Some relationships are easier than others. Friendships fall on the easier side of spectrum, if you disagree you can just part ways.

Unfortunately, today the concept of “the right price” is less like a friend and more like the annoying kid brother your sellers are forced to bunk with. They can’t get away and will have to make a few concessions and learn how to get along in order to survive.

What does that make you, the listing agent? You’re the family counselor who has to quickly motivate your client to grow up and accept the facts; it may be time for a price reduction.

Here are a few things you can show sellers to help them make peace with a lower price that  will ultimately get them to the closing table:

Client Listing Reports – The facts about your relationship

Like kids, sellers tend to focus on all of the things they’re doing right and have a little trouble seeing why they can’t have it all go their way.

That’s where your Client Listing Reports on Trulia come in. They provide an objective look at how their property and the market are interacting. Using stats like pageviews and search results stats they show the cold hard facts on how a listing is performing.

When it comes to finding the right price Client Listing Reports are a great a tool for convincing sellers, they aren’t right as they think. Their behavior needs to change.

Show’em the Comps – Your little brother is not as weird as you think

Your family always seems bad until you watch Jerry Springer.

Comps from multiple sources are like a crowd screaming “Jerry!” Springer shows us we’ve all got a few family issues and comps are the equivalent reality check for a seller thinking they are exempt from the factors influencing the market.

The biggest thing to remember when pulling comps is, make sure they’re relevant and from multiple sources.

Survey the Competition – Join a support group

Live listings are the flip side of comps. They show sellers what they’re up against today. Seeing the competition’ s prices can be sobering and informative like a support group of sorts. It’s important for the client to see how others are working through the same issues they’re facing today.

Your sellers should complain a little less once they digest that they’re not the only ones struggling with the concept of “the right price.” One great suggestion we saw from Ken Tracy in our Facebook comments was to set your clients up with listing e-mail alerts for similar properties

Marketing Activity Report –  If you’re going to get along, you have to try something new

Lay out the property marketing history, showing and call logs, and response history for all of your efforts. If things have been quiet for more than 30 to 45 days, chances are a price reduction is your best move.

At the end of the day selling in today’s market is like going through a growth spurt – it’s a little uncomfortable, requires some compromise, and takes a little time. Using these tools can help speed up the price-refining process, but remember to consider your client’s emotions while delivering these sometimes hard to swallow facts.

If you counsel the right way you’ll not only deliver a much needed dose of reality, you might win a client for a lifetime.

Thanks to our crowd on Trulia Voices for the inspiration for this post. Check out the Voices Q&A “What tools & tactics help you convince a seller that it’s time for a price reduction?” for more helpful hints on price reductions.