The Skills of a Good Negotiator

Whether you are negotiating to sell a house or rent a house, the skills required are exactly the same.  The most important skill is that of listening to the applicant.  A good negotiator will ask lots of questions of the applicant to find out the most important details to be able to help them. Why are they looking to move, when do they need to move by, what size of property do they need, who will be living at the property, do they have any pets to be considered, do they need to have access to any particular areas such as motorways, train stations etc.  There is an exhaustive list of questions that need to be answered to be able to match an applicant with a suitable property.

The second consideration is that of qualification of the applicant to ensure that they are suitable.  The questions needed for this revolve around their current employment, income and credit history.  A good negotiator will not waste time with an applicant that does not have the means to proceed.

The third consideration will be to prioritise and match applicants to properties.  A good negotiator will have excellent communication skills, not only spoken but written so that they can devise their own system of recording applicants ready for matching.

Lastly I would say that the negotiator needs to have good sales skills as in order to match applicants to properties, firstly there is the need to win instructions so that there is a good stock of available properties.

In summary, A good listener, ability to qualify and assess, communicate and sell themselves and the company. At Chelton Brown we go one step further and ensure that all of our staff pass The Technical Award in Residential Letting & Property Management which is a recognised qualification within the industry