Is selling a skill, or an innate human characteristic?
In his latest book, To Sell is Human, bestselling author Daniel H. Pink introduces his hypothesis on this question with a story of his cataloguing how he spent the last two weeks of his professional life. His conclusion? “I am a salesman.”
He cites examples such as trying to get an editor to abandon a story idea and requesting a seat change from a flight attendant as evidence of his sales cred. He extends that notion to his audience, saying they’re all “pitching colleagues, persuading funders, cajoling kids. Like it or not, we’re all in sales now.”
Where's the sales module?
Now? I thought to myself. Was there a time when people didn’t pitch or when parents didn’t convince their children to do what they’re told? Isn’t this just the art of How to Win Friends and Influence People redux?
Now, Pink’s motive is overall a good one. He’s trying to convince people who aren’t “in sales” to abandon their preconceived notions of sales as something bad or slippery or a necessary evil:
“The capacity to sell isn’t some unnatural adaptation to the merciless world of commerce. It is part of who we are… selling is fundamentally human.”
I appreciated the sentiment, so I read on. While his first chapter begins with a fascinating profile of the last Fuller Brush door-to-door salesman, he then delves into a study he undertook to illuminate his hypothesis by asking people what they do at work. While a majority of his respondents said they spent more time “processing information” than they did “selling a product or service,” he noted that they all admitted to these “three activities at the heart of non-sales selling”:
- teaching, coaching, or instructing others
- serving clients or customers
- persuading or convincing others
In the classic cult comedy Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Sir Arthur and his knights must answer three questions each in order to pass over a bridge. It’s a study in inanity, something those Pythons do wonderfully.
Bridgekeeper: Stop. Who would cross the Bridge of Death must answer me these questions three, ere the other side he see.
Sir Lancelot: Ask me the questions, bridgekeeper. I am not afraid.
Bridgekeeper: What… is your name?
Sir Lancelot: My name is Sir Lancelot of Camelot.
Bridgekeeper: What… is your quest?
Sir Lancelot: To seek the Holy Grail.
Bridgekeeper: What… is your favourite colour?
Sir Lancelot: Blue.
Bridgekeeper: Go on. Off you go.
Sir Lancelot: Oh, thank you. Thank you very much.
…
Bridgekeeper: Stop. What… is your name?
Galahad: Sir Galahad of Camelot.
Bridgekeeper: What… is your quest?
Galahad: I seek the Grail.
Bridgekeeper: What… is your favourite colour?
Galahad: Blue. No, yel…
[Galahad is thrown over the edge]
Galahad: auuuuuuuugh.
Bridgekeeper: Hee hee heh.
Does that sound familiar? How about this:
What… is your name?
What… is your price range?
What… is your favorite reason to pass on a house?
Jeff Shore wants you to move from what to why. In his new book, The 4:2 Formula: Getting Buyers Off the Fence and Into a Home, Shore pleads with readers to stop trying to get to know prospects by asking them how many bedrooms they want. Continue reading »
Back when her life ran smack into the foreclosure crisis, Stephanie Alison Walker started blogging. It didn’t stop offers from evaporating or credit scores from plummeting. It didn’t keep her and her husband out of bankruptcy court. But it did turn out to be a great little love story. 
Walker strung together her blog entries and created a book called Love in the Time of Foreclosure. You ride with her and her husband, Bob, down the rocky path that millions have traveled since the start of the housing crisis. Originally they had put 20% down on a 30-year, fixed-interest loan, with the income to back it up. Then, Bob lost his job and their dream house wasn’t too far behind.
Here at the Book Scan blog, we’ve covered the real estate + romance novel mashup. But Walker’s story isn’t about poofy blouses or forbidden trysts. This memoir is about how to keep a marriage together and romance alive under one of the most stressful situations a couple can go through together. And this isn’t about the perfect couple that can handle any of life’s problems, either. Stephanie and Bob have almost broken up before. What’s to say the end of homeownership might not also be the end of their union? Continue reading »
By Erica Christoffer, Multimedia Web Producer, REALTOR® Magazine
“
Honesty is the best policy.” — An old saying that rings truer today in real estate than ever before.
REALTOR® and author Mario Jannatpour, a sales associate with RE/MAX Alliance in Louisville, Colo., is making honesty his mission in his recently-released second book, “The Honest Real Estate Agent: A Training Guide for a Successful First Year and Beyond as a Real Estate Agent.”
“Honesty is what our clients want today from us as REALTORS®,” says Jannatpour. “Combine honesty with knowledge, expertise and skills — this completes the profile.”
Jannatpour spoke with REALTOR® Magazine about his new book and the power of honesty in business:
Can you talk about the importance of honesty in agent-client relationships?
