The Challenge of the ISA/Buyer's Agent

The Challenge of the ISA/Buyers Agent

With the world of Real Estate being driven by online leads, and most larger teams relying heavily on generating a lot of registrations via Google PPC and other forms of Pay Per Click marketing, it’s vital to the success of the real estate agent to understand the challenge they face when getting on the phone with someone who has been forced to enter their information. It’s not for the faint at heart. No sissies here! Just elite men and women ready to take their careers to a whole new level!

WHY is there a challenge? Because to them you are just another sales person looking at them like they are just another paycheck. Your relationship is starting out adversarial, and sometimes even confrontational. Knowing this helps you be prepared the moment they answer the phone. And by being prepared I don’t mean stressed out and ready to cry. I mean you are ready to show them that you see them as a human being, a person with desires, passions, and feelings. Someone, not something, who has DREAMS just like you. And at the end of a successful conversation, they will see how you and your team will help them Power their Dream.

It isn’t easy! It takes a kind heart, a confident mind, and a lot of key questions to get them to open up. But once you do, they will follow you and your team to the end. So your job is to take the relationship from Adversarial, to Cordial, to Mutual. So let’s dive in and see what those stages of the relationship look like in a conversation.

Adversarial Relationship
This is going to sound differently from each person and sometimes it’s extremely subtle. So often they have you off the phone after what, to the untrained eye, seemed like a fruitful and friendly conversation full of a lot of WHAT’s (beds, baths, size, location, ect) but when you say goodbye you realize you are no closer to finding out what’s really important to them then you did when they first said hello. Other times it starts off like “What do you want?” or “How did you get my number?” or Click…and of course they hung up on you. Never take this personal, because it’s not. They don’t know you, all they know is the idea of you they concocted in their heads before they even registered on your website. Or you just caught them on a bad hair day. Bottomline, if they hang up on you, say “Awesome!! Now I can get to the next person a lot quicker!” But if you do get that gruff dude who sounds like Oscar the Grouch and asks you “What do you want?” take that question as an invitation to say “Well actually John I was calling to see what you wanted and how I can help you achieve it.” Sounds corny, but that’s exactly why you are calling them…so why not say it. I did say at the beginning that this is an elite position, and elite minded people have enough confidence to say exactly what’s what…no beating around the bush. YOU have the CONFIDENCE to do and say and ASK those tough questions that most people are either two scared to or just don’t care enough about the other person to do so.

Let’s dive into what this looks like and how to initially respond. You will want to nail down your initial response as this will either keep the conversation going in the right direction or take you off course or even off a cliff.

Person: What do you want?
You: Well I was actually hoping to ask you what you wanted and see if our team can help you accomplish it. Could I borrow just a few minutes to figure that out with you?

Person: How did you get my number?
You: The short answer is that you gave it to us… but regardless I’m sorry for just calling out of the blue, but I’m here to help you accomplish your home finding goals. Can I borrow a few minutes of your time to figure out what those are?

Person: Yeah I registered but I was just curious (or just looking, or just browsing…comes in many different styles) but I’m not really in the market to buy anything.
You: NO worries at all. The beauty of our system is it’s SO easy to satisfy that curiosity (or SO easy to see everything, ect). So what has you looking for a home today?

Person: Yeah I am looking for a 3 bed, 2 bath home with a big yard and a fireplace and…the list goes on and on.
You: Thank you for sharing all that info with me. Makes my job so much easier. But do you mind if I ask WHY you are looking for a home today?

Person: Why are you calling me so much!!!
You: I’m so sorry! You’re probably ready to file harassment charges on us. After we get off the phone I’ll make sure I put you on our DNC list. While I have you, can I borrow just a few minutes to find out what has you looking for a home today?

Person: I already have a realtor
You: Awesome! That’s a smart move on your part having a partner in this process. Can I ask why you’re looking for a home today?

Person: I’m not looking for a home any more
You: Ah that’s too bad. But no worries. Can I ask why you were looking for a home to begin with?

Person: I as looking, but the home prices are so outrageous
You: Yes home prices have increased. To bad we couldn’t just stop paying rent so we don’t have to pay a house payment the rest of our lives? But what had you start looking for a home in the first place?

Person: Click
You: I’ll get you next time.

Can you see the pattern? Acknowledge, sympathize, and ask your questions. You’ll probably run into a 100 different variations to the examples above so remember to just ASA. Acknowledge, Sympathize, and Ask. And really mean it when you do the first two, because if you don’t, when you get to asking your question, it will seem intrusive and you’ll remain in the adversarial side of things. Remember…the easiest way to convince someone you really care about them…is to really care about them.
Cordial Relationship
This is where most agents and ISAs think they’ve won the client. The person was nice on the phone after they just spent 30 minutes taking their order. I’m usually nice too when listing out all of my demands. But when the next person calls them, the person will take another half an hour, list out all of their WHAT’s, and never once get to the real reason they want to buy a home. Don’t get stuck in the NICE trap! It’s a hole filled with broken dreams and soaked in mediocrity and complacency. You are beyond awesome and mediocrity never looked good on you. So shake it off and go for the gusto.

