Knowing the head, heart and gut principle for yourself and the seller is critical to successful negotiation. Grant outlines the steps to determine your personal process, the seller’s process and how to tailor your sales pitch for the head, heart or gut decision maker.
Negotiation Skills Close the Deals
Like with any skill, practice makes perfect. Use parties or networking events to perfect these skills. When at an event, see how long you can go without telling someone a single thing about yourself. Ask them open ended questions like what do you enjoy doing? The more the other person talks, you are learning about them. When negotiating with a seller, employ the same technique, ask about them. The more the seller tells you, the more ammunition you have to negotiate.
Active Listening Is One of The Main Skills for Negotiating
Truly listen and pay attention to details. If you are walking a property and you see that the seller is a Dallas Cowboys fan or they have a dog, bring that up, build a rapport. People are either head, heart or gut. The head person will need a tremendous amount of data and numbers. The heart person is emotional and will make the decision based on memories. The gut person just has a feeling. You can determine the type of person from the ongoing conversation and open-ended questions. The head person will discuss the price they paid for the house and the market conditions, etc. The heart person will make “feel” statements, whereas the gut person will get very bored with a sales pitch.
It Is Crucial for You to Know If You Are A Head, Heart or Gut
To determine your type, think of buying a car, do you imagine yourself in the car and the image it project, would you walk in, see the car, know it’s the right one and buy it or did you research all the options, prices and features? You must be able to support your numbers and have documentation to prove it. If the person is sticking to the decision, you can ask questions to determine the real reason they are sticking to their decision.
You Don’t Care What People Want; You Care Why They Want What They Want
In negotiation, never give something up without getting something in return. You can use that in 2 ways. Always have something you know you can ask for in return. For example, if they want interest and you offer a 15-year term, but they want 10 years, you then say, “I can do 10 years, but not interest.” Tell them “I am giving you this.” When going through the contract, you can say “I’m not going to make you do the Home Warranty,” physically mark that off the contract. That way the seller feels that you have given something to them, you are therefore allowed to ask for something in return.
If you reach an impasse in negotiation, use the phrase “We are on the same side of the table and the problem is on the other side of the table.” We both want to sell your house. My issue is that I can’t go above $80,000. This puts the onus on the seller.
