Handling Objections Over The Phone | Lead Generation Training For Real Estate Agents

Hey guys, I'm so excited that you took a few minutes of your day today to join me for this great training. I believe it's going to be very helpful for all of you. And I know all of you are experienced prospectors. You understand the importance of getting to work every single day as a real estate agent and looking for people that want to sell. And obviously we're focused on listings. Inevitably, when you are prospecting, especially the hottest prospects, which are expired and for sale by owners, we hear a lot of objections. So what I want to talk to you about today is what is the biggest mistake that real estate agents make when they hear an objection over the phone? So let me share a few things with you. First, let me go right into what the biggest mistake is. And that is that when you hear an objection, we throw the entire kitchen sink at the cellar. Okay. I used to do that when I first got a real estate license and I didn't know better and didn't know how to handle objections. I would hear an objection and just start talking. That is a mistake. So I'm going to share with you what to do instead that's really effective so you can set appointments. Now, I know, you know, because you're all great agents that the only goal we have when prospecting is setting a listing appointment. We're not prospecting to talk to people. We're not prospecting to get leads. We're not prospecting to make contacts or to put in a certain number of hours of prospecting. There's only one goal, and that is to set an appointment. And in order to set the appointment, we're going to inevitably going to have to handle one, two, three, four, five objections, however many are necessary. It doesn't matter. The process is actually the same. So when I say the biggest mistake is that we tend to just throw the entire kitchen sink at them is the tendency when we hear an objection is we start talking. So we immediately, whatever objection handler we know of, or we think of, or we believe would be the best option here, we just want to say it. And that's not what you should be doing. And I want to give you a little background to what you should be doing instead so you can kind of understand the reason behind it. You know, I feel like it's a lot better for me to be able to help you understand the logic behind what I am saying rather than just tell you what to do. I am going to tell you what to do, but if that's all that happens and you don't understand where I'm coming from and why it's important to actually do things a certain way, you're probably not going to do it. But when you get the logic of it, you're like, okay, I think that makes sense to me. So yeah, I'm going to work towards that. So first of all, what is an objection? I want you to think about an objection as an opportunity for you to actually set an appointment. Why is it an opportunity? Because let's say you hear an objection, I have a friend in real estate. If and when I decide to list this property, and again, this could be anyone. This could be an expired, a for sale by owner. This could be someone that you've got a hold of making just listed, just sold calls. I hope that your past clients and your spirit of influence are not going to say, well, I have a friend in real estate. You should be the friend. You should be the agent that helped them in the past. So this, I have a friend in real estate is an objection that you're going to hear very common objection from somebody you don't know. So why is this an opportunity for you? Because they're giving you an objection and hoping and trusting that you're going to say something that are going to cause them to reconsider their choice. Look, here's what I'm saying. If they just, if they're going to list with a friend, no matter what they would say, oh, I have a friend in real estate. I don't need you. Thanks. Bye. Click. They hang up. If they say, well, I have a friend in real estate that I will list with. And they're still there. They haven't hung up on you yet. That's an opportunity. They're waiting for you to say something. And that something could possibly, potentially, and certainly change their mind, or at least get you an appointment to a listing appointment to be able to explain to them why listing with you would be advantageous, more beneficial for them than actually using the front. So having said that, this is what I want you to have in your mind. When you hear an objection, an objection is not something that you hear and you freak out, meaning like you freak out because it's like, I have no idea what to say. I just heard this objection and you're scrambling. You're looking around for objection handlers where you're thinking, okay. You're thinking of how to respond while they're still speaking. That's one of the mistakes. You know, I said a mistake is that we just start talking, but even before we start talking, the first mistake is actually we're not listening when they are speaking because we're worried about what we're going to say. It's like, oh my gosh, they have a friend in real estate. Now what? There's nothing to freak out here. Okay. This is going to be, I'm going to make this really simple for you. So it is an opportunity. And then I