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5 Tips for Communicating with Buyers, Sellers, and Prospects During Tough Times

1. Be a good listener. The first step to being a good listener is to be silent. I know a few people who I call occasionally and I cannot even get a word in on the telephone. A poor listener is so self-absorbed that they don’t even realize that they are not engaging others in the conversation. Don’t be that guy (or gal)!
2. Express empathy. Empathy is the ability to step into the shoes of another person, aiming to understand their feelings and perspectives and to use that understanding to guide your actions. As George Bernard Shaw pointed out, “Do not do unto others as you would have them do unto you—they might have different tastes.” Empathy is about discovering those tastes. Salespeople are notorious for not listening. To be good at expressing empathy, you need to be a good listener.
3. Don’t be tone-deaf. A tone-deaf person is insensitive to the feelings, needs, and concerns of others. If a person were jobless and having trouble making a mortgage payment, it would not be appropriate to show up in your new Mercedes, as an example. Carefully consider your words and actions (both online and offline) to make sure that you show sensitivity towards the feelings of others.
4. Provide tools and resources. Before you sit down to make a call, consider the types of tools and resources you can offer. Perhaps the person you are calling is having financial trouble and needs advice or information about forbearance or certain business loans (such as PPP or EIDL). Or, perhaps you would like to suggest a good lender for refinancing. You can even provide a list of charitable organizations for those who want to get more active in protesting racial inequality.
5. Do not sell. This last one may seem counterintuitive, but being available, and being a sounding board in conversations via telephone or face-to-face is what your main goal should be. In my experience, if you stay on the phone long enough, the recipient of your call will ultimately turn the call to your business or work anyway. So, there is really no need to bring up the topic on your own.

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