Success in real estate sales requires strong negotiating skills. For most agents, this can be a real problem. The ability to negotiate offers to a successful conclusion requires a great deal of practice. But, unlike other sales situations, negotiation opportunities in Real Estate may be few and far between.
Consider the typical agent that may only have 10-12 closings in any given year, and may only have a couple of listing appointments in any given month. If an agent has a conversion rate of 50%, he or she may have as few as 3 or 4 opportunities to negotiate in any given month. With the limited amount of time that an agent may spend actually negotiating transactions, it’s highly unlikely that an agent will maintain any Momentum. It’s far too easy to lose momentum or get rusty in between negotiating opportunities.
So, how does an agent master the art of negotiations, and maintain momentum? The answer lies in 2 key observations about sales:
1. Success Breeds Success– The best time to make a sale is just after you’ve sold something.
2. Practice– Success in sales is similar to success in sports. It takes lots of practice.
Real estate agents are like athletes. If they only practice their profession a couple of times a week, they’ll never master their skills. It takes lots of practice or spaced repetition to get good at anything. Like an athlete who may only have one game a week, an agent must practice their negotiating skills every day. This can be accomplished with the help of another agent, a spouse, significant other or even a friend. Try applying to the following approach to master your negotiation skills.
- Make a list of the typical objections or obstacles you encounter when dealing with your buyers and sellers.
- Review past Cup o’ Joe’s to find key points to overcoming each objection.
- Give the list of objections to an associate, family member, or partner and have them quiz you.
- For best results, ask the above participant to give you the question the day before then research the responses.
- Be sure to have multiple answers to each objection.
Don’t worry if you stumble through each closing argument. The above approach will allow you to get hours of practice before actual “game conditions” exist. Momentum or “Big Mo” as it’s referred to will be on your side and will prepare you for game day. Like any athlete, with constant practice, your success will increase