The power of negotiation

The power of negotiation

Have you ever wanted to buy something however the price was a little out of your reach? Maybe it was a car or piece of furniture, even stylish clothing. We all have let the cost of the item turn us away haven’t we?

But what if you knew the little subtle phrases to say and actions to take that would decrease the cost enough for you to purchase the items you wanted. How cool would that be?

After buying hundreds of houses I have found that the power of negotiation begins the moment you start your relationship with a seller. It is paramount that you set yourself in a position of success right from the beginning.

So here are your tools to negotiation success.

• Mimicking
• Pace
• Positive | Negative reinforcements
• Embedded commands
• Physical gestures
• Take a ways
• Silence
• Listen | Repeat
• Power exchange
• Close

Mimicking - Some may think that mimicking a prospects tonality isn’t valuable however the more we can the more wealth we can create. Verbal mimicking is basic human nature. I remember calling home and one of my sons answered said hello and then he started having a conversation with me. I had to listen very carefully to determine which son I was speaking to. To take this to a larger extreme it is where accents come from. People like sounding like the people they associate with. Entire cultures mimic one another. So if you’re on a purchase presentation and your prospect speaks in a dialect which is different than yours try and mimic their speech patterns. The moment you do they will feel much more comfortable with you during the purchase presentation. If you want your prospect to listen to you then you have to speak their language.

Mimicking doesn’t stop at the tonality of your prospect it also encompasses their vocabulary. If a prospect is using slang so should you. If they say a word like aint or are using double negatives in their speech pattern so should you. Don’t use University Grammar with your prospect until you are certain they can understand you. Remember you want them to listen to you. You never want your education to come across as arrogant.

Pace – Not understanding a person’s pace will certainly lead to disaster. Pace is the basic skill of communication at the pace of your prospect. Some people speak very fast and some speak very slowly. Don’t run your prospect over by talking too fast to them. Match their flow. It may be a little difficult however once you find their pace and match it then your negotiation power will have been increased tremendously. Think of pace like a piece of rope being held by you and your prospect. If you and your prospect were each holding an end of the rope the goal would be to have the rope always at a straight line. If you outpaced your prospect you would run them over or worse pulled the rope out of their hand.

There are times that you will want to gently pull them down a path with using a little more pace then they use but be careful not to out pace them 100 percent of the time.

Positive and negative reinforcements. This one is critical. Almost every statement the seller makes regarding the sale of their property is either negative or positive. Very few are insignificant to the outcome.

Here is a scenario; you ask the seller when they want their house to be sold. Their answer is in two weeks. You could reply with either a positive or negative statement. Something like;

• You want to be sold in two weeks “Ouch” or
• You want to be sold in two weeks “terrific”

But which answer is the best for you? The word ouch implies a negative and the word terrific is a positive.

I would say this. You want to be sold in two weeks, ouch. However one of the great things about you selling me the house, today, is that I can close on the day of your choice. Two weeks won’t be a problem.

What I am doing is telling them that two weeks is an issue for most buyers however for me it isn’t. I am also using an embedded command, setting a date to sell, and repeating what they said so that they know that I was listening. If I had used the word terrific I wouldn’t be putting doubt in their mind and I would be reinforcing that what they said was normal or typical.

Some words, the word “wow” is an example, are both positive and negative and it is how you use inflections to cause the correct outcome.

One word of caution; when talking price be careful not to give away your excitement with your tonality when saying the correct word.

Embedded Commands. Here is the most common phrase I use when I first meeting a seller. Thank you for inviting me out to buy your house today. Right from the beginning I am letting them know that I am buying their house today.

If I can work in phrases like “when you sell me your house” or “When we sign the agreement today” or “I am the right buyer” eight times in a conversation there will be little doubt that I am there to buy the house.

People want to be told what to do so tell them what to do.

Examples of embedded commands.

When we agree on a price tonight

Selling me your house

Believe me

Buy your house today

When we sign the agreement today

When you sell me your house

Practice your embedded commands.

-To be continued-