One of the biggest challenges for many real estate professionals is closing the deal. There is a certain discomfort that often comes with “making the ask,” and it can be easy to slip into avoidance of such discomfort. Sometimes it’s difficult to close, even when the prospect is sending us signals that they are ready to move forward.But the reality is, if you approach this process with a simple, proven strategy, the “ask” can almost take care of itself, or, at least, be much easier to make.In this post, we review some basic strategies for improving your chances of successfully closing the deal by managing the entire process more effectively.
- The first, and perhaps most important strategy to improve your chances of closing is to effectively pre-qualify your prospect. Pre-qualification enables you to understand how motivated your prospect is at any given moment. Knowing their true motivation helps you to minimize the amount of time and energy you put into getting a listing presentation with the prospect. In an earlier post on PRE-QUALIFICATION, we review the due-diligence required for effective vetting of any prospect.
- Your initial contact with a prospect must be about engaging them, and building rapport. You need to be comfortable and confident, in order to make your prospect feel confident. One of the best ways to go into any discussion or presentation with confidence is to script your presentation beforehand. Know what open-ended questions you’re going to ask in order to create effective dialogue with your prospect. Scripting effectively limits the chance that you’ll drone on and on about your experience. Remember: this is about their needs, and dreams.
- Regardless of how long you’ve been in this business, you’ve come to realize that effectively dealing with objections is a big part of the game. To that end, always prepare yourself to close multiple times, as you prepare for multiple rounds of objections. This is, of course, true, whether you’re at the stage where you are trying to get the listing presentation, or are sitting in front of the prospect to make your listing presentation. Here is a suggested process for handling each round of objections, and getting the focus back closing the deal:
- Ensure that the prospect knows they’ve been heard by mirroring and playing back what they’ve said
- Beyond letting them know they’ve been heard, make sure you reinforce the fact that you fully understand their concerns, needs, dreams, etc.
- Be succinct in addressing their objections.
- Once you’ve addressed their objections, get back on the path to your close.
- While we all now the sales mantra “always be closing,” a more practical mantra for real estate might be “always know when to close.” There is a tendency for some agents to come on strong at the outset, which can result in the prospect putting up their defenses. You can be sending a message that you’re only in this for yourself if you are too aggressive. Again, by building rapport and confidence, you might find that “making the ask” will come naturally.
A well-thought-out closing process, anchored by a scripted presentation, is a great way to show the prospect the prospect you believe in yourself, which will, of course, make it that much easier that they will believe in you as well. That’s when you’ll know it’s time to close the deal.
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