also want you to always assume that what they're saying is an objection and not a condition. Always. I don't care what the objection is. It's always, you always assume that it is an objection. Why? Because a condition, what's the difference between an objection and a condition? And I know many of you, you've heard this before, so you know what I'm going to say, but this is a reminder. A condition is something that there is nothing you can say that would change the situation. Now, and an objection is something that you can actually overcome. You can get rid of this objection by saying something that makes sense to them and you can set an appointment. So in the example of, I have a friend in real estate. Is that an objection or is it a condition? It could be either one. It's possible that a prospect has a friend in real estate and they're going to listen to that friend, no matter what you say. Okay. They're committed to the friend. They promise the friend, they're loyal to the friend and that's it. There's nothing you can do about it. But it's also very possible that it is an objection. In fact, a lot of people that you're talking to as prospects that you don't know, they will say, I have a friend in real estate, because probably most people do. I mean, real estates are a dime a dozen, so who doesn't have a friend in real estate, right? Everybody knows somebody or several people that have a real estate license and some are friends and relatives. It doesn't matter. The point is that a lot of times they just say that to get rid of this conversation, to have you hang up and leave them alone. Not because they're committed to listening with the friend. Just, you know, it's an easy way to end this conversation. So I always want you to assume that what you're hearing is an objection. Because if you assume that it is a condition and this friend in real estate, I'm afraid to say what I'm going to say to you right now, because I don't want to, I'm going to say it because I want you to understand the logic, okay? Having a friend in real estate or even a relative, okay? I have a relative in real estate. My cousin is in real estate. This is not the easiest objection to overcome. I mean, if they're really, even if they're already told the friend or the relative or the cousin that they're listing with them, could you say something that would cause them to at least allow you to come by for an appointment so you can show them why it would be beneficial for them to list with you instead of the cousin or the friend or whoever? Yes, that is 100% possible. But if you think this is a tough objection to overcome, if you think it's a condition in your mind, you know, selling has a lot to do with what's going on in our heads, okay? I can teach you what to say. I can teach you how to say it. I can talk to you about how important it is to listen intently when you're having a conversation with a prospect or presenting and in every selling situation. But the truth is none of that is gonna help you if in your mind you're not thinking the right way. And the right way to think about these objections is it's an objection and I'm always gonna assume that it is because if I assume it's a condition then I'm kind of done with it before I even start. Like I might as well not say anything because this is a condition. So I know that I'm not gonna be able to set an appointment. You see, this is the mindset in the back of your mind. Subconsciously you gotta shift the way you're thinking because otherwise you're never gonna be able to overcome that objection or any objection. Everything is too hard. You call a for sale by owner and they say, I don't want to pay a commission. I can sell it myself. I've sold a bunch of homes on my own before so I don't need an agent. Condition or objection? Certainly they make it sound like it's a condition. Meaning this is what I'm doing. They're super confident but this can be overcome 99% of the time. The friend in real estate 99% of the time. So you gotta always assume 100% of the time that this is an objection. I trust that you're getting what I'm saying. I know you're all high level agents. You're all experienced prospectors and at the same time, even the best of the best. When we're on the phone, we start doubting. We're speaking with someone that sounds really confident and we have second thoughts about what we're doing. I remember when I was selling real estate and I used to prospect, believe me, I'm not exempt from that. I feel like today I am. It's 25 years in real estate. As time goes by, you get stronger and stronger and stronger and develop more and more confidence and belief in what you're doing. But I clearly remember even my fourth, fifth year in real estate, I'm already selling 120 homes a year, being on the phone and hearing certain objections that would cause me to question my confidence in myself. This is why I'm having this conversation with you because I want to make sure that when you have a thought or you have doubt, always assume it is an objection. Maybe this is something that you want to write down and hang it in front of you because in the moment, we tend to have second thoughts. We assume it is an objection. We don't make the mistake of thinking about what to say when we're hearing the