Sellers, get them to commit
Sellers, how do you get them to say yes if they are in pre-foreclosure? You are prospecting, and you’re having these great conversations, but they are ghosting you, and you can’t get them to say yes?
Before we dive in, we need to focus on something very important. You might be calling and you might be doing the things you are supposed to be doing but is that really good enough if you are not making any money?
Let me just go on a little bit of rant. You guys call me and you say the same thing.
“I’ve been doing this for a year.” “I’m so passionate about helping.”
“I’ve even taken some and some classes, and I watch all your videos on YouTube, and I’m like, awesome.”
So I ask, “How’s it going?” One of the first questions I ask when you guys put yourself on my calendar is, “How’s it going?” “How many deals have you closed?”
And I think it’s safe to say the majority, 98% of people, are not actually making money.
Hence, what is the point? Yes, it’s great to be able to make calls and have that ambition and be able to do all those things, but who cares if you’re not making money? It’s not about just learning this information and watching these videos; if you don’t know how to apply the information, it’s useless.
This is why I have the community, this is why I have the bootcamp; this is why I do the classes. So if you, after reading this blog, say, “This is great information, but I still have a million questions.” That’s where I can help you.
Let’s break down a simple formula that you can use right now to close more deals
1. Clarify pain points
The first part of the closing formula is to clarify the pain point. I know that sounds simple because it’s like, “Okay, let’s clarify the pain points; they are in a hardship.” But in reality, you need to get down to the heart of their motivation by answering these two questions:
- What is the thing that has put them in this situation?
- What is the driving force that’s going to get them to say yes?
Because if you’re not asking good enough questions, if you are not getting down to the heart of it, then this is always going to be a superficial conversation where now you are trying to sell them on your solution, and that’s the worst thing you can do.
Remember one fact: It is not your job to convince anyone of anything.
It’s not your job to sell because these type of sellers in this overwhelmed situation are not going to be sold; they have to convince themselves. The only way that they’re going to convince themselves and say yes is by logic and emotion. So sales 101: people make emotional decisions. People will always say yes because you are a really good salesperson, but the only way they actually move forward with it is if they can back it up with logic.
So if you did a really great job selling them by saying, “This is what’s best for you,” And you use phrases like that, Great!
Nonetheless, once the emotions die down and someone else comes behind you and says, “Hey, I get that, however…” And they give them valid points of why their option is better; it doesn’t matter how they felt in the moment; they can’t justify going with you. They can’t justify why your option makes sense, which is why I always teach to walk them through this to help them arrive at the solution instead of trying to convince them.
Therefore, the number one thing is to answer what their pain point is. Clarify what their pain point is. Figure it out; get down to the heart of it so that you know what is going to get them to say yes. Because the reality is, even though it is about sales, you want to close deals because this really is in their best interest.
And if it’s not, then that’s a client that you can’t help, or that’s a seller that you can’t help, and you direct them towards the best solution for them. Be aware of the reality, and that is that most people who can’t afford their house have to sell even though the loan modifications will help keep them in the home; most of them don’t qualify, and if they do, they end up defaulting again; therefore, selling is the best option.
2. Acknowledge the problem
Let’s start by providing an example.
This person’s pain points are that they can’t afford the house because they lost their job. Now I’m going to acknowledge, “Hey, what are you going to do about income?” And all of my questions are going to be based around the problem, which is that they have no income.
And in their minds, they’re like, “Oh, no, no, the bank is going to help me reduce my payments.” Then, you know, in this specific example, “I’m working with them.”
“They told me that all I have to do is fill out this application, and they’re going to modify my loan.” Which a lot of sellers think that a loan modification is. “They’re going to reduce the payments, so I couldn’t afford the $2,000, so they’re going to reduce it.”
No.
Because I know better, I can walk them through like, “Look, if you don’t have income, you’re not going to be able to even qualify for the option that you’re putting all your eggs in one basket, saying that this is what’s going to work.”
And the entire conversation is going to be based around the problem.
They don’t have income; they can’t pay. If they can’t pay, they can’t afford the mortgage, which means that they have to sell. I’m not going to walk them through a bunch of hypotheticals because a lot of your conversations that I’m hearing are like, “Well, you could do this. Have you tried this?” They do not need information just for the sake of information.
I have to focus on them. I have to focus on what makes sense for them and walk them through the conversation based on what they’re telling me, which means that in the majority of the conversation they are talking, and I am listening.
And when I’m talking, it’s directed toward whatever the situation is.
3. Review what they have already tried
Once they start telling me things such as, “Oh, I have already tried the loan modification, but I got denied. I have already talked to an attorney, and I got that bankruptcy wasn’t an option.” I’m going to review all of what they express.
Every single thing that they’ve already tried is going to determine how I can help them, how I’m going to stop the foreclosure, and how I’m going to present an option.
For instance, if they tell me, “I’ve already tried with the bank and they denied it. I submitted an application for a short sale, and they denied it.”
That is going to mean they have already done this several times. They are probably years behind. So when I approach the bank, I’m going to have context of how I can position the hardship and how I am able to speak to them to see if I can get it postponed because if they have already played that game with the bank, it is going to be so much harder to be able to get them to agree to buy us more time.
The lenders are more and more strict about how we can get the foreclosures postponed because they know there are so many people who abuse the system. This is what I explain to the sellers if they are on their second loan modification, where they even got approved.
It is important if they say, “I got approved for the loan modification; I was in the trial period, and then on the second payment I stopped paying, and I’m back in foreclosure.”
