Great real estate negotiators are highly attuned to other people. They understand each prospect and client’s needs and wants and those of both the buyer and seller. They’re acutely aware of a room’s atmosphere and its effect on a listing presentation. They’ve refined their listening skills, are patient and flexible, and change when required. They exemplify awareness, listening, patience and flexibility.
Awareness
The definition of awareness is “a direct or intuitive perception of intangibles or emotional states”. It’s a sixth sense all good real estate sales people need to have and develop for several important reasons:
- Gauging if the words or signals you communicate press the client’s emotional triggers
- The ability to sense a client’s mood changing
- The ability of assessing how the client’s personality, ethnic background and ego influence negotiations
Emotional Triggers
I call a person’s emotional triggers their hot and cold buttons. If you don’t know what matters (and doesn’t matter) to your clients, it’s unlikely you’ll close many deals. This might seem obvious, but few real estate sales people ever do a thorough job of finding out what drives their clients’ buying or selling decisions or what they’re trying to achieve.
When you know a client’s motives and their importance, you’ll learn their hot buttons or positive emotional triggers. This is an essential part of closing a sale. Buying and selling is an emotional decision, so when you find someone’s hot buttons, you’ll be able to close with ease.
Changes In A Client’s Mood
It’s critical you know a client’s mood. Fortunately, people are usually vocal about what they’re feeling. But some people are more introverted and don’t reveal their emotions. With such people you should always monitor their attitude, the expression in their eyes, and their body language. Every gesture or expression has meaning. Use the following checklist for understanding this:
- Do They Understand Me?
- Are They Upset?
- Are They Frustrated?
- Do They Believe Me?
- Are They Bored?
- Are They Giving Me Their Full Attention?
- Do They Seem Confused?
- Do They Like What I’m Saying?
- Are They Upset With The Other Salespeople? The Buyer? The Seller?
- Are They Pleased?
- Are They Ready To Sign?
- Am I Using Too Much Pressure?
- Do They Need Time Alone To Think Things Through?
With this checklist, real estate sales people can read their prospects. They’ll then know what they need to change about their presentation for keeping the negotiations positive and on track.
I teach many more mistakes real estate professionals make and how to overcome them in my credit course Power Negotiating. This course has been approved by the Registrar, REBBA 2002 as a 6 credit course. The online version of the course is here
