I was eating outdoors with a friend not too long ago and a bee came flying around our food. He Keeping calm during negotiations jumped up, jerked his Braves baseball cap off, started yelling, and then commenced to slapping the air with his hat at the bee. Well that made the bee mad, and it came back in for a landing on the back of his neck and stung my friend. We have all seen it happen. Somebody looses their cool. Fails to stay calm. Creates Terror where none existed. If he had staed calm, sipped his drink, ate his hamburger and fries, then the bee would have gone about it’s business. I would have missed the entertainment, and my friend would not have been stung.

You, as the Real Estate Professional and the Orchestra leader of the clients deal, can set the tone for negotiation and conflict resolution throughout the transaction. William Ury, co-founder of Harvard’s Program on Negotiation, one of the world’s leading experts on negotiation, and bestselling author of Getting to Yes and Getting Past No, , Getting To Yes With Yourself. States:

Great negotiators know that the path to resolution is not always linear but rather a series of switchbacks and obstacles. Ury proposes that one of our biggest obstacles is often overlooked: ourselves. Once we understand this and address our blind spots, we gain better mental clarity. In Getting To Yes With Yourself, which was selected by TIME magazine as one of the best negotiation books of 2015, Ury urges us to focus on ourselves in order to be better prepared for our adversaries. When activated through Ury’s Inner Yes Method, it is simple and powerful – and could make all the difference at the negotiation table.

So, when your in the series of switchbacks and obstacles of negotiating a purchase or sale for your clients home, keep calm, don’t swat at the bee. The calm person is the one that controls the situation.

At Options Mortgage, we want to be your calm, cool, and knowledgeable home loan partner. If we are not already working with you, would you give us an audition?