Use Openhanded Selling to Overcome Tough Real Estate Objections

A Realtor client called me to bounce some ideas off me. Her buyer was balking at putting in an offer. The property had 90% of everything he wanted in a home, but that last 10% was bugging him. There was a deck that cantilevered over a canyon, but no yard. She wasn't sure what to say to him to get him to act. She didn't want him to buy a house he wouldn't be satisfied with. But she also didn't want to assume he couldn't be satisfied.

In her circumstances what would you do? Here are a few things she talked about doing:

1. Tell him the market is changing and this is the best opportunity to get a great property like this at a low price.
2. Hint that the seller is willing to help a little more on the repairs.
3. Explain that he still has 17 days to think about it before contingency removal, so go ahead with an offer now.
4. Point out that there's another offer coming in (which was true).
5. Remind him about the 90% he liked the property, and make a few suggestions about remedying the remaining 10%.
6. A mixture of all of the above.

After she went through this list with me, I asked her what solutions HE had for the lack of yard.

• "What do you mean?" she asked me.
• "Did you ask him what he was going to do about there not being a yard?"
• "No," she said.
• "Ask him. Say something like, 'I know you're concerned that there's no yard. How will that affect your lifestyle if you buy this house?'"
• She said, "I don't want to ask him that. What if he decides not having a yard would really mess with his lifestyle?"

This is a common reaction that agents (in fact, most salespeople) have when faced with a buying concern. You don't want to talk about the "white elephant" in the room, because you don't want to push them towards saying no.

But really, if you encourage people to talk about their concerns, you'll have a better opportunity to find solutions WITH them. For instance, suppose this buyer says that by not having a yard, he won't be able to garden. Now you have an opportunity to ask him "What kind of gardening do you like to do?"

It may turn out that his level of gardening could be handled by containers. You might then ask, "What kind of garden oasis could you create using container gardens?"

How to Handle Objections Openhandedly

If you want to learn to handle objections by letting a person find his or her own solutions, you need to be able to do four things:

1. Fully discuss the problem and understand why it's a problem from their perspective.
2. Know where you want the sales conversation to go so that you can guide it there using questions.
3. Understand how to use questions to influence a person's thought process.
4. Use your expertise to help them see things they might not be aware of.

This Openhanded Selling approach will get you through most concerns without needing to have the perfect counter-argument at the tip of your tongue.

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