Getting Buyers and Sellers to Make the Decision

Real Estate agents are often thought of as “Salespeople” but that term isn’t my favorite because the role is more like “consulting” or “Coaching.” We guide people into making a decision, rather than “selling” them on a choice.

On a few recent coaching calls with our Power Agents®, we’ve been asked about how to best help buyers and sellers get off the fence in terms of making decisions. There’s an old saying in training, “Fear of loss is a greater motivator than an opportunity to gain.” What I like to say is that if you want someone to take action — tell them about the benefits of taking action. If you want them to take action RIGHT NOW, tell them what they stand to lose by not taking that action sooner rather than later.

What They Stand to Lose

Sometimes you need to show people exactly what they are losing out on if they choose not to take action. When counseling buyers, for example, sometimes they will still choose not to work with you as a Buyer’s Agent by refusing to sign a Buyer Agency Agreement. This is when you need to explain that by making that choice, it now forces you to represent the seller. What does that mean, exactly?

And as a seller’s agent, your fiduciary responsibility is to the home seller, therefore:

• You cannot advise the buyer on the offer they should make when they find a home they like.
• After writing the offer, you cannot negotiate the best price for you, but instead you must negotiate the best price for the seller.
• You cannot represent the buyer’s best interest, but you must represent the seller’s best interests.
• You may not call the buyer when there is a new listing that comes on the market that meets the buyer’s criteria.
• You may not give preferred treatment with new listings on the market over buyers in your price range that you DO have a buyers agency agreement with.
• You may not show the buyer everything in their price range.
• You may not always be available to help the buyer once they go into contract on a home.

It’s an alarming (and painful) wake-up call for the buyer once they realize that by NOT signing that agreement,  you aren’t just a neutral party but will serve the seller’s interest, and they are really going to lose out!

Continued Coaching for Agents

We recently did a webinar about how to effectively work with buyers where I shared some valuable tips and information about how to coach your buyers and sellers into making decisions that will educate them, and provide the greatest benefit them, as well as yourself. 

I want to invite you to join us every Wednesday for webinars that cover many topics so that you can learn how best to serve your clients. After all, regardless of whether we are new or veteran agents, there are always new things to learn and new ways to grow our business, and we are all in this together!

Ready, Set, Go!

Are you ready to start taking things to the next level? Head to our resources page to watch three recent webinars or download our field guides and eBooks! 

We’re here to help! Join us for our weekly free webinars designed to help agents get real world solutions to building listing inventory, growing their businesses, handling objections, and so much more! Learn more at www.DarrylSpeaks.com/Online-Training.