Summary

When a seller asks you, “Will you cut your commission?” never tell them, “No,” because that’s an immediate form of resistance that keeps the relationship from moving forward.

Keys to Handling the Objection

1. Change the frame from expensive commission to discount results. “I don’t discount my commission because I don’t deliver discount results.” When you use the word “discount,” it gives them the idea that a lower commission equals lower value.

Tell them that the reason most agents discount their commission is because they are going out of business. They put their services on sale in a desperate attempt to stay afloat.

It also shows that a discount agent does not value himself enough to stand up for his worth. In the same way, that agent will not fight for his seller, when it comes to negotiating the price on the sale of their home.

2. Never say, “I can’t reduce my commission.” This tells them that someone else (e.g. your broker) is in control and decides for you. Instead, say, “I don’t discount my commission.”

This shift in frame is all part of a communication strategy that puts you in a position of certainty, control, and value. You’re in control without creating resistance because you’re showing them the benefit that they get from hiring you.

Bottomline: The reason people pay more for you and hire you is because you deliver more value, (which is what sellers really want).

**Find the exact script in the full transcript below.

Get instant, and complete access to more winning scripts like this when you preorder your copy of the upcoming book, More YES, More Success (the sequel to The Book of YES). You not only get the complete original Book of YES, but also get live weekly script coaching with Kevin. Click here to get in on this awesome opportunity now.

Full Transcript

Whenever your sellers ask you to cut your commission, never tell them no.

Hey there, it’s your coach, Kevin Ward, the founder of YesMasters Real Estate Success Training, and the author of the brand new book that’s coming out this summer called More Yes, More Success, a sequel to the number one bestseller, The Book of YES. How do you handle it when they ask you to cut your commission? Because it’s one of those common objections that you get. Here’s the reality, you never tell them no. “No” is a great word. It’s a word that should be used more, but it is and it should be a showstopper. You’ve got to understand that the time to tell people no is when I want to stop something. If I want to stop a conversation or shut something out, say no.

But it also, here’s what it does. If you want a relationship to move forward, if you want a conversation to move forward, which you do with a prospect, right? You want to move them forward to a decision to hire you to sell their house. Here’s what no does. No is the game ending resistance trigger because no one likes to be told no, right? Ever since you were a little kid, whenever somebody told you no, when mom or dad told you no, it made you want to fight. You’re like, “No.” You don’t want to take it. It makes you like, okay, well that’s not going to go the way I want it to go. Everybody hates to be told no. If you want to get somebody on your side, and you want to get them say yes to you, you don’t get them to say yes to you by you saying no to them.

The question is, how do you say no without saying no? How do you say no to a seller when they ask you to reduce your commission without telling them flat out, no? Because here’s what it does, no shuts down that collaboration. 

I’m going to share with you a script that is the best script on how to avoid cutting or reducing your commission. The script is you can get this script and all of my scripts that have literally helped agents and myself take tens of thousands of listings, and you can get a free copy of it when you pre-order a copy of my new book, More Yes, More Success. I’m going to immediately send you a free copy of this and all of my best scripts from the original Book of YES. Click a link in the description, pre-order your book, and you’ll get this script and all the other ones.

Now, let’s talk about the script itself. This is a script when somebody says, “Will you cut your commission?” I’m going to give you the script, but I’m also, mainly what I’m going to do is I’m going to break it down so you can understand not only what we’re saying, but why we are saying.

THE SCRIPT

“Mr. and Mrs. Seller, that is a great question. Discounting commissions is not something that I do. Can I tell you why?” They’re going to say, “Yes tell us why.” “Because I don’t deliver discount results. I’m sure you’re not looking to discount your house, right? Okay, perfect.” Now what we just did, this is the first piece of the frame of the script, because it’s not just the script, it’s not just what you say to a seller, it’s also the frame that it puts their mind in. We’re changing the frame from expensive commission to discount results. When you change from a word of reduce or cut your commission to discount, when we use the word discount, it makes the idea of lower commissions equal to lower value.

