And in this Corner . . .

All too often we find ourselves in negotiation--either with the other broker and their clients, or even sometimes with our own clients--where the posture on the other side feels like we're in the Roman colosseum facing a gladiator prepared to battle to the thumbs down! And maybe sometimes we even find ourselves acting this way and then realize we've backed ourselves into a corner. The bottom line is that the "king of the hill, I win you lose" approach to negotiation may have its place occasionally, but if we overplay it and the other side is a savvy negotiator, we may end up with less rather than more.

Our recent Buffini Peak Producers class covered the seven different types of negotiator and made the point that, if we understand the "type" we're dealing with--whether our own client or the other side--the more likely we are to be successful in our negotiations.  Plus, Buffini points out that the Skill of negotiation is the second most important overall Skill a topnotch broker needs, right after the Skill of communication.

Buffini lists the seven negotiation styles as:

The People Pleaser

King of the Hill

Earnest and Honest

Linear Logical

Emotional Ping Pong

The Expeditor

The Rocking Chair

We won't go into detail on all seven in this week's Playbook, but we can make two points: first, if we are simply aware that there are many different negotiation styles and that we can learn to, first of all, recognize them, and then also to discover how best to respond and deal with each, that should go a long way toward smoothing our transactions and our relationships; and, second, as we master the Skill of negotiation, we can list that as something we bring to the table when pitching that competitive listing or in that initial buyer consultation, to give us a competitive edge. How many other brokers do you know who address their training and skill in negotiation? And what better way to justify your full service fee in terms of a tangible benefit to your client!

Anyway, back to that King of the Hill posture. First of all, it can come across as bullying and who likes to be bullied? Most folks, when faced with bullying, end up holding back and not giving as much as they might if they felt the other side were being fair. So, as a tactic for us to use in negotiation, we need to be very judicious and probably only use if it there's no other way.

More important, the savvy negotiator recognizes that the King of the Hill can often be pacified by letting them feel they're winning--both in attitude and on minor items--while we make sure we get the more important points for our side. Buffini tells the story of how an early mentor of his always included in any buyer offer a request that the seller was to "repaint the front porch," whether it really needed it or not. The tactic is to include something in your offer or counter that you would like but that you would be fine to "give up," letting the King feel they have won. This tactic is referred to as "The Decoy" and it can work wonderfully when you're dealing with that King of the Hill!

Buffini concludes his comments on dealing with the King by suggesting we test the waters in advance as we prepare the offer or the counter by a phone call to ask how best to cover or respond to something relatively minor for your side like maybe the closing date or possession and then gauging the response as it will tell you whether you're dealing with a King or another negotiation style.

We'll take a look at some of the other styles in future Playbooks and how a professionally skilled negotiator serves their clients.

Now get that front porch painted!

David M. Hassler

VP, Director of Business Development

Five Skillful Keys to Success

A recent “B.I.T. o’ Brian” video covered—in three minutes—“The Five Skillful Things You Need to be Successful Today.”

Buffini starts with his key concept: A SUCCESSFUL AGENT PROMOTES CONSTANTLY.

He immediately reminds the audience that when he puts something in a list, number 1 truly means it’s number 1, that is, it’s what he considers the most important item! In other words, if you do his first item faithfully you’ll be fine, no matter what you do with the other: s, yet if you do all the rest of the list well, you’ll achieve phenomenal success. So, promoting as a posture is crucial to success, but it’s not exactly what you might think!

Brian’s second key clarifies the first: we’re not promoting just to do transactions, but we’re promoting in order to BUILD RELATIONSHIPS. When we build relationships, we create a long-term business and become professional business owners.

The third key—and it’s especially crucial in today’s world—is the importance of PROVIDING VALUE. Today’s potential client is savvy and has access to so much raw information, we have to demonstrate our knowledge and expertise—providing value—so we can overcome the tsunami of often worthless and confusing information and earn our clients’ trust.

In order to achieve the previous pair of keys, however, we also have to SELL SKILLFULLY. While we often shy away from the word “sell” and its connotations of the used car lot, when we get right down to it, the world constantly revolves around “selling” at various levels and most of the time that means we’re “selling” ourselves in different contexts. Brian makes the point that skillful selling is done in such a way that it really serves the other person, not ourselves, and to be most genuine, it involves a high level of integrity. Most folks these days can smell an old school snake oil pitch a mile away, so skillful selling is very different.

Finally—and in my mind, absolutely crucial, since if we neglect this foundational key, the rest of the structure crumbles—we need to SERVE FASTIDIOUSLY. We must meet and exceed expectations—yes, it’s a cliché but it’s true—and if we believe in and achieve that impeccable level of genuine service, we will be wildly successful and generate consistent referrals to maintain a peak state in our businesses and enjoy our lives and families more than ever.

Not bad for a three minute video!

David M. Hassler

VP, Director of Business Development

Big Rocks First

So there's this physics professor standing in front of his class and he puts a big empty glass jar on the lab table. He then reaches under the table and grabs four or five baseball sized rocks and puts them in the jar. He tries to add another rock but there's no room for it. "Aha, the jar is full, right?" He smiles at the class.

The students, being freshman and knowing everything, respond "Sure!"

So the prof grabs a box of pebbles and starts dropping them into the jar. Most of the smaller pebbles trickle around the big rocks and fill in the spaces till they reach the top of the jar. "Okay now it's full!

The students hesitate and, this not being an Ivy League school, they're smart enough to sense a possible trap. "Well, sort of . . . maybe?"

"Excellent!" The prof now produces a bag of sand and pours it into the jar. The sand fills in all the spaces between the big rocks and the pebbles till it reaches the top of the jar. "Now it's full!" He grins and claps his hands.

The students--some of whom will become engineers and some CEO's and some IT guru's--nod and clap along with the professor. All but one, the student destined to become a successful real estate broker. She simply shakes her head and waits.

"Wrong!" The professor grabs a pitcher of water and pours it into the jar. At last, the jar is full!

The future broker has grasped the lesson. And her future success will largely be tied to her lesson learned, a lesson that can make anyone more successful, no matter their field.

Big Rocks First!

If we start with water, nothing else will fit. If sand, only water can be added, and even if we start with pebbles, there may never be room for those big rocks.

So what? you may be asking.

So what if those Big Rocks are in fact your most important daily activities? Those activities that our Peak Producers training--not to mention our basic real estate common sense--tells us are those activities we absolutely have to do on a regular basis--ie, make a Habit--in order to proactively generate referrals from our sphere of influence to build a consistent business? Pretty important rocks!

Yet all too often we find ourselves dealing with the pebbles--those details of transactions and serving our clients and responding to important calls and emails--that all too often fill up our jar so that we can't jam in a Big Rock even if we want to. While those pebbles are important in making our current clients happy, we all know what happens when we close all those sales and then look around and wonder where the next client might come from.

Of course don't even think about playing in the sand or splashing in the water--wasting time on needless emails or chatting with pals or checking out that new tennis racquet or carbon fiber bike! We may even miss a pebble or two if that's our focus and we all know how much time we waste every day.

The bottom line in terms of time management and productivity is that every day we can enhance our business and our lives by grabbing those Big Rocks first--prioritizing--those calls and cards and coffees and pop-by's with our A+ and A level advocates to keep the momentum of our business going and growing with proactive referrals. The pebbles can always fill in the gaps.

So grab those Big Rocks first!

David M. Hassler

VP, Director of Business Development