Improve Your Skills

SESSION 2

Find Common Ground

See both sides.

Look at each position from the other side’s perspective. Try to understand what led the parties to take their positions and why they don't accept your position.

Go back to basics.

Remember that the most basic needs in life are the most important. How do needs for security, economic well-being, a sense of belonging, recognition, and control over one’s life influence a person's positions?

When the buyer’s position is very different from the seller’s, it may seem that the two sides will never agree. But in fact, the problem may not be that the parties have different positions, but that they have different ideas, needs, and desires. It's your job to help them find common ground.

Find Common Ground

Talk about interests, not positions

Focus on underlying interests that both parties share—such as getting into a new home before the school year starts. Often focusing on underlying goals emphasizes how compatible the two positions are.

Understand the goals

• Ask the parties what outcome they would like to achieve. Sometimes people become so attached to their positions that they lose sight of their main objective. When the parties see how they can help each other meet their objectives, the negotiations will get back on track.

Stay on Track

Know what you have to lose. Say, “Let’s look at what will happen if we don’t reach agreement.” Then list the disadvantages for both the buyer and the seller.

Focus on the positive. Maximize the areas of agreement and minimize the areas of disagreement.

Sometimes negotiations stall because one or both parties believe that if they hold out, the other side will give in to their demands. Always encourage further discussion.

Ask questions!

Ask for further explanation. For example, to a seller, say, “The comparable properties I’ve looked at don’t seem to justify your asking price. Perhaps I don’t understand something. Why are our numbers so far apart?” Ask questions…can you help me understand…?

Break the problem into its components. See if there are points of agreement within the area of disagreement. Assume, for example, that the problem is a repair…do both parties know the cost of the repair? Did you take the time to explain repairs on your listing appointment? Itemizing from the beginning- line item repairs on net to

seller

12 Ways to Become a Better Negotiator

Learn everything you can about the situation, the issues, and the participants.

Understand all the participants’ needs and interests.

Set reasonable goals for what you hope to achieve during the negotiation, and rank them by priority.

Help your buyer’s and seller’s do this before putting house on market or writing an offer

#1 Top Priority – getting to ____ on time, smooth transition, find right house… normally is NOT price that is #1, even if they tell you it is.

12 Ways to Become a Better Negotiator

Work within a range that includes minimums, targets, and maximums.

Don’t be afraid to ask the client these questions!

Anticipate the other parties’ comments and prepare your responses.

Remain calm, pleasant, and unflappable. Build trust by clearly stating what your

client wants and respecting what the other parties want.

Create an atmosphere of joint problem solving that focuses on the benefits to all parties.

Remain flexible and open to a range of options. When other people speak, listen attentively and

hear them out fully. Use sympathetic comments, gestures, and facial

expressions to smooth over difficult situations. Always underpromise and overdeliver.

12 Ways to Become a Better Negotiator

Millennium Selling

How has this impacted real estate selling strategies? Our more organic outlook has changed the way we

sell and how we handle relationships. The role of the real estate salesperson has changed from persuader to helper. High-pressure, manipulative sales tactics are a thing of the past. Selling today is focused on building trust and meeting the client's goals in the real estate transaction.

“I’m here to help”.

Help them set goals on paper

What's different about the sales environment today versus twenty years ago?

 Relationship Selling: The Key to Getting and Keeping Customers 

Millennium Selling

What are the characteristics of today's real estate consumer?

First, today's homebuyers and sellers are better informed than in the past because they have access to information from many sources. However, that doesn't mean they are more knowledgeable. Knowledge comes from organizing, interpreting, and using information, and that's where the modern real estate practitioner comes in. Educating clients is a big part of our job. Ask them where they got their information from?

Neighbor, Trulia, Zillow?

Conducting Negotiations Via E-mail

How can real estate sales associates succeed in this new environment?

Salespeople have to keep up with new client expectations. Those who aren't willing to learn new technologies and new sales techniques are really saying, “I'm ready to retire.”

When face-to-face negotiations are not possible given busy schedules or geographic proximity, e-mailing back and forth may be your only option. In fact, because e-mail is probably most convenient for busy clients on the go, most negotiations you handle will be conducted in this way. Learn how to shine when all you have is a computer screen or smart phone to guide you

Conducting Negotiations Via E-mail

If the person you are e-mailing calls you to respond to your message, e-mail is probably not that person's preferred medium. Respond how the client communicates.

Leverage the anonymity of e-mail to ask questions you might not be comfortable asking in person.

"Don't simply wait for the old game to return; learn the new one. The only constant is change, and the only real job security today is our own bank of relevant skill sets." —Don Huston and George Lucas, "The One Minute Negotiator"

Conducting Negotiations Via E-mail

Be sensitive to time. Using e-mail indicates you expect a fast response and will give one in return.

Try to establish some “human” contact by making small talk during an e-mail negotiation. Again, if the other person never responds in kind, discontinue the practice.

Use a framework to analyze clients' motives. Are buyers seeking prestige or financial security from their home investment? Are the homeowners trying to raise capital quickly to secure another investment? Use this information to craft your negotiating strategy.

Bright Ideas: The Art of Negotiation

If you can, convince sellers to accept electronic signatures on an offer from out-of-town buyers. If you can’t, build in sufficient time into the acceptance schedule for overnight deliveries.

When negotiating with a couple, don't assume who the decision-maker is based on who dominates the discussion.

Connect with both clients.

CC in emails and text messages.

Keep the end result in mind. If sellers balk at certain terms in a buyer’s offer, remind them how relieved they will feel when the stressful process of selling a house is over and they can get on with their lives or move to their new home.

Bright Ideas: The Art of Negotiation

If buyers won’t respond to a counteroffer realistically, use a reverse strategy of telling them that they should forget about the house. If they really want the house, this may get them to budge. —Danielle Kennedy International Speakers Bureau, Dallas.

Keep the earnest money check or copy in your hand when you are telling the sellers about the offer. —Bob Deutsch, Listing and Sales Success,Real Estate Education Company,

Bright Ideas: The Art of Negotiation

Learn as much as you can about the personalities of the principals and sales associates you’ll be negotiating with, either through personal conversation or by talking to other salespeople who have worked with them.

If you’re not sure you’re getting the best deal, stall. Many buyers and sellers get nervous and show their hands when the other party hesitates.

In a hot market, don’t be afraid to underprice. Competitive bidding will bring the price up to where it should be, or higher. —Malin Giddings, TRI Coldwell Banker, San Francisco

Don’t be afraid to give buyers a nudge. Remind them about all the great qualities the property has to offer.

Communication is KEY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YxXsQMAvWg

Make sure you understand your client.

Don’t worry about IF they like you, like them first and the rest will come together. Stay positive and engaging using FORD