You’re going to need to handle objections from buyers in your real estate business. If you don’t handle those objections properly, you’re going to find that you’re not going to be able to help the buyer move forward in the process. You’re going to find out that your buyer is going to run all over you, and you’re going to find out that you’re not reaching your full potential in your firm.
I’m going to show you different ways to handle objections and you’re going to be able to handle any objection that comes your way. John McCarthy, Director of Sales at Spyglass Realty, joins us in this episode and we’re going to talk about objection handlers.
About John McCarthy
It was seven years ago when John moved to Texas with his family and joined Spyglass Realty. He was licensed in 2006 and the training that he had when he first started had a lot of scripts and dialogues. It had a lot of conversations because you’ll have a lot of conversations to be successful in real estate. John was in Orange County, California when he first started.
He didn’t know the area geographically and he was in California for six months when he got his real estate license. While doing real estate in California, he talked about cities and home loans and had no clue what he was talking about. But John was good at reading words on paper. That’s when a coach told him to do is to just read the words on the paper so you get good at it. It’s what John did and how he started and got him going in real estate.
When John moved to Texas, he was looking for a real estate brokerage with everything an agent needed such as training and leads and training on how to talk to those leads, how those leads transpired into conversions then sales. John saw that Spyglass Realty was a great fit for him after he was shown the database and script which was 100 times better than what he had during that time.
Prior to joining Spyglass, John had a part-time job as a coach in an outbound call center and called roofing contractors on the east coast in the morning and California in the afternoon to make up for the timezone selling front-page Google placements. He split his day by doing cold calling for his Google placements and cold calling for real estate nine months before he started with Spyglass.
John had become our top-producing converter of leads. He built a team and took over the role of Sales Manager where he was also busy doing his own production to becoming a full-time Director of Sales.
How John Structured Our Sales Team
It goes back to the core components that were put into place with the leads according to John. He was a brand new agent and in his first year, he did around two to three transactions because he was halfway in and halfway out. When he plugged in all the way, his number one focus was sales. He thought that he needed to have as many sales as possible because there were so many nuances. He eventually was going to grow and he couldn’t be complacent with doing a few sales a year.
The advantage John mentioned that he had along the way was that he got to work within Spyglass as a small company with a little baby lead product that he was barely hanging onto. He then plugged in and started making it work. When John was offered some responsibility as a part-time sales manager, it helped him learn even more.
Spyglass Realty provided the leads so John was working and figuring out how to work these leads coming in and how to convert them. He got to a level during the beginning of the pandemic where his business tripled. By bringing in great agents within the company over that period of time, John was able to set up operations and do a lot of sales without having to leave home.
Handling Buyer Objections in Austin Real Estate
One of the things John and I talked about is the buyers that are on the fence and say, “should I wait? Is the market gonna go low? Should interest rates go down?” Here are some handlers you should take note of when a buyer objects during your conversation.
I’m thinking of waiting for the market out.
“I’ve narrowed my objection handling down to basically like, almost one question right off the bat and that question is designed to just prompt the conversation a little bit more and get a little bit more information.”
John explains further that the reason most people are going to say that they want to wait. “What are you waiting for to happen before you get more serious?” There’s something else that is going on in their life and you can casually approach it. You’re not going to high pressure and sell them into anything –– that is what they don’t want but there’s something on the horizon.
Most people John talked to that are browsing actually would love to purchase a home, but they’re just waiting for something. Ask them what is it that they’re waiting to happen for them to get more serious about buying a home.
Maybe they reply that it’s the interest rates, their lease, or their lender, there are a lot of different things that they could reply to next. They could either lie or say the honest truth. John says that he has to be careful not to badger them with questions. You got to take their leave a little bit and ask them about what’s going to be important.
The interest rates are high.
John would say, “How long do you plan on waiting for the interest rates to go down?” They could possibly respond “I don’t know, I’m just gonna wait and see the market.” or “I’m timing the market” which is John’s bait for him to say,
“Anybody that’s trying to time the market, as soon as you realize it’s the right time, by the time you into purchasing, it’s going to be too late, and you’re gonna be spending more money than you actually did. So it’s just by luck or chance that you hit the right time.”
It sounds like the lead would like to purchase if the timing was right. Now ask them if they are opposed to meeting with you to find out some of their goals and see where you can get them positioned so when that right property pops up, you’re ready to go. It’s about taking the pressure off and getting them ready.
If people are truly timing the market as they say, then they need to be prepared for when that time comes. We all know that it’s usually something to do with fear. From 2013 to 2018, was the only time in the last 20 years where the rates were under 5%. You have to be able to show them that data and not just tell them.
I’m just browsing.
You’re just browsing? Great! What is that you’re waiting to happen before you get more serious about making a move?
