It is not easy to tell the difference between the truth and a sales tactic. To trust or not to trust, that is the question.
Singapore is a high trust society. According to the 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer, Singaporeans have high level of trust in the government (77 percent), non-governmental organizations (66 percent), business (63 percent) and media (60 percent).
Singaporeans are known to be gullible. No wonder the little red dot is a safe haven for scammers and money launderers.
Are Singaporeans gullible? Foreigners have this to say about Singaporeans in an article titled “4 reasons Singaporeans are so easily scammed these days” (MoneySmart.sg, Nov 8, 2016)
Ask anyone from Hong Kong, Mainland China or India what they think of Singaporeans, and you’ll often hear the words “gullible” or “naive”.
These people have grown up in places where you have to be alert and on your toes in order to function in society, so they’re often surprised that Singaporeans tend to believe everything you tell them.
Singaporeans are gullible
Every day we are bombarded by spam messages, unknown calls and questionable articles. We have an anti-scam helpline and the scamalert.sg website. However, there are more stories of victims being cheated than scammers being brought to justice. Think rental scams and fake listings.
I totally agree that Singaporeans are very gullible. In fact, many of them cannot tell the wolves from the sheep. Some believe the wolves are vegetarians.
There are many home buyers out there who believe everything they read in the media and whatever the people around tell them. They never verify the source or validate facts. They don’t think for themselves. They depend on other people to tell them how to think and what to do.
How do we decide whether we can believe in something? It all depends on the message and the context. Above all, where is the source and who is the one saying this.
In today’s world, we have far too many company spokespersons with vested interest speaking to the media. Likewise, there are far more journalists recording what others told them than journalists going all out to dig out the truth.
God knows who to trust in today’s media?
For one thing, truth is always relative, especially in the property market. Depending on one’s position, truth can be hidden, partial or outdated. I don’t mean the person is lying. He is just not sharing the full picture. Or selectively omitting some parts intentionally or unintentionally, in particular the risks and disadvantages.
The 4 formidable sales tactics
There are four formidable sales tactics that you and I would have encountered before.
Sales tactic #1: Reply in an hour or …
Four months ago, I stepped into a shop selling luxury brands. They didn’t have the model I wanted. But the salesperson said he would contact me once the new stock arrived.
Last week, I received a WhatsApp message from them that read as follows:
“Hello, Mr/Ms, I am (SA) from … We have tried to contact you regarding your allocation of (brand1/brand2) model and was not reachable.
Upon receipt of this message, you are required to confirm on this allocation within a 1 hour window. Should there be no response, we will proceed to reallocate the model to the next person in line without further notice. Thank you.
You can reach us at … or WhatsApp …”
Strange. Instead of my first or last name, the message addressed me as “Mr/Ms”. Furthermore, the sender didn’t bother to replace the “(SA)” with his name, nor add the brand or model I was looking for.
Obviously, it was a copy and paste standard operating procedure from the company’s guidebook for salespeople. The “1 hour window” was a clever sales tactic, though a distasteful one.
What did they expect me to do? Drop everything on hand, find a Grab to rush to the shop? Snap up the rare find before it is offered to the next customer in the queue?
This “1 hour window” tactic sounds familiar. In my early 20s, once I was upset with no reply from a boyfriend. My girlfriend took the mobile phone from me. Sent an SMS message that read “show up in an hour or we break up”.
I did get an immediate response. But I wonder how many times one could use the same tactic.
Sales tactic #2: Get it now or never
In every developer’s sales gallery, there is a sales chart with red stickers covering most unit numbers. The project is selling fast. Buyers must act fast before everything is gone.
You could have grabbed the last unit. But because you hesitated, you let someone else who reacted just one second faster than you bag the last prize. It is the regret of missing the boat that is most painful to you.
The pros play the property game to win. The amateurs play the property game to not lose out.
– Vina Ip, No BS Guide to Property Investment
Hurry up! It’s now or never. Miss it and you regret later!
Once too often, we buy not because we want it, but for the fear of missing out. Salespeople all know the now or never trick. When it comes to closing a deal, manipulating a customer’s fear is much more effective than playing with his greed.
