How to Respond to “Another Agent Would Do It for Less” Without Defending Your Fee

A seller tells Chris Voss that another agent will do it for less. It is the line every agent hears, and most answer it the same way — with the marketing plan, the days on market, the sold-to-list ratio.

Voss does none of that. He never mentions money. He never asks a question. He makes three statements, each one a guess about what the seller is feeling, and he stops talking after every single one.

Here is the whole exchange.

Seller: "Hey, Chris, we really like you, but another agent we're interviewing would do it for less." Voss: "Sounds like you want to go with that agent." Seller: "Well, I I don't know about that. I mean, we're still conducting our interviews and there's things we like about you." Voss: "Sound like you're still shopping around." Seller: "Yeah, maybe we're trying to weigh our options." Voss: "Well, it sounds like you're reluctant about paying for results." Seller: "Bingo."

Watch what he is actually doing. Every guess is a little worse than the truth, so the seller has to correct him — and each correction gives up more than the last. First they are still interviewing. Then they are weighing options. By the third guess the seller stops hedging and names the real objection out loud.

Right now, when a seller says another agent is cheaper, you answer with your value. You list your marketing plan, your days on market, your sold-to-list ratio. That is an argument. Arguments make people defend the position they just took, so the seller digs further into price. Voss does the opposite. He states what he thinks the seller is thinking and lets them correct him. Each statement is a little harder than the last, and each one leaves the seller free to walk. By the third one the seller admits the real problem, which is that they do not believe the fee buys anything. That is an objection you can actually answer. "He charges less" is not an objection you can answer, because it is a fact about somebody else.

1. Write the three lines on a card and keep it in your listing folder: "Sounds like you want to go with that agent." / "Sounds like you're still shopping around." / "Sounds like you're reluctant about paying for results."
2. Say them in that order and stop talking after each one. Let the silence sit. Do not add a sentence to soften it.
3. Only start presenting value after the seller confirms one of them. You now know which objection you are answering.