Are you just browsing? What is it that you love that you saw? Maybe I can set you up on something specific so that you can see more homes you’re interested in.
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You guys aren’t really worth what you’re being paid for.
Real estate agents get this quite a bite and it’s on the buyer and the seller side. Buyers would come in and say that this house can get them a rebate or discount. This is one thing John always tells the Spyglass agents, you’ve got to have one response that you can come back every single time. Once that is ingrained inside you, it just comes out. Here’s John’s response to commissions or rebates:
“Hey, I appreciate you asking about a discount in commission, usually part of my income. Most people ask about a discount. They either think that real estate agents are overpaid, or they don’t understand how real estate commissions are broken down. Do you understand how real estate fees and commissions are broken down?”
None of that matters until you can hit them over the head like “wait, you think I’m overpaid?” or “you don’t understand commissions are broken down.” Are you asking for a portion of my brokerage commission which could be somewhere between 1% – 3%? Are you asking for a disk portion of my commission after I pay taxes, before taxes, or before I take care of my family, which party referrals? There are a lot of things that go into it that people don’t understand. Before you start beating them up over why you’re better, why you can earn it, and why you’re all those things, put it out there first, and say it every single time.
Seller Objections
Should I go for you or a discount agent?
Right off the bat, John mentions one quick objection handler that he’d day is,
“First of all, we charge about the same as everybody else 6% and we just make sure we provide every service and resource above and beyond what any other broker is going to provide for you.
If you’re looking for a discount broker, then you’re going to be able to save money, but you’re probably not going to make as much money.”
In addition to that, John adds, “Our track record of success shows that we’re able to sell our clients homes faster and for more money so maybe I’ll go and show you that.” or “maybe I’ll revisit that in our marketing for listings or when we get together and I’ll show you exactly what to do.” “I’ll show you more money than a discount broker.”
Setting the appointment.
With prospecting and conversion, the focus is to set the appointment. According to John, even if you’re at a social event and someone brings up real estate, you’re not going to sit there and talk about the market and all their goals right there.
If you can have a casual way to say, “you know what, that’s a great question. Would you be open-minded talking to me a little bit later, we can set up a Zoom or come to my office sometime?” 30 minutes on a Zoom call or a quick meet and greet to talk about a strategy session are easy ways John has been able to schedule appointments.
Anybody can sell my home.
It’s cliché for buyers and sellers, says John. We don’t just stick a sign in your yard. It’s really easy for everybody to say that.
“Look, I have a lot of different solutions both for buyers and sellers. We have programs and products available. Once I understand what you’re looking for, and what you’re trying to accomplish then I can plug in one of my right resources to paint your path and be the beacon of light in front of you.
Would you be open-minded to meeting me via Zoom to talk about it a little bit more and let me understand how I can help you and I can show you why we’re so successful?”
Because your job as a salesperson, right is not to get them to do something they don’t want to do, you’re getting ready to do something that they need to do.
Tips for a Successful Listing Appointment
One of the mistakes that a lot of agents make is they get into a listing appointment or buyer consultation and then they just start spilling off feature dumping. First of all, you need to know what’s important to whoever you’re trying to sell to. If you sit there and do your presentation, you’re not being a consultant, you’re just a salesperson.
In our actual formal presentations and our buyer and listing presentations, what we train on is basically showing and presenting a small agenda in four to six steps and the first thing is questions.
“I have a page of questions, some of these things we already talked about over the phone. So I already know that you have this and this and this. And this, if you’re paying attention, you’re on the first phone call. So you’ve already kind of filling out some of those questions. Here’s a whole list of questions that we’re gonna go over so I can understand what your goals are.”
One of the questions is, what is the most important feature about your real estate agent or buyer? John loves asking that question because it’s what the buyer or seller expects from him. He’ll be the one the buyer or seller will be talking to and working with, but it also includes the brokerage that will be doing a lot of things in marketing therefore ask what’s the most important thing for your buyer or seller.
If you go in there and leave the whole appointment without guidance, you’re just another sales guy. Sales through consultation. The best way is to ask the right questions. There are many different options, many different ways, agents need to be trained and they need to have the resources.
For John, in order for an agent to become successful as a salesperson in this industry, they need to be confident. Some are either new or seasoned and they don’t always know what to say or don’t always know how well the company can back them or support them. Lean into the training of the brokerage, lean into the stature of the broker. You’ve got to lean into all those resources, that’s what Johnny thinks is one of the most important things to know.
Listen to the call Johnny took a couple of weeks ago.
He was really trying to get off the phone for the first couple of minutes and Johnny just kept going down that path asking the right questions. By the end of the call, an appointment was booked for one of our agents and they’re now showing properties and about to be under contract.
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