Many vendors believe their situation is unique, yet everyone wants a solution that is proven to work to ensure they get the best price for their home.
People also want solutions that are creative, unique, innovative, leading-edge, special, and they want those solutions to be proven, safe, predictable, tested and used by some of your past clients when you sold their home.
Yet vendors also want their result and home to be differentiated, special and worthy of a higher price than the rest of the market.
What a confusing state of affairs.
So, let’s understand the fundamentals.
If there is so much confusion about what we want, is there any baseline we can rely on?
I think there is. I believe that at the deepest level of analysis, people ultimately want two things:
- To be understood, and
- To be safe.
When your vendor recognises that you truly and deeply understand them better than anyone else in the market, you’re elevated above the noise of the market.
When they recognise that you have their back and they are safer with you than without you, everything about the dynamic of the sale changes.
Vendors want you to be their hero during the sales process, and only you can achieve a miracle price for them.
Here are some key ways you can become a hero to your vendor.
Empathy
Many great vendor educators start with this as the basis of their structure.
We may only believe we are moving price, but in most cases, we are challenging dreams.
The owner has already allocated the funds from the potential sale to move on in their life.
It may be to a larger house to accommodate their family, it might be to downsize for their retirement, or it could be to gift their children some money.
Our feedback, and the realisation that today’s market is not what it was, can shatter those ambitions.
Feeling, caring about and understanding this situation goes a long way in laying the foundation in this area.
Trust
You must do what you say you are going to and deliver on every promise.
Communicate in a detailed manner on every inquiry, including where it is from and how you have handled it.
The owner wants to know that if they are going to take a lower offer, everything has been done to maximise their price in today’s market.
A golden rule here is, if an owner has to ring you, you’re losing the battle. Over-communicate, over deliver and do what you promise.
Price and feedback
Empathy and trust are the keys that open the price discussion door.
Be frank and direct in your communication here.
You all sat together when you discussed the early prices based on the information at hand, and you must create the same environment when considering new information.
In the current climate, this will likely be different. Remember, you didn’t cause the upswing and you didn’t create the downswing.
Buy-in
Getting the owner to buy into the process throughout the campaign is critical.
You need to bring interested buyers to life.
Let the owners know they’re a young couple who are upgrading, and their children are going to the local school.
Tell the story of the people who are showing interest in the property as it allows the owner to buy into the vision.
The more they get involved, the quicker you will achieve an outcome.
Time
Often the discussion on price should be a discussion about time.
An owner may say they can’t take anything less than $1 million, but all the feedback has been at $900,000.
If you have laid a solid foundation, you can now have the time discussion: ‘Bill and Mary, it may be many years before the market returns to the level you would like. The only question I have for you now is, do you still want to be in the same position in three years?’
The time discussion is a powerful one. However, it can only be used after each of the other four guidelines has been followed.
In these uncertain times, put the human first and the real estate agent second.
Keep it simple and make sure your prospects know that ‘you get them’ and ‘you’ve got them’, and let the rest take care of itself.
