The Attributes of a Professional Negotiator

In our Peak Producer Training, we’ve gained some great insights not only on building our business through consistent referrals—everybody knows that, right?—but also about how to provide excellent service to our clients as part of the foundation for that long term, relationship based, career. Buffini reminds us that, as professional business owners, we have to wear three hats: the CEO/Rainmaker, the COO/Dealmaker, and the CFO/Moneymaker hats. He makes the point that each hour spent with the CEO hat in building our business through consistent contact with our clients and SOI is worth something like five hours spent in the COO hat executing our work, yet the COO activities are crucial to allowing us to establish those great relationships.

The COO training covers specific client service details including how to serve every listing, time management and productivity, and getting buyers off the fence, but one of the best sessions digs into The Art of Negotiation. We’ve written in earlier Playbook about the Seven Types of Negotiators and how to deal with them, and that bit of knowledge alone may help us win a listing and also put money in our clients’ pockets. In addition to those negotiation styles, Buffini goes on to show us the Attributes of a Professional Negotiator, and these tips can also help us win listings and make our life easier!

A professional negotiator:

•       Remains emotionally rock solid—the eye of the hurricane

•       Provides a 360 degree perspective—rises above, takes the higher ground, the strategic view, offers to move on and come back to that tough, final point

•       Keeps their eye on the prize—the long view of the goal, not each crack in the sidewalk

•       Allows the process to unfold—maintains a sense of purpose, doesn’t lose patience

•       Stays relationally connected—it’s not simply a single transaction and this is key to building a referral based business

•       Constantly seeks common ground—remember how much we agree on already as a bridge to perspective

•       Always willing to walk away—don’t fall in love!

Remember, your negotiation skills should be a highlight of your presentation to any potential client and, if you stress them—and learn to implement them—you’ll differentiate yourself and win more business—and make better deals for your clients!

David M. Hassler

VP, Professional Development

What's in a Name?

“What’s in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Billy Shakespeare said that—well, actually he had Juliet say it in Romeo and Juliet. Of course, Juliet’s problem is that Romeo’s last name is the name of her family’s mortal enemy and she is supposed to hate him just because of his name! She finally makes the rationalization that his name doesn't really characterize him since he is so wonderful to her—not to mention she apparently thinks he’s smoking hot. Anyway, maybe she should have avoided Romeo, but, hey, it's a great story!

On the other hand, we all know how names can indeed strongly impact us with their connotations versus their denotations. Madison Avenue certainly knows that’s true! The denotation of a word is its basic definition: a "horse" is a solid-hoofed, plant-eating, domesticated mammal. More importantly, though, the connotations of "horse" are far more significant: the nobility of the warhorse; the athleticism of the racing filly; the drudgery of the county-fair pony walking tiny circle after tiny circle carrying screaming kids; the loyalty of that Budweiser Clydesdale! Powerful stuff, right?

Okay, that's cool, but what does it have to do with Real Estate--our noble profession?

Well, when your name is Berkshire Hathaway, PLENTY!!

Two floor calls to the 82nd Street office just last week show us that a real estate brokerage by any other name may not smell quite as sweet. In the space of an hour, Gary Boram took a pair of calls that could lead to about $1.2 million in transactions. Wow, floor can still work, that's great. And congrats to Gary for already converting one of the calls to a new listing. Excellent work!

And now, for the punch line, here's where Juliet may have missed the mark with her rationalization about Romeo's last name. Both floor calls came in because the callers had seen some BHHS Indiana Realty signs but they knew nothing about us. What they both DID know, however, were the names Berkshire Hathaway and Warren Buffett and they knew the connotations of those names: success, stability, professionalism, unmatched business wisdom, superior quality, the list can go on and on, all positive, and they said as much in their own way when they called.

The first call was from a couple who had bought from a builder several years ago and was considering selling to move up from about $150,000 to maybe $250,000. They got to Gary because of Uncle Warren's reputation and the connotations of the Berkshire Hathaway name. They didn't call about a specific house and they didn’t call any other brokers—and now Gary has a meeting set up with them soon.