“Leave your money in the bank and it will be eroded by inflation. To beat inflation, you have no choice but … ”
“If you don’t buy now, tomorrow you will see prices continue to go up – until you can’t afford it.”
“This is the last unit left that fits your budget and criteria. But we already have a few buyers waiting to submit their cheque. If you can’t make a decision by today, I really can’t hold it for you anymore.”
– “The ‘now or never’ sales pitch”, PropertySoul.com
Sales tactic #3: Introduce competition
Hong Kong writer Yi Shu (亦舒) once said in her book: Only young boys and girls who are in love have so many things to say. If not, it must be a property agent.
The sequence of a sales process is: approach to build rapport, present the product, clarify details and closing. Before the last step, we often find an additional step taken by the salesperson: Introduce a competitor.
For instance, the client is considering whether to rent or to buy a place. Then the agent says the owner just received an offer from an eager tenant or buyer. When the client becomes desperate to put forward an offer, the agent says the other side has proposed a higher price.
Come on. Just add a bit more and it will be yours.
Introducing competition is a powerful sales tactic. It doesn’t matter whether there is a real or imaginary competitor. Anyway, there is always the possibility that the real or imaginary tenant or buyer changes his mind for some reason.
Many years ago, my husband bought a ring for his marriage proposal. But he didn’t get a “yes”. Every time I just couldn’t make up my mind. One day, he deliberately let me overhear him talking to himself.
“My girlfriend doesn’t want to marry me. I wonder whether I should try to find another girl.”
The strategy of opening to competition worked very well. We soon agreed on the ROM date. Because it would be sad to see another lady showing off the ring. That nice diamond ring could have been mine!
Sales tactic #4: Give them hope
All human beings need hope. When we find hope, we have trust. If there is trust, there is courage. When we have courage, we take a leap of faith.
Because the promise of the possibility of a better future can trigger our decision to commit to something big. Therefore, salespeople must give customers hope, especially when the going gets tough.
Take the example that Singapore introduced twelve rounds of property cooling measures, with buying restrictions one round stricter than the other. Salespeople have to constantly convince disheartened property buyers that the government would soon relax ABSD, TDSR and LTV.
Every dark clock has a silver lining. Likewise, every property rule has a loophole. Salespeople must show hesitant buyers that there is a clever trick to tackle every obstacle. That is why we can buy a new property with a trust, using a child’s name or under the 99-to-1 arrangement.
In a high interest environment, investors are all drawn to fixed income products, US stocks and commodities. What left in the market are undecided home buyers wondering whether to buy or wait.
Salespeople must calm concerned buyers and assure them that interest rates are going down soon. It doesn’t matter when and whether rate cut will eventually happen. The key is the promise of a lower rate and a smaller mortgage. This helps to increase affordability, lower the entry barrier and enlarge the pool of home buyers.
Food for thought
Half the year has gone. Federal Reserve’s first rate cut might not even happen in the 3rd quarter. Because it is too early to lower interest rate in June or July. Since US election is on November 5, it is also meaningless to announce anything new the date after the election at the November 6-7 meeting. As a result, we have only two possible rate cut announcement dates during the Fed meetings on September 17-18 or December 17-18.
In fact, the market had been speculating about reduction of interest rate since end of 2022. However, it didn’t happen the whole of 2023. In 2024, predictions about the number of rate cuts this year have been revised from six times to three times. Then it cut down to twice or even once.
Who has been talking about rate cut all this while? The banks and the stakeholders of the real estate industry. They are the salespeople. Their job is to constantly give us hope. Then get new business from us to meet sales quota. If everyone knew that rates would stay higher for longer, who would take the plunge to sign up new bank loans or commit to new property purchases?
If the Fed can pay lip service, why can’t they? To trust or not to trust, that is the question.
Check out my new online courses How To Buy Good Quality Properties and Buy The Right Condos.
You can watch the recording of the presentations at the 2023 Mid-Year Singapore Property Review and Outlook seminar.
The video 2023 Singapore Private Home Market is available for viewing here.
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