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1. Utilizing the "Yes" Set
in Your Real Estate Business The
first time I heard about the
"Yes" set was back in the
early 1980s, and I believe that I first
heard about it from Tom Hopkins. If
you're not familiar with what the
"Yes" set is, it's a way of
structuring your presentations to your
clients and prospects so that you
maximize the probability of them saying,
"Yes" to you when it counts.
And the easiest way to do this is to
design and ask them a series of
questions that you know they'll answer,
"Yes" to before you ask them
the money question.
When
a prospect has just said,
"Yes" to a number of
questions, there's a momentum moving
them forward, making it easier for them
to say, "Yes" to the next
question also. So the idea here is you
want the other person to say,
"Yes" to a series of several
questions you ask them, and then you
follow this series of questions with a
question that asks them to take action
with you.
Here's
how this might work in a listing
presentation with the agent asking the
questions and the prospect giving the
responses:
Agent:
"So
we're sitting here talking about listing
your property because you've decided
you're now ready to sell it. Is this
correct?"
Prospect:
"Yes."
Agent:
"And
I would imagine in knowing that you want
to sell your property, obtaining the
highest price possible for it is
something that definitely interests you.
Can we say that this is an accurate
statement?"
Prospect:
"Yes."
Agent:
"You've
educated yourself on the value of your
property and you've reviewed the comps
that I've given you. Can we now say that
you have a good idea of what you feel
your property is worth?"
Prospect:
"Yes."
Agent:
"Great.
We've just reviewed my 18-point
marketing program, the exact same
program I'll utilize to obtain the
highest price possible for your
property. Would you agree that your
agent having an effective marketing
program for your property is something
that's definitely a good idea?"
Prospect:
"Yes."
Agent:
"And
you invited me to meet with you today
because you wanted to discuss your
interest in listing your property with
me and putting it on the market.
Yes?"
Prospect:
"Yes."
Agent:
"Well,
based upon everything we've just
discussed, can we agree that you're now
ready to move forward and have me
represent you in selling your
property?"
Prospect:
(Ideally)
"Yes."
In
discussing how effective this kind of
approach can be with your prospects,
it's also important beforehand that
you've already done a great job of
creating rapport with the individual
prospect. This approach is not a miracle
cure-all for situations where the owner
has already decided not to list with
you. This approach can, though, be very
effective in situations where you're
definitely a candidate among other
agents for the owner to list their
property with. In situations like these,
the owner may not be able to easily
differentiate who the best agent is to
list their property with. Keeping this
in mind, structuring your language to
build the momentum of the owner saying,
"Yes" to you can be exactly
what will finally have them say,
"Yes" and then sign your
listing agreement.
There
are other situations where the
"Yes" set can also be
effectively utilized in real estate
sales and leasing. These include
negotiating to obtain an exclusive right
to represent a buyer or tenant, and
negotiating with a client to effectively
move them in the direction of closing a
transaction.
As
an agent interested in maximizing your
success in your real estate business,
pay attention to specific situations
where utilizing the "Yes" set
can be very helpful to you.
When
you recognize one of these situations:
1)
Write down a series of "Yes"
set questions that you feel will assist
you in moving your prospects towards
taking action with you.
2)
Rehearse asking these questions
sequentially, including the call to
action question, so that you can deliver
them easily and automatically whenever
it is appropriate for you to do so.
When
you plan in advance, and know exactly
what to say to handle any situation that
arises in your real estate career,
you'll feel more relaxed, you'll exude
more confidence, and you'll close a
higher percentage of your opportunities
with your clients and prospects.
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