Saving Selling Time
The Law of Expectations in Selling

I’m talking with John, a young realtor, and asking him how the home sales are going. In the Midwest it is still strong and properties are moving in spite of all the doom and gloom.

“Yea, it’s going ok, except for this one couple. I must have shown them 20 homes by now and was sure they were taking one of the first ones I showed.” Says John.

“Wow, what’s their criteria and what is blocking their decision making?” was my question.

“I just don’t know. I’ve tried everything I know but she wants one thing and he wants something completely different!” was the reply from John.

Now I know of many in the realty business that get caught up in this “tour guide” position. The question is…do you end up with too many call backs and chasing customers that will not make a decision?

If the answer is anything but a resounding NO you can stop reading. If YES or sometimes, read on for some insight and answers…..

In our Leadership Strategies program we go deeply into the 10 Laws of Persuasion and how they can positively affect decision making. The one we’ll discuss here is the Law of Expectations.

The Law of Expectations simply states that if a person respects another, wants to impress or influence another they will fill the stated or unstated expectations of the other person, even if they are negative in nature!

So let’s look at this from the Salesperson’s perspective. As the Salesperson you want to impress and influence the customer. What happens is the customer indicates their expectations, even unreasonable ones, and the Salesperson jumps through all types of hoops to full fill these expectations.

What also happens is the Salesperson may even add a few extra unstated expectations for the customer. Thus loading the Salesperson down with all kinds of tasks to full fill; most of it being busy work.

So far does this look like an Even Steven deal?  

Not really, you have a customer stating expectations, a Salesperson adding unstated ones and no expectations from the selling side! Where is the WIN – WIN here?

Now many Salespeople will say “But, but, but .. I don’t want to upset my customer by pushing them!”

Thus we have Salespeople making multiple call backs, doing additional work and chasing customers trying to get a sale! Lots of action, unfortunately minimal results!

So how can we change this or turn it around?  

The Law of Expectations works both ways. In other words if this is going to be a good business deal, much less a long term partnership, there needs to be expectations on both sides.

Top producers understand this and generally deal with their expectations up front. Yes they acknowledge what the customer expects and agrees to that which is reasonable. At the same time they communicate the companies and their expectations as well.

These top producers discuss cost, payment terms, decision deadlines and other key expectations in the first call. This way they can “sort out” those potential customers that might be overly demanding and unprofitable. It also sorts the real buyers from the tire kickers and time eaters!

Ok Harlan, this all sounds great and yes I probably should set more expectations with my customers. Give me an example!

In John’s case here is how I might set expectations with a realty client.

1. We first do an in depth interview to determine the clients wants and needs. We ask plenty of open and specific questions to get a very clear view and understanding of what want and do not want. No I would not show a property with out this interview first. (I recently sold a property and could not believe how many Realtors called to show the property, but could not answer the question, “what are these people looking for?”)
2. Once we have determined a clear check sheet of wants and not wants I would indicate the following: “My job is to help you find a home as close to perfect for you as I can with in your price range. Here is what I will do for you. We will look at a home that is high quality and higher than your price range to give you a good idea of home values on the high end. We will also show you a lower quality house to give you a reference of low value. Then I will show you 3 properties that fit the criteria you have provided. If none of these 3 fit for you, we will revisit your criteria before we look at any more homes to determine what you are really looking for.”
3. If needed the home buyers would be sent home to discuss with each other what they really want before showing any additional homes. If they can not accept this approach and want to look at 20 homes, I would personally suggest they find another realtor.

If this sounds to brutal or blunt then you should examine how you set expectations with your clients. Highly successful realtors use some type of approach similar to this. It saves them time and gets the buyer focused on what they really want.

By the way, this approach also incorporates several other Laws of Persuasion to assist the customer in making good choices.

Give it a try, set expectations with your next customer and see how it changes the outcome!

To your success!

Harlan Goerger

© Harlan Goerger 10-2008 

May be reprinted in entirety only.