Negotiations – Be The Rock

     A widely held principle of motivation states that: “Fear of loss, is far greater than the ecstasy from gain.” In other words, people are generally more motivated by what they fear they will lose than with what they think they will gain by taking action. How does this principle apply to your buyers and sellers? As the fear of loss is felt, most people tend to get impatient and even frustrated. The natural tendency is to focus that frustration on someone close.

Guess what? In many cases the agent is nearby and becomes an obvious choice. Agents tend to take their client’s reaction as a personal offense. Sometimes, when a buyer or seller begins to vent, the agent will respond kindly, only making matters worse. So, what’s the best strategy? “Be the Rock“. Don’t get emotional. Don’t get upset with your clients. Don’t get your feelings hurt. Instead, recognize that anger and strong emotion are merely the buyers’ and sellers’ way of processing the information until it is ultimately accepted.

Here are some examples of how this may work:

Seller– During price reduction strategies, you point out the risk to the seller of prices dropping even further if they don’t accept the offer, or at least counter it. Your seller tells you if they agree with you and sell it for such a low price, they don’t need an agent. Besides, they don’t want to give it away. Your response- Stay the course and ignore the comment. Be patient and continue to offer reasons why it’s important to be competitively priced until the seller comes around.

Buyer- Your buyer places a low-ball offer and gets outbid. They blame you for losing the house they really wanted. Your response- You don’t throw it in their face that you had told them they might lose the house and they totally ignored you. Instead, you’re the rock. You explain to them that market conditions have begun to change and that they should learn from this experience. You remind them that the next time they find something they really like, they’ll have to be more competitive because they have excellent taste. If they like something, it’s very likely many other buyers will like it as well.

Final consideration; always remember that emotion is infectious. If you’re excited about a situation, your buyers or sellers will be too. On the other hand, negative behavior as a response to negative actions, only escalates the situation. Don’t be part of the problem.

BE THE ROCK!