objection and we also don't make the mistake to start talking as soon as they're done talking. What is it that we do instead? What we do instead, we listen intently and then the next thing we're going to do is we're going to validate what they said. We're going to make them feel like we get it. We understand you have a friend in real estate and I'm sure your friend is a pretty good agent. Otherwise you wouldn't consider putting one of your biggest assets in the hands of a bad agent. I completely understand Mr. Seller. That's the validation. That's repeating and approving and that is the first step. Now, in order to do this effectively, I want you to understand the purpose and the logic of what I'm saying. What's going to happen next is you're going to ask a question to the seller, a question that's going to cause them to have some doubt about whether the friend is really the best option or am I 100% committed to this friend? You're going to ask a question, but the problem with asking a question, so you're not going to handle the objection. You're not going to tell them why they should list with you or meet with you and not use the phone. No, no, we don't do that over the phone. This is about how to handle objections effectively and the mistakes we make, but the reality is we don't really handle objections over the phone. We don't. There's some rare exceptions when you do and that's going to be another conversation. Today, we want to know what do we do instead. You're going to ask this question. The challenge is when you ask these questions, and I'm going to give you some examples of some great questions you could ask and some that are very versatile that could be used for many, many different objections, but it's important that when you ask the question, the person you're speaking with is actually listening to you. And it's human nature, not just in a selling situation, which is the situation you're in right now. It's human nature that we tend not to listen to someone when we feel like they didn't listen to us. Check that out. Think of all that. Think of all that in your conversations and relationships with everybody in your life. Have you ever had an argument with somebody or you feel like you're having an adversarial conversation? That happens because you are saying something to somebody. They don't feel like you listen to them so they're not going to listen to you. You're talking and then they start talking and it's like, you know, it's just downhill from there. So we're referring to you being on the phone with somebody you don't know before you say anything to cause them to question their choice of listing with a friend or selling on their own or relisting with the same age and or listing with the neighborhood specialist. I don't care what the objection is. Before you say something that will cause them to question what they said to you, you need to make them feel like you're actually listening to what they're saying. And that's where the validation and the repeat and approval comes in. Now, a lot of scripts, I coached agents for very large coaching companies for many, many years. And every script that I've ever seen has some questions. And then after the question, there's an approval word, one word, sometimes a short sentence. It's usually one word. Oh, great. Excellent. Fantastic. Good for you. Approval. Okay. The problem with using these canned approval words is it doesn't cause people to feel like you're listening. It's not validating anything. It's just like, it sounds really scripted. Like you're just saying great. And then you ask another question. So it's like, uh, yeah, yeah, I got you. And then you move on. That is, that's totally ineffective. So that's a mistake. Okay. You're going to repeat and approve effectively. You're going to say something that makes sense based on what they said. And I gave you an example a little while ago. If a for sale by owner says, oh, I don't want to pay a commission. I can sell it myself. How do, how do I validate that? How do I make him feel like, you know, I get it. I completely understand. I heard you. How do I do that? So here's an example, a different example for this objection. I would say, and, and, and Mr. Seller, you use their name. I completely understand. And I, I hear what you're saying. I mean, from your perspective, you're looking at this thinking, I mean, I can certainly do what most real estate agents do. And if I can sell my house for the same price that a real estate agent can sell it for, I have no reason to, to hire one, to do something that I can do and pay him money to do something that I can do. I might as well keep the money for myself. Right. That I would imagine that's your thought process right now. And they're going to say, well, yeah, that's Now they're feeling like they're feeling like this is weird. I mean, this agent is different than all the other agents I talked to. She's not disagreeing with me and telling me, well, you, you shouldn't be doing like that. That doesn't make sense. Then I can do better. I know that that's what most real estate agents do. They make the prospect feel wrong about what they're doing. Do you know anybody that loves to have somebody make them feel like they're wrong? How do you like that? Nobody likes