The Altman Close

Chapter 11GOLDEN HAMMERS AND 20 QUESTIONS FOR SELLERS

You’ve got your head in the game, ready to serve your clients in all ways: prepared to please, and ready to open, work, and close. Your brand game and in-your-face strategy is strong. So what’s the next thing you – a new agent now, all “Hollywood” – need to consider as you prep yourself for meeting buyers and sellers in the walk-through?

Shut Up and Listen

The first thing you should pay attention to is your mouth – the best and worst thing you have going for you. Your mouth can both earn and cost you money, like mine has done for me. I mentioned this earlier when I talked about first appearances, but here it’s a matter of allowing the information to get to you before you piss off the person giving it – the potential client.

You want to be a great closer? Listen up. Seriously, in general, listen. Real estate is constant negotiation, and the more information you have – the more understanding of the motivations of all parties – the more effective you’ll be in getting the best deal. You can’t shut up enough if you want a killer close. Either you’re a beast or you’re not, but even beasts have to hold their tongue, open their ears, and pay attention.

Microsoft oversaw recent testing of the attention span of today’s average person. Scientists studied 2,000 people and the EEGs (electroencephalograms) of 112 more and found that, since the year 2000 to the present day, the human brain has dropped its ability to hold focus from 12 ...