COMMISSION CONUNDRUM What to Say When a Seller
Asks You to Cut Your Commission In these tough economic times, it is no surprise that
BY DENISE LONES CSP, M. I .R.M. , CDEI sellers are hitting agents with a dreaded question:
“Will you cut your commission?” You can’t blame them for asking.They want to save
money. The real problem is not that they’re asking for a reduction in commission — it’s how you handle the request! Because every seller has a different reason for asking you to reduce your commission, there is no one simple answer to this question.
For example, one seller may ask you to cut your com-
mission because they just spoke with an agent who said they would. Another seller might ask you to cut com- mission because they are upside-down on their mortgage. Another might ask because they like to barter and nego- tiate. Or perhaps a seller simply believes it’s “what you do”. So what do you do when someone asks you to cut
your commission? First of all, don’t recoil in fear. Invite the conversation. Say something like, “I’d be happy to talk about that with you.” What happens too often is that when asked to cut
commission, an agent will just sit there looking stunned. When the agent does start to talk, the words come out
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as babbling nonsense of why they can’t cut their com- mission due to how it’s divided — a little to the broker, a little to the IRS, a little to your cell-phone bill, a little to your marketing bill. The seller doesn’t care about these issues. The seller
is only interested in one thing: the thought that they can save money by reducing your commission. So you need to articulate to them how cutting your commission is not going to save them money. But before doing that, find out why they’re asking. When I was an active agent, the first thing I would do is dig to find out the deeper reason they want me to cut my commission. You won’t get to that reason unless you are asking themquestions
Georgia REALTOR® 13
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