It’s true. Everybody is selling something. As Jason recently mentioned in a very interesting podcast interview with Will Crist, a mother could be “selling” her daughter on the benefits of cleaning her room. A salesperson could be selling a local business on the reasons they need a new phone system. A job applicant sells themselves in the job interview. A real estate investor sells potential tenants on why they should rent THEIR property. See? In life on earth, it’s hard to get by without doing selling of some sort.
That means, to get ahead, it behooves each and every one of us to understand how to sell effectively. The key word is “effectively.” It’s not about cold-calling a local businessman and overpowering him with verbiage.
According to Crist, the first thing you need to do is change the notion of what selling is. Don’t blindly seek to force your idea of an outcome onto your target. That’s not going to work. Not enough to make it worthwhile anyway. You already know that. Understand their issues, struggles, and pain. Learn what stands in the way of them achieving their goals and then, if you can, offer them a solution.
If you can’t, be honest about it, and cross them off the list. Crist emphasizes the sooner the process ends in a “yes” or “no”, the better. “I’ll think it over” is likely to be a waste of time for both sides. Remember, it’s okay if they don’t need your product. Get busy finding someone who does.
Think you can apply these principles to renting out your real estate property? You bet you can! For more information on this topic, refer to episode #97 of Creating Wealth.