that. Everybody wants to be right. Yeah. So, and, you know, I know that agents make the prospect feel wrong. First of all, because in all my years of, of coaching and training, I've listened to, I used to, I have a different training company now, but sometimes I would listen to agents. Prospecting calls, even in my training right now, some of my clients actually role play live and I hear it and I could hear what the way they're going about it is making the prospect feel like, oh, well, that's not what you should be doing, whether it's by what they're saying or how they're saying it. Now the challenge with that is, and if you've done this, you will know. Nobody likes to be wrong. Everybody wants to be right. So when the prospect feels like you're not listening and you don't agree with what they're doing, or you're not validating what they're doing, they will either hang up on you or they will say something to you to convince you that they are right. So now you think you're right. They think they're right. What happens here? It's basically, it's an argument that you're not going to win because they have the power to just go click and hang up. And yeah, if you're this is the reason why that's the biggest mistake. It's to not validate them enough. Just start talking at them because they're not even listening. I mean, this is like, if you're talking to a wall, you know, you talk to a wall, is it listening? No, it's not. It's like, just, and then you miss the opportunity to actually get an appointment. So yes, you're going to listen intently. You're going to validate, you're going to repeat and approve appropriately. And going back to it for a minute, I said, I'm going to give you some examples of questions, right? To, to create some doubt in their mind, to spark some curiosity. Hmm. Yeah, I do have a friend in real estate, but you know, maybe it's a good idea to give the stage in just 20 minutes to see what it is that like, they sound so confident that they can do better or different or whatever. That's what we're looking for. We're not looking for anything else. We're not for a qualifying disappointment. We're not looking for a commitment. They're going to listen. We're just looking for them to say, sure, I'll give you 20 minutes. Come show me what you've got. Okay. So in order for you to validate and repeat and approve appropriately, you're going to need to be listening intently, which is what I said, you need to do in the first place. Cause if you're not, if you're in your head thinking about what to say, you're not going to, you're not even listening to exactly what they're saying. So you're going to, your validation and your repeating approving is not going to be effective and they know it. Okay. People, people can tell when you're really listening and when you're being genuine about what you're saying. And this is important too, because which is how you're saying it, you know, only, and I know all of you have heard this before. So this is an important reminder. Only 7% of your communication comes from what you are saying. Everybody's interested in like, tell me the script. What's the script. Yes. The right script is going to help you set more appointments, take more listings, price them right and get them sold. However, it's only 7% of communication. 93% is how you're saying it. So you need to sound like you actually understand why they would consider the friend or why they wouldn't want to pay a real estate commission, a real estate agent, a commission. So genuinely understanding where they're coming from. And I, you know, I do 100%. I mean, put yourselves in their, in their head. So sounding genuine. Okay. To me is the opposite of sounding condescending. Like, you know, like you could say the same thing, but you could sound like, well, you know, you're an idiot and you have no idea what you're doing. And you know, I am the best. Well, yeah, you should believe that you're the best agent, but you cannot come across in a way that causes them to feel like, you know, you're superior than them. No, it's not a matter of being superior or being right. Or that's all ego stuff. Okay. That's not what it's about. Really putting yourselves in their situation to understand why they're thinking the way they're thinking and then offering them a better or different way of looking at things. Okay. Okay. I know this, my, this is high level conversation. Okay. This is, this is not like basic stuff and selling, but the reality is you're all ready for a high level stuff. Okay. I'm trying to give you high level information here in a simple way so you could understand and apply it. So now you've listened intently, you validated, you repeat and approve, they feel heard and understood. And then you're going to ask a question. And let me give you some examples. And so after all the validation, right? So, so Mr. Seller, let me ask you this. If there was a better way for you to get this home sold, wouldn't you at least want to know about this is one of my favorites of all time. Think about how versatile this is. You could use this question to get their attention, create doubts or curiosity for, I'm going to relist with the same agent. I have a friend in real estate. I'm going to list with the neighborhood specialist. I don't want to