Keeping the Conversation Light

[Jacob McPherson]

I spoke to a Wholesaler in my area last night, and he said, "How you communicate with your potential seller over the phone will have a direct impact on whether or not you will be able to negotiate and close on that particular property in the future."  He then gave me the following scenario and question, which he said comes up often:

If a seller calls you and abruptly says, "Hey, I got your postcard saying that you want to buy my house.  How much are you willing to give me?", how would you respond?

Although I didn't have an exact phrase in mind, I knew that I would have to figure out a way to redirect the conversation to bring it into a state of ease.  Otherwise, I'm probably not going to get anywhere.  He then gave me an example of something that he may respond with.  In this case, he reverts to "the funny guy," in which he responds by saying something along the lines of "Jeeze Bill, I send out a lot of mail and to be honest, I don't even know what house you're referring to, and since I haven't looked at it yet, I have no idea what condition it's in.  So I really have no idea what I can offer you.  But I can tell you, it'll be more than a dollar." haha  Now that the conversation is a little more tame, he begins inquiring about the property and the reasons for selling.

One of my biggest fears is that I will start speaking with potential sellers, and there will be moments where I'll be caught off guard and won't know what to say.  I know that I will learn with experience, but I'm curious, what are some of the more sticky/difficult things that you've been asked by Sellers, and how did you handle it?  What are some common phrases that you use in your phone conversations to keep the conversation light and flowing?