The other day I happened to answer a "sales" call at our office. The prospect called in and he was doing such a good job of asking the textbook "buyer" interest questions that I thought he might be a shopper* from one of our builder competitors.
Not that I am jaded and think that all "buyers" are shoppers, but sometimes the "buyers" are just to organized with their questions and ask them in a manner that smacks of "professional shopper."
As Mr. "Buyer" asked his questions, he knew enough from our marketing efforts for the builder's homes and communities that yes was the answer to each of his questions. (He was confirming that what he had been reading and hearing was accurate.)
As I chatted with him, answering his questions, I recognized the age old trap that rookies (and desperate agents) fall into: trying to say "YES" to every question the buyer asks. There is no faster way to getting the prospect to say thank you and hang up the phone than by answering yes to the prospect's questions.
Yes, you read that right. It is a mistake to automatically answer yes.
Here's a few scenarios for you to role play. Lovely Homes Realty has a three bedroom bungalow on the market in one of the best areas of town. Built in the 1940s, the home has been totally updated and the 1/2 acre lot is oversized for the area. An ad in the paper actually works and you are getting floor calls from the ad. The broker has cut the advertising budget for print media down to the bare bone, so the ad has minimal information. New Listing! $249,990. Historic location close to schools, library, commuter routes. Lovely Home Realty. Your mission is to get the buyer on the phone to come to your office.
See if you can come up with a BETTER response to each question the prospect asks:
1> Prospect 1: Is that a three bedroom home?
Friendly Realtor: Oh, yes, three lovely bedrooms.
Prospect: Okay, thanks. (Click)
2> Prospect 2: I'm calling on the ad, "Historic Location". Is that a three bedroom home?
Friendly Realtor: Yes, it is. Three charming bedrooms plus two full baths that have been totally updated.
Prospect 2: Oh, really? Does that home have both a formal living room and a family room?
FR: Yes, it does! Your family will certainly have the space it needs.
Prospect 2: By any chance, does it have a large yard?
FR: It's 1/2 Acre. The owner is a master gardener and the head of the neighborhood garden club. he has one of the prettiest yards in the area. Would you like to see this home?
Prospect: No thanks. (Click)
I think that perhaps you can see the pattern that is developing. The agent is rushing to answer yes. A common new agent mistake, and actually I have overheard agents that have been in the business a long time doing the same thing, so don't feel badly if you have been rushing to answer yes thinking that this will get you the appointment and sale. Hopefully we can coach you through to make you aware of what you are doing and help you to improve your selling situation skills.
The problem with the scenarios above is that the agent is so busy giving out information that they are failing to ask for information. Learn quickly that information should be give and take: you give some, you ask for and take some, give some, ask for and take some.
If you study the buying habits of people, you'll find that they try to eliminate possibilities and options to narrow down their shopping list as quickly as possible. That's what's happening in these phone calls. The prospects were trying to find out whether or not this is a home that should go on their must see list.
In the questions above, while the buyers may have asked if the home was a three bedroom, they may not have been looking for a three bedroom, and on the second call, the prospect asked if the property had a big yard, but hung up when they heard it was a 1/2 acre lot because what they wanted was a postage stamp-sized lot.
Agent Friendly would likely have done better had he/she said something like this instead to answer:
"That particular home is a three bedroom, but there are several other homes on the market in the immediate area with both fewer and more than three bedrooms. How many bedrooms would best suit your family's needs?"
Try not ask yes or no questions. Phrase your questions to be open ended so you can discover more about what the prospect wants and needs. In a perfect world prospective home buyers wouldn't make us guess what they are looking for and we would save them a great deal of time, and probably money too, but they don't always. 
This is why some of the greatest detectives in the world are also some of the very best real estate agents.
On the second call, Agent Friendly blew it by talking about the large lot. It also didn't help that Agent Friendly pointed out that the current owner is a master gardener and a member of the garden club, all of which translates to the prospect as a yard designed to require a major commitment to upkeep and maintain.
It might have been better had Agent Friendly said, "This home is on one of the larger parcels for the area. Are you interested in a home on a larger lot, or do you prefer one that is smaller?"
Here's another tip. Everything is relative. I live on a very large home site for my area. It's huge, but someone coming from another side of town would think that it is small. So, to follow the line of discovery about the lot above, if the buyer says they want a large (or small) lot, I would come back with something like:
"This home has a lovely 1/2 acre home site with it. Is that large (small) enough for you, or would you prefer something larger (smaller).
During the second call, Agent Friendly also rambled on that the home had both a family room and a living room. What of the caller only wanted one room, a great room?
What I am trying to do when taking a call from a prospect I have never met is avoid yes or no answers. Yes or no does not tell me what I need to know in order to help the prospect find the best home at the best price in the shortest amount of time for their benefit and convenience. We need to narrow our search down so that we don't waste time or have them lose interest in working with us.
How many times has a prospect said, "I'm looking for a four bedroom home," when what they really wanted was three bedrooms and an office? How many missed showing opportunities are the result of us rushing to yes instead of trying to probe and uncover the buyer's real motivation and needs?
By the way, I guess I did my job on the phone the other day, which is to get the prospect to come out to see our homes. He and his wife visited us today and they worked with one of our associates. Now that was phone call that was very productive. Had I rushed to yes, I probably would have lost him and we would have missed the opportunity to show our homes today.
Take time to draft some of the common questions you get when you are on floor, and script some open ended questions to toss back to the caller. You'll be amazed at many more showings you'll get if you don't rush to yes, and learn to give information and ask for some in return.
Happy Selling!
*Background for Realtors: In homebuilding we send out "shoppers" to find out what our competitors are doing. We all do it. What we are trying to uncover is what promotions they are offering, their pricing, if they have any "pocket" incentives to close the sale, features, floor plans etc. Typically, if the builder will identify themselves and ask me, I am happy to provide them with floor plans, features and pricing plus I will tell them whatever our advertised promotion is so that I don't waste their tiime and they don't waste mine. Call it professional courtesy.
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