The second call came from a lady who explained that her listing had expired recently and that she had of course been besieged by every realtor in town shouting how they--and only they--were the perfect agent to get her house sold. She said she was tired of such hyperbole and had seen some of our BHHS Indiana Realty signs around town. She of course knew Berkshire Hathaway and Warren Buffett and no doubt all those positive connotations underscored her perceptions of us even though she knew nothing specific about our real estate brokerage, so she asked Gary if we were different! He then met with her a couple days later and she decided to sign the listing contract on the spot—and she canceled a total of FOUR other appointments she had previously made! Again, congrats to Gary on the excellent work, and thanks to Uncle Warren for the leg up.

Oh, by the way, the new listing is just under $900,000.

Wow, so floor can still work and Gary--a relatively newer agent--has shown us not only that he's off to a great start in his real estate career, but also that there is genuine, and growing, power in a name--sorry, Juliet--when it's Berkshire Hathaway.

Are you making the best use of the strength of our brand and all those positive connotations to help get you to the five-yard line so you can punch the ball over the goal line more easily? Or are you sending one of your linemen off the field when they just might make the key block to spring you into the end zone?

Remember, that name Berkshire Hathaway smells mighty rosy!

David M. Hassler

VP, Professional Development

The Blueprint for Getting a Home Sold . . . and for Winning the Listing!

This week in a coaching session I was chatting with a newer agent who was excited about some upcoming opportunities to list homes in great areas. He said the folks had asked about his marketing plan so he wanted to focus on that.

I suggested that he implement some strategies from our Buffini Peak Producers training that address not only a solid marketing plan for the house, but also touch on some issues that 99% of Realtors probably would never think of mentioning! Buffini, in his training session on “Working with Sellers,” recommends establishing our professionalism by sharing with the seller our “Blueprint for Getting a Home Sold.” This seven-step process will immediately differentiate us from the competition! Here’s the Blueprint:

1.     In-depth MARKET ANALYSIS. Okay, nothing too surprising there. So, be sure you know the neighborhood inside and out!

2.     Property ENHANCEMENT checklist. I love the way we can use words and their connotations and that word, enhancement, covers issues we often discuss but rarely position so positively! This list will of course include many basics like cleanups and fix-ups, maybe some additions or repainting, and, depending on the price point, bringing in a professional stager at our own cost! I like to say these things enhance the value!

3.     Comprehensive PROMOTION and MARKETING plan. Most sellers tend to fixate on this aspect so we need to have a great plan and do a good job of positioning its strength.

4.     CRYSTAL clear COMMUNICATION. Wow, we all know that our business overall suffers from a poor reputation in this area, and maybe your potential new client has experienced it in past transactions. I encourage setting expectations and letting the seller know your plan for proactive updates—and of course finding out how they prefer we communicate with them.

5.     NEGOTIATING and STRUCTURING the sale. Wow, how many sellers ever consider this as one the professional services we provide? And very few agents ever think to address it in their presentation either. So, here’s a huge opportunity to differentiate ourselves by addressing this and our experience and expertise in handling this often tricking element of our services. By the way, we’ll cover The Seven Styles of Negotiator in a future Playbook so you can even mention a couple of those in your presentation.

6.     COMPREHENSIVE Transaction MANAGEMENT. I love this one as we all know that even though we may have an accepted contract, there are many potholes and hurdles between that and the closing table. Again, most sellers have little knowledge about these pitfalls, so by simply mentioning them and our expertise as part of our services, we immediately differentiate ourselves from 99% of the competition!

7.     Client APPRECIATION Program. Yes, we’ll be available to assist the seller with any ongoing real estate or property needs—like recommending a painter or plumber—even if they move out of town or state—or country! Remember, we all know the best way to grow our business is by referrals from clients, so why wouldn’t we stay in touch and offer appreciation to the sellers? Even if they move to Topeka or Tuscany, they probably still have friends or family in our market, or maybe they still work for the same firm they were with here . . . and maybe one day they might be transferred back! Bottom line, in our long term, relationship approach to our business, doing the right thing will help our business grow steadily!

So, don’t forget to roll up your blueprint and take it with you for your next listing presentation!

David M. Hassler

VP, Professional Development