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OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®



  SALES MEETING TOOLKIT:
DEALING WITH DIFFICULT PEOPLE
 

Component 1: Facilitator Talking Points

Component 2: Working with Difficult Clients Agenda

Component 3: Handout 1, Ten Tips on Dealing with Difficult People

Component 4: Activity 1, Five Common Jerks and How to Deal with Them

Component 5: Activity 1, Five Common Jerks Idea Sheet

Component 6: Handout 2, Identifying Communication Styles

Component 7: Handout 3, Defusing Dialogues

Component 8: Activity 2, Scenes from a Difficult Life

Component 9: Activity 2, Scenes from a Difficult Life Ideas Sheet

Component 10: Handout 4, Firing Your Client

Component 11: Other Resources 		  Component 5
Activity 1: 5 Common Jerks Idea Sheet

1. The Complainers: These malcontents find fault with everything—a big house is to drafty and hard to heat; a small house is cramped and doesn’t have enough room for the furniture. No issue is too small to complain about and no outcome is good.

Strategy: Don’t allow complainers to dwell on their grievances. Interrupt them once you feel you have a sense of what the real issue is. Turn the complaint around on them by asking them what they would do to change a situation. Try to keep things optimistic, and don’t let complainers pull you down to their way to thinking. Be sure that you get complainers to participate in all decisions, or they will find fault with the outcome later.

2. The Intimidators: These aggressive types use anger, rudeness, and abuse to get their way. They often try to provide very little information on wants and needs as a way to control the situation. Whatever goes wrong, they blame you and expect you to fix the problem.

Strategy: Intimidators have a strong need to show themselves and the world that they are always right. Never show weakness or respond emotionally to this type; it only gives them more ammunition. Maintain eye contact, and don’t get drawn into an argument. Try to move them to a non-public area and let them vent. Often they are reasonable once they have finished their tantrum. If the outburst goes on too long, quietly call a halt.

3. The Clams: These silent sorts confront a situation by shutting down and replying to your questions about the home on view with a “yes,” a “no,” or a shrug. They use silence as an aggressive weapon, often accompanying it with folded arms, glares, or frowns. In some instances, this response may also be prompted by insecurity or a fear of being wrong.

Strategy: Don’t lose confidence and start babbling. Keep smiling. Ask open-ended questions that will force a more detailed response. Turn the tables and be silent yourself. If the lack of response seems to come from fear, reassure the clam that there are no stupid questions and that everyone has moments of concern when making a major purchase such as a home.

4. The Indecisives: These vacillators don’t know what they want and don’t have the confidence to make a decision. They constantly want to discuss the decision with others. You could spend half your career with these people before they buy. They like verbal information because it can be changed at will.

Strategy: Encourage indecisives to share their misgivings, then listen carefully for indirect words and omissions that may indicate the real problem. Ask them to rank problems and deal with them one at a time. Try to bring a more decisive party—a family member, for example—into the negotiation to get things moving. Continue to follow up to head off second thoughts.

5. The Know-It-All: These windbags usually have just enough information to be dangerous to the transaction. They often distract attention from important issues by focusing on minor ones. They want the respect of others and to be seen as important.

Strategy: The worst thing you can do with this type is ignore them. If at all possible, don’t correct know-it-alls in front of others; you’ll risk a disagreement. Offer alternative suggestions and ideas in private. Give them an out to save face, but don’t agree to act on their ideas.

Component 6: Handout 2, Identifying Communications Styles >