A multifamily leasing consultant trained in improv handles objections with fluency.
The best leasing conversations aren’t scripted.
The foundational rule of improv is “yes, and.” When your scene partner puts a reality on the table, a good improviser takes it fully and builds on it rather than blocking it. What comes out of “yes, and” beats anything you could have scripted ahead of time.
In leasing, a prospect who raises a concern or an unexpected need is a scene partner handing you material. An associate trained in “yes, and” takes the concern fully, with something like “I understand exactly what you mean,” and builds on it, “let me show you how that works here.”
The practical payoff is that prospects feel heard before they feel sold.
She took the objection fully and built on it in real time, working out the solution with the prospect rather than steering her past the concern. The prospect leased, and told her afterward she’d felt like the associate was on her side, which she was. That’s what “yes, and” produces, so train for it.
“Yes, and” isn’t a leasing script so much as a listening discipline, and a prospect who feels genuinely heard is already most of the way to yes. — Mike Brewer
Discussion Prompt: Run a thirty-minute improv drill with your team this week using nothing but “yes, and” in response to every objection someone raises. Then debrief on how it changes the energy of the conversation.