As a luxury real estate professional, you have probably already learned that success in a niche market requires knowledge, dedication, a unique skill set — and, perhaps most of all, the ability to tailor your services to the unique personalities and expectations of affluent clients.

There may be no specific formulas for success in the high-end market. However, The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing offers helpful tips and ideas that will help propel you to the top. It’s just one of the advantages of affiliation with this distinctive group of luxury real estate leaders.

Steve Yastrow, a business advisor and best-selling author, discusses how to master the art of persuasive conversation to help generate success in your chosen field. The award-winning author of Ditch the Pitch: The Art of Improvised Persuasion, discusses ways to improve your conversations with clients in a recent episode of our Estate of Mind podcast.

Yastrow contends that six vital habits lead to creating “perfect conversations” — and none of them involve “pitches!”

Instead, this dynamic sales leader advises luxury real estate professionals to “improvise,” and to develop an innate ability to listen to their clients and let client interactions lead to persuasive negotiation. As he notes, relationship building and human connections — with associates, other professionals, and clients — are the keys to success, particularly in the field of luxury real estate.

Conversational Habits to Cultivate

Yastrow notes that telling a prospective buyer or seller what you can do for them won’t convince anyone to sign with you. In effect, he turns the concept of selling oneself (making a pitch) upside down, advising that first conversations must be client-centric.

He notes that there are just six critical habits to cultivate:

1.) Think about input before output. Let prospective clients talk about themselves, their needs, their wants, their frustrations, and their expectations. Don’t try to lead them to the decision you want.

2.) Size up the scene. What are the influences that will lead to action? Who are these people, and what do they care about? What drives their decision-making?

The first two habits are about “figuring out what’s happening,” says Yastrow, adding that “curiosity is your superpower!” The next two habits are about “creating a flowing conversation with lots of momentum,” according to this motivational adviser.

3.) Create a series of “yeses.” It is important to open the door for negotiation by creating affirmations — again, he admonishes real estate professionals to allow prospective clients to move at their own pace, but instead encourages them to create opportunities for them to instead say “yes.”

4.) Explore and heighten. Once you know what the client cares about, you can take the conversation to a higher level, interject your personality, experience, and expertise, and begin to propose new ideas and suggestions about how you can build a lasting relationship together.

5.) Focus the conversation on your customer. When you determine the other party’s motivation, you should be able to see a path that will help you weave your story together with their concerns. With practice, it will become an intuitive shift.

6.) Don’t rush the story. Try to become attuned to your client’s thought process, and what pace forward will make them feel comfortable. If you try to rush a decision, you might instead slow the process. Or, worse yet, you might cut off the conversation.

Effective improvisation is essential, according to Yastrow. “Tear up the script,” he advises. We all do it in our personal lives, but in a business setting, he admits that it can be more difficult. But, he stresses that “adaptation” is the key to success with customers as well as with friends and family. This is especially true in luxury real estate.

While the end goal of all negotiations is a business agreement, this successful entrepreneur explains that “the game” emerges through conversation. Honing the art of conversation, according to Yastrow, is the basis of negotiation, and persuasive negotiation is the basis of success.

Take Your Luxury Real Estate Career to the Next Level

For more information about how to boost your success, become a Member of The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing, and subscribe to our informative newsletter and Estate of Mind podcast to help you create the mindset needed to truly succeed in the luxury real estate market.

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