Jannatpour: In preparing to write this book, I did research on Twitter and Facebook. I spoke with people who were never my clients, asking them what they believed was most important when working with a REALTOR®. “Honesty” just kept coming up as an answer. It’s honesty in that you’re always doing the right thing for your clients, even maybe at the expense of killing a deal. You should always have the mindset, regardless of the deal, that you tell the truth because that’s what your clients need to know. Let them make the decision based on the information you present.
I’ve been in sales all my life and I’ve experienced situations where the sales professional holds back information. In real estate, you can’t do that. The house that people live in is the most important purchase of their lives.
How can real estate professionals break the stereotype of dishonesty?
Jannatpour: I actually have a chapter titled “I Hate Real Estate Agents.” That’s a thing we all deal with as REALTORS®, especially throughout the past decade in light of foreclosures, short sales, and the mortgage industry meltdown. Some real estate agents played a part in that, unfortunately. And we have an industry that includes a lot of people – over 1 million members of NAR – so there are going to be a few bad eggs. I think the way you counteract it as a real estate agent is by simply doing the opposite of the stereotype. Focus on the needs of your clients, be honest to them, and be honest to yourself. Some of my best clients are people who had bad experiences with other real estate agents in the past. When you show them you can do a good job and be honest, they really appreciate that.
What are some of the biggest mistakes new agents make? Continue reading »
By Erica Christoffer, Multimedia Web Producer, REALTOR® Magazine
Stop believing it’s impossible to break into the high-end real estate market. If you’re going to go for it, now is best time, says real estate veteran Jack Cotton, CRS, CRB with Sotheby’s International Real Estate in Osterville, Mass. In his new book, Selling Luxury Homes (Tide-Mark Press, 2010), Cotton outlines a three-step process for success in a competitive luxury market: 1.) Become a market expert. 2.) Serve as a trusted advisor. 3.) Provide top-of-the-line services to clients. “I don’t see real estate as a career – it’s absolutely a calling for me,” says Cotton, who will be speaking at the REALTORS® Conference & Expo from 12:30-2 p.m. Friday, Nov. 5 in New Orleans.
Here’s what Cotton has to say about his new book and his NARdiGras presentation.
Why is now a good time to get into luxury real estate?
COTTON: The great thing about this market is it’s a perfect time to improve your skills, expand your skills, and broaden your horizons. This is the third downturn I’ve been through since my career began in 1974, and this is the time to get out there and do better. Even if you decide not to become a luxury real estate specialist, all the tools you’ll learn in this book will help you treat every client like a million dollars, regardless of their price range.
What is one tip a real estate practitioner could put into action after reading your book?
COTTON: Luxury buyers and sellers are used to dealing with experts – whether they have a medical situation, a tax situation, or a real estate situation – they only want the best. Chapter four teaches you how to become an expert, and be perceived as an expert. The best way to do this is to become an expert on value in your marketplace. People with means are obsessed with the value of their property. Due to taxes, they want to know that the actual value of their property is correct compared with what municipalities are assessing it for. They need to know the value of their property so they can conduct their estate planning. Also, they have a real need to know the actual value of their property so they know where they stand financially. Continue reading »
Here are the current top selling books about sales in real estate from Amazon.com:
1. FLIP: How to Find, Fix, and Sell Houses for Profit, by Rick Villani, Clay Davis, and Gary Keller
2. Success as a Real Estate Agent for Dummies, by Dirk Zeller
3. Keepers of the Castle: Real Estate Executives on Leadership and Management, by William J. Ferguson
4. The ABC’s of Property Management: What You Need to Know to Maximize Your Money Now (Rich Dad’s Advisors), by Ken McElroy
5. Your First Year in Real Estate: Making the Transition From Total Novice to Successful Professional, by Dirk Zeller
6. Confessions of a Real Estate Entrepreneur: What It Takes to Win in High-Stakes Commercial Real Estate, by James A. Randel Continue reading »
By Erica Christoffer
QUICK SKIM
If cold calling, door knocking, and spending oodles of money on marketing don’t sound like your cup of tea, don’t sweat it, you can still flourish in the real estate business. Author Jennifer Allan will show you how in her book Sell with Soul (BlueGreen Books, 2008). No longer do you have to tarnish your principles to prospect. Challenging the industry’s status quo, Allan offers fun and easy tips on how to generate business and referrals with respect. Allan uses examples from her own career, while outlining the value of a hard and thorough work ethic to achieve success. BUY THE BOOK
FROM THE BOOK: 5 WAYS TO GENERATE MORE BUSINESS LEADS
1. Take your friends to lunch. Keep in touch with people in your social network by taking one person to lunch each week. Don’t make it an infomercial about your business. Instead use the time as an opportunity to catch up. After all, relationships are key. Next time someone at your friend’s office says they’re looking for a REALTOR®, you’ll be the first to pop into mind.
