people business and yet everyone is different. Some are highly educated, some are not. Some display lots of emotion, some are reserved. So it’s important to not highlight a person’s shortcomings at any time and jeopardize their self respect.
I teach real estate professionals everything they need for being strong, skilled negotiators in my course Power Negotiating. This course was been approved by the Registrar, REBBA 2002 to qualify for 6 Credits.