Now I can use that to explain to them, especially if it’s within the same year, that most likely they’re not going to approve another loan modification, and I’ll be able to walk them through based on what they’ve already done.
4. Create a solution based on the problem
So I have all of the context:
1. I know exactly what’s been done.
2. I know exactly what’s going on.
So now anything that I say is going to be based on them. This is huge because what all of this does is tell the seller that not only I am listening, but I am paying attention, and they’re validated; it applies to them.
I’m not going to be generic. Stop being generic. I have listened to so many calls from realtors and investors that have said they had a ton of options, that they have all of these options: “I know you’ve tried a loan modification, but you could do this, and then I could help you sell it, and I could do this and I could do that.”
And the seller’s just so overwhelmed because they think, “I don’t want to sell it. I don’t want to do this. What are you talking about?” And that’s where you lose them.
So take everything that you think you know right out the window.
And when you are specifically going through this formula of asking the questions, walking through with them, and paying attention, you will think, “Okay, now I know this person has no income. They’ve already tried the loan modification.” At this point, you know we have to see what the reinstatement is and what the payoffs are to see what kind of creative option that we can come up with.
Because the foreclosure date is two weeks away, right? Obviously, it’s super specific. That’s a perfect example. “Okay, do they have equity?” Now we go along the line of questioning how to dispose of the property, how to get it under contract, and the best exit strategy to be able to get it sold and the foreclosure stopped. All of this is very strategic so that you can get down to the heart of how you can help them. If you can do that, you’re going to build confidence and rapport with that seller.
5. Don’t treat this casually
You can do all of these things, but if you treat this casually, so will they. What I mean by that is, I am not going to sit here and say, “Okay, you know, the best option for you is… We can do a subject to… Hey, I can meet with you on Saturday if you want, and I can bring the paperwork.” That’s the way I approach it.”
Then they’re going to sit here and say, “Okay, well, maybe, I don’t know.”
The way that I approach this is going to be everything because I’m not driving the bus if I don’t come from a place of certainty. Who wants to work with someone like that, someone who is super casual? They want to be told the next steps.
So if you can come from a place of authority and say, and get them to commit verbally.
That looks something like this:
“Hey, Mary, absolutely, this is what we went over, and this is what we’re going to do next. “
“Here is the next step. I’m looking at my schedule, and it looks like I do have a couple of appointments, but I understand the urgency; therefore, I’m going to move things around. I have, you know, a twelve and a 01:00; which time works best for you?”
“I just want to make sure we’re on the same page. I’m going to get all the paperwork together from what we talked about, and I’m going to meet you at noon. Is that correct?”
Make that person repeat it back to you. “Okay, just to confirm, noon.” Say it two or three different times because and here’s the reason why. If you can get them to commit and you are showing them that you are going to spend your time and you are going to go to their house, then you are not going to waste my time.
And you would not be treating it casually. You are getting them to say it two or three times to confirm because if they are thinking about it and if they are going to ghost you, then this is the time that they’re going to say something.
I will lay it on so thick. I will say something like, “Do you know what? I’m supposed to pick my daughter up, but she can wait because this is important.”
I want to make them feel like crap if they are going to ghost me or if they are going to be a “No show.” Because this is my time, and I’m here to help them. I also want to allow them to back out if they are not taking it seriously so that I can address it.
Why?
Because at this point of the conversation, we have determined this is your best option, and if you’re trying to have second thoughts or maybe there is an objection that up until this point, they haven’t been able to say, then I want them to say it now.
Once I get them off the phone, it’s going to be very difficult to get them back on if they were having concerns or if they were having doubts that they didn’t feel comfortable enough to voice.
This, right here, is the key to a lot of your appointments that you guys are setting and why they are not calling you back or why they are not showing up and they are ghosting you at these appointments because you’re treating it so casually where they think, “Well, I guess maybe in theory, Saturday’s fine, but if Saturday rolls around and I’m busy, I’ll just text you or I won’t text you.”
And I want them to be very clear: “Hey, if I’m coming and you have committed, I’m showing up and you are going to be there.” It is the same way you would take an attorney seriously, the same way you would take the doctor seriously. You have to treat it the same way.
In Conclusion
Clarify the pain point.
Get to the bottom of the problem; you can’t provide options and give results if you are not aware of the real problem.
Having context is so important because the more specific I can get with their situation, the more credibility I’m going to gain with the seller and an action plan that’s actually going to make sense for that seller’s situation.
Break down everything you have. List everything they have done and allow them to say what they want and why they would say no. Make a safe place for them to express themselves and to have clarity of their problem by walking them through the process.
You set the tone for the relationship, and you are going to be the deciding factor of whether they’re going to take you seriously or not. Check further with live examples from these websites by watching my video here. You have the theory and it would be absolutely great to check how we use these websites to guide you through.
For more in-depth case studies and educational content about short sales and pre-foreclosures, check out Nicole’s books “Short Sales Uncensored” and “How To Master Short Sales” on Amazon or on the website. These can be valuable resources to guide you through the process. Additionally, you can join the Facebook group, The Only Short Sale Group Worth Being A Part Of, to ask questions and gain insights from experienced professionals. Always feel free to reach out to us if you have any more questions or if we can help in any way.
Remember, every lead can be an opportunity, and short sales provide a unique avenue for both realtors and investors to create win-win situations. If you’re ready to explore this exciting niche and collaborate with us, reach out at thessqueen.com or leave a comment. Let’s turn challenges into opportunities and make the most of short sales in today’s market.