pay a commission. I could sell them myself, whatever you could use for all of those. Here's another one that is versatile too. If there was a significant advantage for you to work with someone other than that agent, or there was a significant advantage for you to work with me instead of selling it yourself, is that something you'd be interested in looking at? Now the power of these types of questions and there are many, many, many other examples is that it's very difficult for people to say no to, especially since you validated everything they said and you're making them feel good and be right. And they're thinking, is that something I'd be interested in looking at? Sure. I'd be interested in hearing what you have to say. I'm not promising you right now that I'm going to list with you. And that's understandable. I just called them like a couple of minutes ago. They have no idea who I am, what I do, how I can help them. So I'm not looking for that commitment over the phone. I'm looking for an opportunity to get in front of them on a listing appointment, not a preview where they're thinking I might bring in a buyer. No, that's a waste of time. You want to get in front of people to show them the value of listing with you and allowing them to sell the property, the value in hiring you. Why? People pay for value every single day and they will pay for value when you show up that way. So think about, that's all you're looking for. You're looking for that opportunity. And these questions make it very easy for them to go, sure. Okay. I'll hear what you have to say. And now, what do you do then? You ask for the appointment. Great. I'd like to just meet with you for about 20 minutes and show you exactly how it would benefit you to work with me instead of selling it yourself. Would today at three o'clock work for you? Would four be better? That's the close. The alternative close, you know, would three o'clock work for you today? Would four be better? You have to do that. Okay. Every time. You cannot just say, well, when would be a good time for you? That's too open-ended. And people may say, well, I don't know. You know, I'm busy today. I'm busy. No, no, no. Give them choices of time. If they say, well, no, today, you know, I don't get home from work till five o'clock. Oh, okay. No problem. I actually can make it work around six, six, 30 today. Which one would be better for you? Okay. So you're always giving them the alternative of time until you nail it. Okay. Now let me back up for a minute. 20 minutes, 20 minutes of your time. I have agents ask me all the time. Well, can you do a listening presentation in 20 minutes? Yes. Most of the ones that I do that I've done, it's 30 to 35 minutes. Okay. So it's a little bit longer. However, when you get to the house, they're not going to put a timer on and say to you, well, you know, you're 20 minutes around, but they're not going to do that. It doesn't, I promise you. Okay. I have listed and sold thousands of homes. So I know what I'm talking about. And when you master your, your listing presentation, you know that you can get it done in 30 minutes. And the point of saying 20, I I'd like to meet with you for just 20 minutes and show you exactly how it would benefit you to consider working with me instead of selling yourself or, or listing with your friend or whatever, whatever the objection is. And 20 minutes makes it easy for them to say yes. Those questions you ask or the question you ask to get their attention, it makes it easy for them to say yes. And now the 20 minutes continues to make it easy for them to say yes. Why is that? All of you are not average real estate agents, but the average real estate agent will go on a listing appointment and spend two hours, two and a half hours, bore the seller to death, put him to sleep. Okay. I used to do that. My first year in real estate, that's what I learned. That's what they taught me in the office that I joined. And it's like, yo, I'm putting myself to sleep. Imagine the sellers, right? So the problem with that is that if you don't say just 20 minutes, the seller's thinking, Oh, this is going to be two hours. I'm like, I don't have time for that. So they're, they're way more likely to say, no, I don't have the time. No, I'm busy. No, it's whatever. So making it easy for them to say yes, is critically important. So there's a combination of a lot of things that I shared here with you today, that will cause you to set more appointments and the whole purpose of this conversation and how this is how the conversation started. What's the biggest mistake, not listening when they give you an objection and start talking immediately. Instead, follow the steps that I gave you here today, and you're gonna find yourself setting a whole lot more appointments. Hey, thank you for joining me today. I had fun. I trust you had fun and you learned a lot. We may actually put this video on YouTube at some point. So if we do and you want to hear this again and take some more notes, because I know it's not always easy to take notes when I'm speaking fast. There's a lot of information here. We'll send you the link. If we decide to put it there, we probably will and make it a great day. Thanks for joining me today. I'll see you soon. Bye-bye everybody.