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Whether we like to admit or not, real estate is a sales job – and like any sales job having closing sales techniques is vital if you ever want to earn a commission and get paid. There are many different ways to close a sale, and many wonder if an aggressive or passive way is more effective. Finding the most effective closing sales techniques will make it a lot easier to convert listing appointments to clients – as well as if you’re working with buyers drastically reduce the number of houses you look at. No matter what type of sales job you may have, even if it’s not real estate – if you can’t close the sale, you don’t get paid.
But, most closing techniques make a lot of people uncomfortable. And from an ethical standpoint, many agents (especially newer ones who have never worked in sales before) are often caught in a debate between getting paid or being nice.
The #1 most important thing in selling anything, whether it be a product or service: You’ve got to demonstrate your value. I’ve seen so many bad listing presentation strategies where agents don’t really “prove” themselves – and if you can’t do that, you’re not going to get very far, especially in a super competitive field.
Another strategy is one a very well respected and older agent taught me when I first started real estate. When she began her training as an agent 30 plus years ago they taught her one thing and one thing only: don’t leave until you have the papers signed.
Now, this aggressive type of closing technique works – but this is where the ethics of everything comes into play. Being overly aggressive makes people not like you. It makes them feel uncomfortable.
The only way to successfully be passive at marketing yourself it to have a strong online presence.
1. Demonstrate Your Value: You’ve got to be able to show that you are the ultimate real estate solution available. (If you’re not the best, you should get a new job that’s more suited for you or get the training you need to be the best). Customers and clients want proof. They’re trusting you with the biggest investment of their life most of them, so proof is essential. (If you haven’t done so already, make sure you Subscribe via email to be notified when I write my next post on techniques you can use to truly show your value to a prospective client)
2. Have Solutions to Objections: Everyone is always going to have objections and excuses as to why they can’t do something today. If you want to close a sale and use good closing techniques, you need to have answers for all those objections clients are going to have for you. See Response to Sales Objections for more ideas.
3. Don’t Leave Too Early: The longer you stay somewhere with someone, the more of a relationship you build with them, and the more you’re going to be able to get a feel for them. If you sit there for 10 minutes, show your presentation and get out, then you get points for politeness, but chances are people are not going to remember you or feel that you’re good at negotiating. The longer you stay somewhere, the more likely you’re going to get the listing.
4. Play on Emotions: As humans, we are naturally emotional – and relating to someone on an emotional level is going to help you instantly make more progress than if you didn’t. It’s not enough anymore to just blast someone with facts. If you can get into their emotional side, they’ll likely connect with you better and be more likely to move forward.
5. There’s Only One Way to Be Successfully Passive: Being passive is not going to get you many face to face sales. But if you’re not the pushy aggressive sales type (and most of us aren’t, because we hate high pressure sales people), there’s a way to be passive and wildly successful – and that is to have a compelling online presence. When you’re nice, and not pushy, you get more referrals, word of mouth marketing, and sales, which are all nice residual income builders – and you can focus less on those pushy listing presentations.
If you adopt aggressive closing sales techniques, then you’re going to get more closings and sales, period. You and I both know that when you go to someone’s house for a listing presentation they committed before you get there to make no decisions that night. If you know how to be aggressive, then you know how to get past that and you will get the listing. But will you gain respect? Referrals? Will people out there think you are nothing but a ruthless, heartless, scumbag agent?
If you want to retain your dignity while still generating business and commissions, learning how to demonstrate your value, solve objections, connect on an emotional level with clients, put the right amount of time into it, and having a passive yet strong online presence can help you leave the pushy sales tactics at the door.
So, tell me your thoughts. What kind of closing strategies and techniques do you use? Are you too aggressive? Too passive? Somewhere in the middle? What benefits do you see of passive versus aggressive in closing a sale?
