In all the years I have been in sales and sales management, I truly believe nobody has ever said “no” to me. If they did not “buy” what I was “selling”, whether a franchise, an acquisition deal, or a proposal I may have made to my superiors, it wasn’t me they were saying no to, there were other reasons.

If you are going to be a successful real estate agent, broker, or someone selling products into the real estate industry, you must start out with this mindset. If you are successful in convincing yourself that it is not you, you are well on your way to “cracking the code” of successful selling.

People say “no” for several reasons:

• They are not in a position to say yes (i.e. money, spouse, etc.)
• They are not serious about making a decision
• They were not convinced it was the right product or service for them.

These are all things you can control in your sales process if you implement an “objection prevention” strategy rather than an “objection handling” strategy. The more objections you can prevent, the greater your chances of closing the deal regardless of how good you are handling objections.

The best way to prevent objections is by asking questions… lots of them! There are several types of questions every good sales person must be able to ask:

• Qualification Questions – Is the person you are dealing with the decision maker? Does the prospect have the money or financing to do your deal? Is the prospect willing to agree to a certain timeline for making the decision?
• Pain Questions – These are the questions that get to the heart of why a person would make a decision in your favor. Remember, people are making decisions for their reasons, not yours, therefore, you need to know what their “pain” is so that you can address how your product or service is going to ease that “pain”. Then, and only then, will someone begin to accept the features and benefits of what you are selling and understand why saying “yes” is going to help them resolve their issue. Some examples of “pain” questions would be, “What implication does not selling the house prior to your relocation have on your family’s plans?” “If you don’t address your retention issues, how many more agents can you afford to lose?” “What is the opportunity cost of not having a better lead tracking system?”
• Closing Questions – Once you have qualified someone and found out what issues are important to them, you need to be able to gain commitment that if you can solve their problem they will buy. Make sure that you know exactly how your product or service solves their problems. If you can show them how you are helping them, they are now deciding to go forward for their reason (you solved their problem) and not yours (you want them to buy).

Unless you are very disciplined in your sales process and can build a solid foundation with these types of questions, you will be handling objections when you try to close. Top sales people learn how to prevent objections and win more business than even the best “objection handler”.