Think of it this way, and this is actually something you can tell a seller. A 50% discount of your commission… so when somebody takes their commission, let’s say their normal commission’s 6% and they reduce it to 4.5%, and they’re going to only take 1.5%. They’ve gone from 3% for them as a listing agent to 1.5% just to get a listing. That’s a 50% discount in your commission, my friend. Now what happens if you’re in business and you mark something down, you discount something by 50%? When you go buy a pair of shoes or you go buy a computer or something, there’s a discount by 50%, here’s what that means. It’s on clearance, or also known as a going out of business sale.

“Mr. And Miss Seller, do you realize that a lot of agents, the reason they reduce their commission so much or they’re discounting their commission, it’s a going out of business sale for them. They are desperately trying just to stay in business, so they will discount, they’ll put their own services on clearance because they don’t have the value and they don’t know how to deliver the better results. The reason people hire me is because I deliver them the best results.”

You see the frame? You’re literally, you’re shifting the frame. Now the frame has put you in a position of certainty and control and communicates value. 

Here’s another piece of the conversation. “Listen, an agent who does not have the courage to stand up for their own value, who will discount their own value, guess what they’re going to do? They’re going to also discount your house’s value. I’m assuming you’re not looking for an agent that will give away your hard-earned equity, are you?” “No.” “You see, a discount agent, that’s how they get deals done, whether it’s getting your listing or getting your house sold, this is the way they do business. They don’t have the courage to stand up for the value, and so they simply punt. Here’s how it plays out…”

You can explain this to a seller. “Here’s how it plays out. You hire a discount agent, they’re going to get a phone call from an agent or from a buyer, and they’re going to ask, ‘will your sellers take less? Are the sellers negotiable on the price?’ The agent’s going to say, ‘well, of course everything’s negotiable. Just send us over an offer and I’ll see what I can do.’ A discount agent will actually end up working against you trying to get the deal done. But you know what, Mr. And Mrs. Seller, that’s not even the worst part. You know what the worst part is? You’ll never even know how much of your equity they just gave away. What you need and what you want is an agent that will stand up for the value of your home.”

That conversation goes very different than this, “Well, send us an offer and I’ll see what I can do, and they’re going to negotiate. They’re going to just try to get the deal done. You see, a powerful agent who knows what they’re doing, like I do, is going to stand up for the value and say, ‘Well, I appreciate to call Mr. Agent. My sellers are very comfortable that their list price is a great price. When you look at the comps, I’m sure you’ll agree.’ The difference is that you are going to get better offers and we’re going to get you a better price. There’s a whole lot more that I do and the reason the sellers hire me is because I know how to protect your equity and get you more money in your pocket, and I’m sure that’s what you want.”

My friends, this is the power of knowing what to say and how to say it, the power to stand up for your value is what helps you get them to hire you. 

Now, one last piece here. Not only should you say no to a seller when you want to keep the conversation going, but there’s another thing you should never say. “I can’t.” Never say, “I can’t.” “Well, I would. I can’t. I’m not allowed to reduce my commission. My broker won’t let me.” Here’s the problem with that. When you say, “I can’t,” you just said, I have no power. I have no control. People who are taking their most expensive asset or one of their most expensive assets, and they’re going to entrust it to you, they don’t want an agent who has no power. They don’t want somebody who can’t. They want somebody who can. If you notice, we never said, “I can’t reduce my commission,” and we never said no. We say, “I don’t discount my commission.” That’s a massive difference.

This is a frame. Here’s the power of this as a communication strategy, an influence strategy of getting people to say yes to you. It is a frame of certainty. It is a frame of control, and it is a frame of value. You communicate absolute certainty about your value and your ability to protect the value of their home. You put yourself in control without creating resistance because you’re showing them how it benefits them and you’re showing them a frame of value. The reason you hire me and people pay more for me is because I deliver more value, and that my friend is what sellers really want.

If this video has been helpful to you, make sure you give it a thumbs up, comment, ask your questions. If you have a rebuttal or anything to say about it, go ahead and say about it. If it’s your first time here, make sure you subscribe to the channel and play to win. Always expect yes, and click on the link in the description and get your pre-ordered copy of More Yes, More Success, and I’m going to send you all of my scripts free instantly so you’ll have complete access to them with a whole bunch of other bonuses and a whole bunch of other training. Click on the link and do that now.