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TR U M P STR A TEGI ES FO R R E A L ESTA TE

Telephone Traps You Should Know

• One party will often forget something in a telephone negotiation,
because both sides tend to prepare less for a telephone negotia-
tion. The only question is how important the forgotten item is.
• You lose the chance to read facial expressions and body language.
This can be significant, especially early on in a negotiation.
• One party to the call is always unprepared unless the call
was scheduled in advance, and there was a specific understand-
ing of what would be discussed. You should never be the one
unprepared.
•Interruptions are deadly. Anything that interferes with one’s
chain of thought can lead to disaster.
•During a telephone negotiation you never know who may be
listening and why they’re listening. Even if you ask, “Is anyone
else on this line?” you may not get a truthful answer.
•During a telephone call you cannot examine any documenta-
tion which is referred to by the other party. They may say, “I
have statistics which show your building is overpriced.” You
can’t refute what you cannot see.
•In telephone negotiations there is always a tendency toward res-
olution. Before the parties hang up they like to feel they have
accomplished something, usually some type of agreement on
one or more points.

The key to mastering telephone negotiations is learning to listen!
When you answer the call, just ask the caller, “What’s the purpose
of this call?” Then relax and just listen carefully. If you don’t talk the
other side must talk or there is an awkward silence that people find
intolerable. After you have listened and gotten all the information
you wanted, tell the caller that you will call him or her back. This
gives you the time necessary to craft a proper reply.

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