It’s 9:30 on a Monday morning, and an agent is staring at their phone, putting off one of the toughest calls of the week.
They had four groups through their new listing on Saturday. The feedback was consistent: buyers believe the price guide is around $100,000 too high, and the second bedroom is too small for growing families.
The agent knows what the market is telling them. But when the seller answers the phone, they hesitate.
Instead of having the honest conversation, they soften the message and serve up a much more comfortable version:
“Look, we had some great initial interest on Saturday! People really liked the natural light and the backyard. It’s still early days, so let’s see how things go in week two.”
The seller hangs up feeling good. The agent hangs up feeling relieved that they’ve avoided an uncomfortable conversation.
But neither is any better off.
Just like agency principals, sales agents can fall into the trap of wanting to be liked more than wanting to be respected.
You want your sellers to feel good about choosing you. You don’t want them questioning your advice, blaming your marketing or getting upset with you. So you soften the feedback, avoid the difficult conversations and tell them what they want to hear rather than what they need to hear.
And here’s the problem: you’re protecting your own comfort at the expense of your client’s result.
You might keep the relationship comfortable today, but you could be setting it up for a much bigger problem down the track.
How a Campaign Goes Off Track
When you put being liked ahead of being honest, you create problems that become harder to fix with every passing week.
- Week 1: You soften the feedback because you don’t want to upset the seller.
- Week 2: You tell them buyers are “doing their numbers” when, in reality, they’ve already moved on.
- Week 4: The auction passes in, or the property sits on the portals without a single offer.
- Week 5: The seller is frustrated, confused and wondering what went wrong.
And who do they hold responsible? You.
They won’t look back and say, “Thanks for keeping us positive while our property sat on the market.”
They’ll say, “You told us buyers loved the property. Why didn’t you tell us the price was the problem? We’ve wasted five weeks.”
In trying to keep the seller happy in week one, you’ve potentially lost their trust by week five.
Remember, a seller doesn’t employ you to be their best mate or agree with everything they say. They employ you because they expect you to know the market, give them sound advice and guide them towards the best possible result.
Your job isn’t to tell sellers what they want to hear. It’s to tell them what they need to know.
Three Conversations That Build Respect
1. Set the Expectations at the Kitchen Table:
Don’t wait until the first difficult conversation to establish that you’ll be honest with your sellers. Set the expectation before you even sign the listing agreement.
- The Dialogue:
“Mr and Mrs Seller, over the next four weeks, my job isn’t to tell you what you want to hear just to make our weekly conversations comfortable. My job is to protect your interests and give you an honest picture of what the market is telling us and what buyers are prepared to pay.
Some of that feedback will be positive. Some of it might be difficult to hear. But I’d rather have those conversations early so we can make the right decisions together. Can we agree that I’ll give you the full picture every Monday, even when the feedback isn’t what we were hoping for?”
2. Share the Facts, Not Your Feelings:
One reason agents avoid difficult conversations is that they take buyer feedback personally. They worry the seller will blame them or question their ability to sell the property.
The answer is to stop making the conversation about your opinion. Let the evidence do the talking.
- The Dialogue:
“I want to take you through the feedback from the four groups who inspected the property on Saturday. Three of them independently mentioned the recent sale at 14 Smith Street. They see it as better value at the moment because of the renovated kitchen.
Here’s the feedback we’ve received from each buyer. This isn’t just my opinion. It’s what we’re hearing from people who are actively looking to buy. The good news is we now have a much clearer picture of what’s holding them back.”
3. Give Them a Way Forward:
Don’t just deliver bad news and leave the seller wondering what to do next. Your job is to interpret the feedback, explain the options and make a recommendation. That’s where your value as an agent really shows.
- The Dialogue:
“The feedback over our first ten days has been pretty consistent. Buyers like the location, but we’re seeing hesitation around the current price guide.
We’ve got two options. We can hold our position and wait for a buyer who’s prepared to meet our expectations, knowing that the longer we sit on the market, the greater the risk of losing momentum. Or we can adjust our price guide by 5%, bring ourselves back into the conversation with more active buyers and give the campaign a better chance of generating competition before Saturday.
My recommendation is that we make the adjustment now while we still have the opportunity to get ahead of the market rather than chase it.”
The Real Measure of a Good Agent
Being liked is about how comfortable a seller feels after a five-minute phone call.
Being respected is about how much they trust your advice, value your judgement and appreciate the way you’ve handled their biggest financial asset.
Don’t confuse keeping a seller happy with doing a good job.
Have the courage to share the feedback early, tell them what the market is saying and give them a clear recommendation on what to do next.
Because the best agents aren’t the ones who always tell sellers what they want to hear. They’re the ones sellers trust enough to listen to when the news isn’t good.
Here’s a question worth asking yourself: Which property on your current listing board needs a more honest conversation about price, and are you prepared to have it before this weekend’s open home?
