Communication, Preparation, and Energy-Management in Sports and Life

Molly Fletcher is an expert on all aspects of negotiation. For nearly 20 years, she was one of the world’s only female sports agents, recruiting and representing star professional athletes and negotiating over $500 million in contracts along the way. But the most impactful aspect of her career, which now includes being a keynote speaker and author, has been building and fostering strong relationships.

On this week’s episode of the Start With a Win podcast, Fletcher joins RE/MAX Holdings CEO Adam Contos to share how she manifested her dream career – and her best tips for negotiation that are applicable to all professions, especially real estate.

According to Fletcher, strong relationships are the anchor of communication and negotiation.

“A lot of times when we go to negotiate, whether it’s big or small deals, we spend a lot of time thinking about what we want,” she says. “What would success be on our side of the table for our party?… I think it’s equally – if not more – important to get inside the head and the heart of the people that you’re negotiating with.

“The better the relationship, the better the outcome [and] the quicker I can close the deal,” Fletcher explains.

One of her biggest keys to success is to not avoid difficult questions and ask them right off the bat. Though many people are afraid of creating friction, pushing aside tough questions does not make them disappear – it just prolongs the amount of time they usurp a person’s energy.

Fletcher also says that people need to combat their internal distractions and get out of their own way, uplifting themselves.

“Let’s be our greatest coach,” she says. “Sometimes the things we tell ourselves certainly don’t serve us, and human beings believe the stories they tell themselves – even though the stories they tell themselves [aren’t] taking them where they want to go.”

Tune in to this week’s podcast episode to hear Fletcher’s take on how to identify a bad deal and walk away from it while still sustaining the relationship.

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