2. Know your market. Look at houses, preview as much as you can, and put together practice market analysis reports. Be the expert your clients expect you to be, plus some. Knowledge and professionalism are impressive traits. Plus, your clients will trust you more when you know what you’re talking about. Allan’s mantra: “Competence gives you confidence.” Continue reading »
Here are the latest top selling books on sales and selling, according to Amazon.com:
1. Guerrilla Marketing, 4th edition: Easy and Inexpensive Strategies for Making Big Profits from Your SmallBusiness , By Jay Conrad Levinson
2. Little Red Book of Selling: 12.5 Principles of Sales Greatness, By Jeffrey Gitomer
3. The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More, By Chris Anderson
4. Little Green Book of Getting Your Way: How to Speak, Write, Present, Persuade, Influence, and Sell Your Point of View to Others, By Jeffrey Gitomer
5. The Ultimate Sales Machine: Turbocharge Your Business with Relentless Focus on 12 Key Strategies, By Chet Holmes
6. The Official Get Rich Guide to Information Marketing: Build a Million-Dollar Business in 12 Months, By Dan Kennedy, Bill Glazer, and Robert Skrob
7. Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want, By James H. Gilmore and B. Joseph Pine II
8. Covert Persuasion: Psychological Tactics and Tricks to Win the Game, By Kevin Hogan and James Speakman
9. Little Red Book of Sales Answers: 99.5 Real World Answers That Make Sense, Make Sales, and Make Money, By Jeffrey Gitomer
10. Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking, By Andy Sernovitz and Guy Kawasaki
By Kelly Quigley, REALTOR® Magazine
Your Successful Sales Career By Brian Azar with Len Foley (AMACOM, 2004)
Buy this book from Amazon.com
Forget pressure selling and fancy closing techniques. Yesterday’s strategies aren’t just ineffective in today’s ultra-competitive marketplace; they also give salespeople a bad name. A winning sales career requires top-notch communication skills and the ability to identify your customers’ motives for buying, says author Brian Azar. He shares methods for generating leads, building rapport, closing the deal, and following up with clients to ensure repeat business. Azar also looks at how to avoid burnout—a chronic problem that prevents salespeople from reaching their potential. Much of the book is devoted to short exercises that will help you track your progress and tap into creative selling skills. These lessons are probably most valuable to rookies but also may give sales veterans a fresh perspective on selling.
Tips From the Book:
- Make the first 30 seconds count. Create a short, concise “commercial” about yourself, your company, and your services. This can draw the prospect in by highlighting problems that you can help solve or major benefits you offer. It also creates a need for your service—something that must be done before a sale is made.
- Benefit from wisdom of others. Just as most large companies welcome guidance from a qualified board of directors, many successful salespeople opt for their own personal board, or an inner circle of people who share in very important information of their personal and professional life. Your board can give you powerful guidance when you need it most, although the final decision must be yours alone.
- Speak their language. When you’re selling a home to a computer enthusiast, you’ll use a completely different vocabulary than if you’re selling to an avid sports fan. Listen to and repeat the words your prospects use. Use open-ended questions and active listening skills to pick up on the words they use often, and write down key phrases that you can use in future conversations with them.
Attitude Before Platitude
Becki Saltzman has arranged a threesome. It involves you, your clients, and her wacky self, and it takes place in her new book, Arousing the Buy Curious: Real Estate Pillow Talk for Patrons and Professionals (Oomau Media, 2013).
Author Becki Saltzman
While the book is peppered with what some may term naughty language and innuendo, perhaps the more shocking element is that she wrote a book that is aimed at practitioners as well as buyers and sellers. What? Didn’t someone tell her not to give up the secret codes?!
But after reading this compendium cover to cover, I can assure you that you can relax. In fact—once you read the client-focused chapter and the client tips scattered throughout the book—you’ll probably want to buy this for all your (not-so-uptight) buyers and sellers. Not only does Saltzman guide clients on how to pick good agents, but she teaches them a whole lot about how to be good customers as well.
OK, back to the naughty bits. This book is not for those easily offended by language. Still when Saltzman writes, “You might be appalled by some of what you read in this book, but I promise that the ideas my potty mouth spouts are valid,” she lives up to the promise. Indeed, her advice is novel as it is solid, and it spans everything from getting started in real estate, to transaction management (from both sides), to handling crazy market fluctuations with grace.
Arousing the Buy Curious, coming to bookshelves in September, is definitely useful. But it’s also hilarious. There are quite a few laugh-out-loud commentaries that I can’t print here. But here are a few that can sneak by: Continue reading »