Less talk = better results. And who’s better at keeping their mouth shut than me?
A while back, I talked about the value of silence in negotiation.
The less you’re talking, the more you’re (probably) winning.
In radio, the worst thing you can have is “dead air.” If nothing’s coming through the speakers, people change the station—and someone’s getting fired. So hosts will say something, anything, just to fill the gap.
Most people are like radio stations. They can’t stand silence. They start talking just to make it stop. And that’s when they say more than they should.
If you can sit there and be patient, you’d be surprised what people will tell you. They’ll spill the beans. Sometimes the whole pot.
That’s one benefit of being quiet—you might learn something useful. The bigger benefit? You’re not spilling your own beans. We’ve all said something we wish we could take back.
Some of us just learn faster than others.
Obviously, you can’t stay quiet all the time. But in a professional sense, you should know which side of the table someone is sitting on before you talk.
It spells out who we work for and what we owe them. We must treat everyone honestly and fairly. But for clients, we have to put their interests above everyone else’s—including our own—and share any material information we receive.
Which means:
If I’m working for you, you can tell me what you will or won’t accept for your property, and I keep it confidential. Don’t disclose anything but the asking price unless you tell me otherwise. Every licensee is supposed to do this, but you know how it is.
If I’m working for the other party and you tell me you’re asking $1M but will take $850K? Guess what? Not only will I tell my client—I’m required by law to tell them.
Here’s the most self-serving thing you might read all day:
I wouldn’t recommend buying or selling real estate without a skilled broker.
But if you do, remember: watch what you say. The person you’re talking to may be legally required to repeat it to someone else.
A good rule: assume the other party is in the room.
In car sales, the salesman pretends to be on your side against the manager. Everyone knows that’s a lie, so you don’t tell him you’ll actually pay more. Because the first thing he does is walk into that other room and tell the manager.
In real estate, agency is supposed to be disclosed. But human nature gets in the way sometimes. So just because someone acts like your friend doesn’t mean you should tell them anything.
I try not to say too much. Maybe to a fault according to some.
I say it’s one of my superpowers, right up there with being about the most stubborn person in Collin County.
When you’re ready to talk, click below.
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