How to Easily Overcome Seller Objections So That You Can Generate More Listings in Less Time

Oftentimes the Listing Agents that I coach in my free Mentorship Masters Program come to me because they want to master the art of overcoming objections.

After listing more than 1000 houses during my first ten years in real estate, I have seen just about every objection you can imagine.

I absolutely LOVE objections because I understand what they truly represent.

When I first begin working with them, I have seen listing agents completely fumble the ball when a seller prospect throws out an objection. I have witnessed an agent’s energy slightly change, and I have watched them go just a bit on the defensive when objections are raised.

Oftentimes they take the objections raised by the seller (valid or not) as a personal assault.

While the agent may attempt to mask the emotions that spring up when a seller begins questioning them, this subtle change from positive to neutral or negative energy is immediately picked up by the prospect (mostly subconsciously), and defeat is imminent if the agent cannot recover quickly.

In a previous LabCoat Agents Article, I wrote about “5 Simple Tips for Generating More Listing Leads.”

As you begin generating more leads, you will begin having lots more “at bats” and you will have a plethora of opportunities to practice your scripts against the objections you receive. What fun!

As you move towards mastery in the Lead Generation game, you will encounter many common objections, yet the more skilled you become, the easier these objections will be to navigate through.

Most of the time my coaching students just want to know what to say when they encounter a specific objection.

That’s why in my free book Success with Listings, I included more than 95 different scripts for all kinds of scenarios.

Rather than post a ton of objection handlers here (which are truly fun to practice), I figured we will just skip right to the meat of the matter, because the truth is, the memorized script that you rattle off is not nearly as important as understanding the psychology behind the objections that your prospect is raising.

When you understand the psychology behind the objection game, you can win a lot more often – because your confidence will go way up (and so will that of your prospect).

Let’s begin with an understanding of exactly what an objection really is.

What Is An Objection?

Think of some words that you would consider to be synonymous with the word objection.

What comes to mind?

Typically, most of my Mentorship Masters members start out by thinking of objections as obstacles.

They feel that the objection is bringing into question something about them, something that requires defending.

Most view an objection as a challenge to overcome or an obstacle to defeat. Many even feel that an objection is a rejection.

What I want you to realize right here and now is that an objection is NOT rejection.

Instead, an objection is an Opportunity and a golden one at that.

Human beings (at least those in Western culture) are hard-wired to question everything. They don’t take anything at face value… yet this way of thinking and acting is in no way an indictment against you personally. It’s just their natural rhythm, and indeed (if they are inexperienced at selling houses), it would be quite odd if they didn’t question much of what you told them (at least subconsciously).

As Ronald Reagan so aptly put it, “Trust but Verify”.

It’s a rare individual in our culture who will take what you say at face value and run with it… unless they already know, like, and trust you.

Just chalk this up as a cultural reality.

For example, many cultures love to barter. They NEVER expect you to pay the price they ask of you, and they are often dumbfounded (and offended) by tourists who pay face value.

Our culture has been trained to question everything and to “not believe it until they see it,” so don’t ever take an objection personally or feel that the person is somehow questioning your character or your integrity.

Let’s say, for example, that you are talking to a prospect about listing their property and they throw out an objection such as “I like what you have to offer, but I haven’t seen your signs in our neighborhood” or “Your fees seem higher than the other agents that I’ve talked to” or “What makes you think you can sell my house when my previous agent couldn’t?”

Again, in my free book, I’ve stacked tons of great objection handlers and scripts that help decimate these objections, but sometimes the last thing you need at that moment is a canned response to a heartfelt question.

What you need is to understand exactly what the prospect is really asking.

With these questions, what is the prospect really saying?

In my heart, what I hear them saying to me is, “Knolly, I think you can probably sell my house and I want to list with you. Can you please confirm for me that I am making the right decision?”

As long as you’ve built a good rapport with the seller at the listing appointment, most of the time they are really just wanting you to confirm that they should move forward with you.

Remember, an objection is not rejection.

An objection is an opportunity.

The truth of the matter is if the prospect did not want to explore the idea of listing with you they would not throw out an objection in the first place.

Just think about the way you make big decisions.

Before you swipe your credit card on that $400 purse, a flood of questions races through your mind. “What’s your return policy?” “When did you say the newer designs are coming in?” “What if I find it for less somewhere else?”

Why do you get this barrage of questions right before you make a big decision?

The reason is that we are programmed to not want to make a big mistake. We throw up objections to protect ourselves. We want confirmation that we are making the right decision before we fully commit.

We may also want to know where the escape hatch is (or whether or not there is one) before we jump on board. Once our objections are handled, we can feel safer about moving forward.

Therefore, at the heart of it, objections are simply a mechanism we use to keep us safe.

When you get an objection, rather than whipping out a handy script or getting defensive, simply focus on making the client feel safe and reassure them that they are making the right choice when they hire you.

Again, when you handle listing objections effectively, you are reaffirming to the prospect that they are making the right decision by hiring you to list their house.

If the prospect did not want to list with you in the first place, they wouldn’t have any objections at all!

Instead of asking questions, they would simply tell you that they are not interested and send you packing.

Again, think of when you were pitched a product to purchase. If you were not interested, you would simply tell the salesperson “No, thank you” and move on. You wouldn’t stand there and start asking questions about the product unless you were considering the idea of buying it.

While it is true that in order to handle objections masterfully, you do need to learn your scripts backwards and forwards, understanding the psychology behind the questions and objections you are faced with will go a lot further toward helping you WIN more YESES (and GET MORE LISTINGS)!

To Your Success!

Knolly Williams