What does a Cordial Relationship look like? Well most look just like I described above.
Person: I will tell you everything I want in a home.
You: Ok I’ll set up listing alerts so we remove any human involvement out of your home search and you are free to call us anytime, ask questions, take up our valuable time, and never have to buy a home from us because we are just order takers.

If you have ever been a real estate agent before, this will sound painfully familiar. This is where 90% of agents eat, sleep, and die. But not you! You want a real relationship where you know WHY a person is looking, where they are looking, WHY they want that big yard, WHO is the most important person in their lives. You want to know what their dreams are and you want to do everything you possibly can to help them achieve it. Yes you are here to serve, but not cold facts that have no meaning behind them. You are here to turn their hopes into a realization. You are here to see what they want in a home manifested. But what someone really wants isn’t found in the bed and bath counts, or in the size of the home or yard. It’s only found in the reason, the WHY they want those things in the first place.

How do you get out of the Cordial trap? Bring everything back to WHY or WHO. 99 out of a 100 times the real reason someone is buying a home is locked up in one of those two. The only way to uncover it is to ask.

Examples

Person: I want a three bed, two bath home with a large family room
You: Got it. Pretty common requests. Can I ask WHO will be moving with you?

Person: I want a large yard
You: Nice. Do you have any furry members of your family? (Notice I didn’t say “pets”? They’re only important if they are considered family

Person: I have to have a two car garage
You: I’ll make a note of that. Is there any hobbies you have that your new home must accommodate?

Person: I want a pool
You: Awesome. Which member of your family will enjoy that the most?

See the similarities in each response? There’s almost always a WHY or a WHO attached to every What and whether a person consciously knows it or not, they aren’t buying for the What, they are buying for the Why or the Who behind it.

Mutual Relationship
I want to go where everybody knows my name. If you’re younger than 40 years old, you probably won’t get that. But sometimes the beginning of a Mutual relationship is them asking what your name is AFTER you’ve been speaking to them and asking them questions. They want to know something about you. You’ve treated them like they were a real person, with real dreams and desires for the last 10 to 15 minutes, and now you’re no longer a sales person trying to score. You’re a real person too. Someone they may actually like. Of course you know they should like you because you’re awesome! But now they are starting to realize that too.

But it can’t just end with your name. They need you and your team to help them through this process and because you’ve done your job and have learned the real motivation behind their looking for home, they feel they can trust you. They know that you and your team are committed to walking with them, but only if they will commit to walking with you.

This is where most people will want to duck back into a Cordial or Adversarial. They want you to just take their order and they’ll call you when and if they need you. It’s important you understand this is the norm and you need to know how to give them some freedom to back up a little, but not let them run away entirely. Before you even ask for the Mutual Relationship you need to judge if they are ready for it. How far along are they in the process? Do you have a solid understanding of the WHY and WHO behind their desires? More importantly do THEY understand that you know the WHY and care about the WHO’s? Do they feel you care about their desires? We don’t want to focus on the WHAT’s, but have you taken great notes and they know you’ve got it all down?
Asking for the Commitment
If you can answer all of the questions above with a resounding YES, then you’ve done your job and you deserve to ask them to commit. Again this is where most agents and ISA’s stop due to the fear of rejection. Rejection is normal and it helps us to ask ourselves how we are coming across to the person on the other side of the phone. Did they feel my concern for them and what can I do better? Elite warriors are always looking to improve and nothing pushes us to do so better than rejection. However, you are not looking for rejection, you are looking for a yes and a yes is what you will get because you’re a rock star human being with a heart of gold. So let’s look at how to ask for that commitment.

You: Thank you so much for taking the time to really dig in and talk about why you are looking for a home and I am excited to help you and (the WHO’s traveling with them) find that place (list one or two WHY’s). Though I’ve enjoyed talking with you, I want to make sure you have a local real estate professional to walk with you as well. Our team is amazing and I think you’ll love having (Your team’s name) walk beside you through this process. So that we can get more acquainted, let’s set up a time to meet. What days work best for you?

If they are out of town, setting up a video call or phone call is acceptable as well. Or if they are 6 months or more out, it may be a little early to meet in person. But always ask for the commitment.

You: I know you are 6 months out so meeting up right now isn’t the best use of time, but can I ask one favor? In a few months when you are ready will you commit to meeting in person with me? OR Would you allow us the privilege of helping you find that home?

Asking for the commitment is the only way to truly know if you’ve created a Mutual Relationship. Without it you’re only assuming, and nothing great was ever accomplished by those who assume. Assuming typically means you’re still in a Cordial Relationship. Don’t be there. Ask for the commitment.