Tom Toole used to always tell me objections are a gift. And he’s right.
To give an example, I’ll share what happened recently when I made a call for an expired listing.
I asked for the appointment six times. Why? Because of course, there were objections on the call. But those objections were huge opportunities for me to add value to her situation and help her with a problem—a problem many sellers face:
- Her house was on the market
- It hadn’t sold
- She wanted to get the house sold for the money that she wanted
In listening to her objections and discussing the situation with her, I was able to react to her specific pain points.
Objection Handling
One of the objections went like this: “Well, I had the property under contract for the price I wanted, and the buyer fell through. The buyer changed his job.”
Great! You can handle that objection this way: “I want to show you exactly how we’re going to bring you qualified buyers at your price. And if I can’t show you that, then I’m not the right person for the job. Is that fair?”
On the phone, nod as you ask, “Is that fair?” Bring all your energy—which includes body language—into the conversation because that helps you deliver your point (even when the caller can’t see you).
During my call, the sixth time I asked for an appointment, she agreed, saying, “Yeah, that sounds fair.”
Earn the Appointment
Asking for an appointment doesn’t give you the right to spend 30 minutes with the homeowner. It’s her property, her dirt, her wood, her investment. Asking only once is the bare minimum. But if you want to succeed as a real estate agent, especially in a market like this one, the bare minimum won’t do it.
She—the homeowner—put the money down. I didn’t. So, when I’m asking for an appointment, I need to let her know where we rank on the pecking order. She’s ultimately the one holding the cards. Even if I believe my team is the best, she’s not obligated to take my word for it.
Don’t go in there with a big ego. Use the language of “I’m here to earn the right to work for you. Let me apply for this job on Friday at 1:00, and work for you in netting you the amount of money you want for your home. Does that sound fair? If I’m not the right person, you don’t hire me for the job to work for you.”
And listen, my team is the best in the state of Connecticut. I don’t need to jam that down her throat. But she asked for credentials—and you’re damn right I was happy to seize that opportunity.
“Yes, I’ll send our credentials. I love our credentials. They happen to be at the top of the list of the MLS.”
I followed up the next morning with a PDF showing those credentials. It’s a valuable tool that we have. If you don’t have credentials of your own yet, use those of your team as social proof you have a solid structure of support behind you.
But always aim to circle back to the essentials:
- What’s the pain point?
- What’s the objection?
- What’s the opportunity for us to show value?
Make sure the prospect understands they can feel comfortable about the confidence you have in applying for the job. They must feel at ease with you as a person coming over, knowing that you’re applying for this job. You’re working for them.
Objections are a Gift
These objections—these issues that people are having with their real estate experience—are nothing but a gift to us. They’re an opportunity for us to do our jobs, to actually help people solve the problem that they have.
Keep hitting these skills. Keep up the practice. Look at Deion Sanders, for example. He treats every single practice like it’s a game, so when he’s in the game, it feels like a practice. We want to do the same thing as real estate agents: practice like it’s the real thing. So, when we get to the real thing, it’s just practice to us.
The more calls you make, the more opportunities you get. And in a market like this, you need all the opportunities you can get.
