GREED IS GOOD

It’s 2008 and the economy is flush with money

Walk into any sales meeting across the country and it’s like sitting in the boiler room

Big egos, new cars and the smell of pure aggression

If you can sell, you’re a demi-god

I was told by a recruiter that being able to “sell” was a “born gift”

I was obsessed

I wanted to please my Asian parents

And greed was good

We were all taught by our Sales Manager that it was weak to let someone go home to decide

Close them NOW

If they walked into your home open, dealership or retail space, then it’s on like Donkey Kong

Dance like a butterfly and sting like a bee

Later they’re crying in the shower holding their contracts wondering what they’ve bought

With a set of steak knives in the kitchen they will never use

This is what we’ve all been taught, right?

How to do the perfect home open

How to ask the top 10 closing questions

How to travel the road to a sale

Again, I was pondering why we are collectively struggling but a few still manage to shine

Then I realised it was because we might not know better

Our “selling beliefs” were taught by our predecessors

If we’ve been trained this way all our lives, then it’s probably why we are struggling

We’ve blindly and willingly accepted this way as the ONLY way

But the world has changed

And we haven’t kept up

People are so much smarter

They can Google anything in a heartbeat

They already know everything about your development, product and all your competitors

The truth is, most buyers want to feel understood

They want you to evoke emotion in their life

A little humour, passion or empathy goes a long way

Who here has ever bought something they didn’t need but the consultant was so engaging that you couldn’t help yourself?

Take Erica Feidner for example

Despite a long sales cycle and little volume driven by repeat purchases, this legendary piano saleswoman sold more than $40 million in Steinways before retiring a few years ago

Feidner’s customers often described her as a force of nature

This is not because they felt pressured by her but because, after they met her, many soon found themselves in the grip of musical ambitions they never knew they harboured

These ambitions often include buying a specific piano that they feel they can no longer live without, even if it strains both their living rooms and their bank accounts

Sure, you can say selling pianos is not the same as selling apartments

Again, I love all the little excuses we give ourselves

Perhaps I’ve been too tough on agents?

Or perhaps maybe, it’s time for the industry to change

Warren Buffet is right, only when the tide goes out do you discover who's been swimming naked.