This article appeared in The Weekly Review.

This week I’m meeting a new young potential recruit to the Buyer Agent world. Her name is Eileen and we are having coffee at Liar, Liar Coffee Shop just off Glenferrie Road near Jellis Craig in Hawthorn.

Mal: Welcome Eileen, are you excited?

Eileen: I’m absolutely rapt. It has been a lifelong passion to get into property and I might have finally made it.

Mal: Great stuff. How many languages do you speak?

Eileen: One. Do I need to learn Mandarin as well?

Mal: All of our buyer agents, buyers, vendors and selling agents in Toorak, Albert Park, Brighton and Hawthorn, speak at least 6.

Eileen: 6?

Mal: At least.

Eileen: I think Chinese must be one. What about Hindi and German?

Mal: I regard them all as one form of language, one form of communication.

Eileen: The guys warned me you were a bit strange, Mal. One language?

Mal: Yep and it’s called “verbal”. Five other languages that all buyers and sellers use to communicate are: tone, body, action, vibe and numbers.

Eileen: I get it. You’re making a play on words to get me to think.

Mal: I am getting you to think, but it’s not a play on words. Most inexperienced agents, and many buyers, listen only with their ears – and even then some do an appalling job at that. You also need to listen with your eyes and listen with your mind – you need to listen with all your body senses.

Eileen: I’m hearing you boss. Sort of… Not really. Listen with your body? What do you mean by that?

Mal: You’re awake, you’re focused. You’re a bit confused and you’re getting frustrated. You’re communicating to me even when you’re not speaking. You’re frowning, your arms are crossed and you’ve slightly turned away from me, all since I asked you how many languages you speak. That’s body language.

Eileen: And numbers are a language?

Mal: If your offer on a home is a number, is that not a communication?

Eileen: That’s a bit different, Mal.

Mal: If a buyer sees an asking price of $3,200,000+; faxes an offer of $2,700,000; gets a “no”, and then faxes $3,050,000. Is the buyer communicating with numbers?

Eileen: Yes…

Mal: The buyer is also communicating that they might jump again to $3,400,000 if they get another “no”. The buyer might be communicating that this is their final offer. Even with no words on the fax, only the number, a skilled “hearing” agent can understand the real communication more often than not. Would you think differently, Eileen, if the first number faxed was $2,950,000 and the second $2,975,000? Different numbers, gaps and barriers, but same property and buyer. He may be communicating in multiple languages, and numbers is one of them.

Eileen: Hmmmm. I think I get tone as a language.

Mal: Yes, and the heavy tone is often used too much to have the communication effect it’s user desires. It should be used more sparingly by all.

Eileen: I suppose action as a communication language can be silence – not returning a phone call, or returning a phone call quickly.

Mal: Correct. There are many more subtle and not so subtle actions. For example, an offer in writing vs a verbal offer. Same number, but different communication. So what about the “vibe” language, Eileen? What is it and how do you recognise it?

Eileen: Pass.

Mal: When you go to a party, can you tell the second you walk in the door whether or not you wished you’d stayed home to watch the TV? Can you tell if it’s going to be a great party?  Well, auctions are a lot like that – buyers give off “vibes” and the crowd can communicate to you. If you are good at your job, you will “listen”. The auction “vibe” can sometimes have a profound effect on bidding strategies and end results. Alternatively, we see inexperienced buyers who are determined to buy, and go there to buy, at any cost. Determination is great, however determination to not be beaten, can deafen one’s senses to opportunity. On another level, in time you will also “hear” your clients as they walk through a home or drive into a new neighbourhood. You will “hear” them but nothing is spoken. You will “hear” them even if an opposing communication is verbalised.

Eileen: I’ll work on my bidding strategies and end results at the next party I go to.

Mal: Good idea. If you think what you are getting out of somebody’s mouth is not the whole story, actually I’ll put this more succinctly, assume the verbal is not the whole story and listen with more than your ears to the other communications. As you grow into this job you will get better and better at listening to the whole “mind and body”, and in turn that will lead to better results for your clients, and in many cases, the selling agent’s client as well. Do you agree?

Eileen: Huh? Sorry Mal, my phone rang, what did you say?

Mal: Never mind Eileen. We’ll try and communicate again soon.