Relationship ManagementSales Meeting

February 16, 2011

What exactly are buyers and sellers seeking these days?

Nordstrom service, Disney innovation, and K mart prices.

VIDEO

Relationship ExpertFeaturing Sue Smith

Re/Max Premier, Dulles, Va.

Dealing with Difficult Clients

• Listen• Prescreen for

personality conflicts• Educate• Find Creative Solutions• Put Yourself In Their

Shoes

Expect Emotions

• Know the Triggers– Things are happening differently than they expected– Feeling like they don't have control over the process– Not fully understanding the process– Not feeling respected (by spouse or real estate practitioner)– Too many options – Afraid to make commitment to buy– Panic about making the wrong decision– Financial worries– Lack of trust in real estate practitioner/mortgage

broker/home inspector, etc.

Communication Styles• Visual:

– Written materials, face-to-face contact. – Especially concerned with the way things look. – Want to see the benefit that your product or service will deliver. – If your presentation is written, emphasize the appearance of things so that you client will

receive your message. These customers may respond to DVDs and other visual materials• Verbal:

– Be sure your words convey the message you want to convey.– You must also listen to this customer, because he will express his concerns verbally.– Respond to telephone calls, CDs, and other audio products.

• Touch:– Prefer descriptive written materials with special attention to details. – Feelings guide their decisions; you must build trust and rapport with them– Discuss what they like/dislike.

On The Phone

• Ask questions, but let them do the talking

• Don’t Argue• Show sincerity and

concern• Don’t patronize• Lead them to the

answer• Smile, Stay Positive

Think-They-Know-It-All

• How to deal with them: Ask a lot of questions about what they say. – They don’t have depth to their knowledge– The best thing you can do is take a curious attitude

and ask more and more specific questions until they start making big generalizations.

• However, be careful not to step on their ego. – Derail bad ideas, don’t embarrass them. – Refer to documentation in a nonthreatening way (e.g.,

“Have you seen this article?”) to make your point.

The Yes Person

• Highly agreeable, slow to deliver. • People-pleasing tendency gets in the way of

providing you with honest, valuable feedback to move forward in a transaction.

• How to deal with them: – Make it safe for these customers to be honest with you– Show them there will be no relationship consequence if

they say something negative.• Make guesses at what they’re thinking, provide

reassurance – They’ll perceive you as being sensitive to their feelings

The No Person

• Discouraging , pessimistic. • Find something wrong with every house or any idea you

present• How to deal with them:

– Take out a piece of paper, draw a line in the center, and ask them to list positives on one side and negatives on the other about the house they’re viewing. • Ask for the negatives first, since that’s more on their mind• Once they’ve exhausted the negatives, refocus their attention to list a

few positives.

• Tends to zoom in only on negatives:– Sees 3 things wrong with a home, thinks everything is wrong

with it and will be unable to focus on any positives

The Nothing Person

• Tell you nothing, provide no feedback, verbal or nonverbal, “I don’t know” is often the first response

• How to deal with them: – Try to guess at how they feel in a situation, offer statements

to pry out a response.– Using the paper-pen method suggested before:– Guess the pros and cons to put on the list rather than rely on

them (e.g., “This home has the open floor plan with the kitchen and living room. I’m guessing that’s a positive for you, right?”).

– Don’t worry about guessing wrong — the aim is to get them to open up

The Tank• Pushy, ruthless, and loud, demand action, appreciate

assertiveness. – Example: How dare you suggest listing my house for such a low

price. You have no clue what you’re talking about! • How to deal with them:

– Give them 60 seconds to vent, no more and no less. If you allow a Tank to go longer, the verbal attack will escalate and it’ll be difficult to refocus.

– Then, repeat three of the statements you heard • Why three? It is the generalization point, in which after repeating three

statements back to a person that recounts what the customer said that person then subconsciously truly feels heard.

• Offer your bottom-line solution, but make your solution direct and to the point.

The Grenade• Unwarranted tantrums that seem disproportionate to the

circumstance, explosive rants on anything and everything.• How to deal with them:

– Don’t give time to vent: They feed on their negative energy, and it’ll only make them more angry.

– Immediately raise your voice to interrupt, using their name (e.g. “John, John. I care, I care ... You don’t have to feel this way. We’re going to work this out.”)

– Don’t tell them to calm down– Say: “Let’s take a moment and talk about it.”

• Create a break in the conversation to allow them time to calm down so they’ll be able to refocus on what their true concerns are.

Expectations• Core Values• Timelines

– Response: Phone, Email– Expiration Date– Length from ED to Closing

• Agreed Upon Duties and Services• Make sure their expectations are realistic• Help them understand they might have to make compromises

Don’t Overwhelm Them

• It’s easy for clients to get overwhelmed• Buyers: 100 homes in the area they like in

their price range– Narrow it down by finding out what features

are have to have for your client• The cure: get people out of the big picture

and bring them in to working on a single piece of the puzzle at a time

Stay In Control

You are the expert!

QuestionsComments