While most people don’t do all of these thankfully, many salespeople do a couple of them. When you read this, be honest with yourself. After all, the only person you are hurting is yourself. Think of all the other people you could help and how much more money you can make by getting a little better at these.

1. Assumptions - Never assume you understand what a customer is asking. If you think you have a solution to a need the customer has, confirm it. State the solution, then ask if that solution will help them. Remember that just because you like something or your manager likes something, every single customer may NOT like it. Don’t point out a “great” feature of your product if you are not already aware that particular customer has a desire for it. When you assume you set yourself up for failure and awkwardness.
2. Wrong Energy Level - Too many sales people haven’t grasped the concept of either having a normal energy level or somewhat mirroring your prospect. Way too often it’s either over excited sales person or super relaxed low key sales person. Neither is good. Be normal. If you are too many energy levels higher then the prospect, they WILL think you are obnoxious. If you are too low, then you are perceived as aloof and mildly clueless.
3. Not Prepared - If you don’t know the basic information about your products, you lose. It’s okay and perfectly understandable to not be aware of every detail of every product. That is actually a good follow-up scenario. But, if you are not aware of basic pricing, functionality, process, or how a particular product will benefit that particular customer you should NOT be selling it. Learn first, sell second.
4. Lazy - This one is fairly far reaching. Laziness really encompasses a bit of each category because of a failure to be aware of your deficiencies or lack of knowledge. For the context of this writing, I am going to use lazy to encompass a different meaning. Be on time. If you get to work 10-15 minutes late everyday, you are lazy. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but get to work on time. It just isn’t that hard. If a client shows a desire to go see a home, car, product demonstration or whatever else. Take them! Don’t give directions. Don’t hand them a key. Go take them! What else are doing besides killing a possible sale that is right in your face?
5. Bad First 2 minutes - Does your greeting stink? Try something else. The first two minutes of any conversation are important for a customers perception of you. Make a note: Many customers don’t want to talk to you anyway and want to avoid you initially. Why? Because so many sales people pounce on them in the first two minutes. Don’t be that guy / girl. NO SELLING ALLOWED in the first two minutes. This is rapport building time. Be Likeable. Be someone that another person may actually want to talk to. If you screw this part up, it is hard to get yourself back to being viewed favorably.
6. Over Selling - Over selling is obvious and boring. It is NOT necessary to point out every feature of a product to a customer. They don’t care. People want to know details about the things they find important not you. People have short attention spans and no time to waste, so don’t bore people with insignificant details. You will lose them. They will tune out and start coming up with escape mechanisms to get away from you.
7. Confrontational - If a customer makes a statement of dislike, distaste, or dissatisfaction with a product you offer, DON’T take offense. You most likely didn’t design it, create it, or invent it. Why are you offended if they don’t like it? Find out what they dislike about something and why, then attempt to shift them to something they will like. Confrontation makes the experience bad for the customer and awkward for you. Avoid it.
8. Talk too Much - If you talk more then you listen, you are talking way too much. If you want to be good at selling and I mean better then most other people, scale your talking way back. You should only be talking to greet someone, ask question about your customer’s needs, and answer questions that your customer asks. If you talk to fill what you perceive as an awkward silence, get some more confidence and hold your tongue. If you love to tell personal stories while making a sale, you lose. Customers are there to be helped, not listen to personal stories of some random sales person. Listen to your customers and respond with helpful and thoughtful solutions.
9. Wrong Focus - If your sole purpose of being in sales is to make a ton of cash, you will lose in the long run. If your goal each day is too sell your product, you also most likely lose in the long run. Focus on that individual customer that is standing in front you. Only focus on helping them. Don’t push any product on any person. People love to buy, but they hate to be sold. Focus on helping the client see the benefits of your product and how it improves their current situation. Sales and money will come consistently when and if you have the right focus.
10. Arrogance - Confidence is crucial. Arrogance is the kiss of death. Arrogance is thinking that you already know everything. In many cases it leads to laziness because you stop learning new stuff. It is annoying and is a major turn-off and it has been a dagger in the heart of many once good sales people. In reality arrogance is false confidence that is created to make up for some personal deficiency in another area. It is basically a personality flaw that covers up a weakness.

Curt Fletcher aka The Likeability Guy, is a Real Estate Professional, Business Development Strategist, Published Author of the book, “How To Sell More Homes and Increase Your Income,” Sales Trainer, and Professional Speaker that focuses on improving your Likeability to increase your Opportunities for Success!

Among other things, I knew I needed a strong immediate and genuine follow-up method.

The hand-written thank you note.

This is such a strong tool that is vastly misused and underused in virtually every “service” oriented business.

Over the years I have compiled this list of outstanding benefits of the hand written thank you.

1. It is pure. The hand written thank you is the purest, oldest, and most understood form of appreciation.

 

2. It is conscientious and caring. The implied message from the recipient is that you sat down and took time to write and think only about them at that moment. It is subliminal, but understood. Most people personally dislike the act of writing thank you notes, so when they get one, they appreciate the time dedication you took for them.

 

3. It helps you learn and pay more attention on your first encounter. If you know that you are going to write a hand written thank you note after you meet someone, you pay more attention during the visit.

 

4. It’s better then what your competition is doing. Most people send out an automated email or standard generic letter. This is boring, easy, and average….so is the received perception of your prospect when they get this type of letter.

 

5. It is personal. In the thank you note do not list your credentials or boast about your company. Recount a detail from your encounter. Jog their memory to create a visualization that only you and that prospect shared.

 

6. It will actually be read. Most generic forms of follow-up are easily identifiable and discarded into the trash without being opened. When people receive a handwritten thank you note with a handwritten address on the envelope, they open it.

 

7. It demonstrates confidence. By taking time and writing about a detail during your encounter displays a level of confidence that you feel the meeting went well. It affirms to the prospect that you believe in your product and yourself. And it subtly relays that the prospect also enjoyed the encounter. If you thought it went poorly, would you be writing to remind them about it?

 

8. It’s a Reminder. People often visit many different locations before making a purchase, so they may not actually remember you. The thank you note is a reminder that they did come visit you and the experience was a good one. Many times, they may still not remember you specifically, but the thank you makes them “think” they enjoyed what you had so they will come out a 2nd time.

 

Remember that follow-up isn’t about you and what is the fastest and easiest way to complete it. It is about an individual customer that took their time to come and talk to you. If you want to have better results with the people you meet, try a personal hand written thank you note. You won’t be disappointed.

Curt Fletcher aka The Likeability Guy, is a Real Estate Professional, Business Development Strategist, Published Author of the book, “How To Sell More Homes and Increase Your Income,” Sales Trainer, and Professional Speaker that focuses on improving your Likeability to increase your Opportunities for Success!

If your a manager, time to perk up a bit.

So many companies operate under the premise that the job itself and its ensuing compensation is the “incentive.” While true, the philosophy is a bit tired.

To be clear, I’m not an advocate of being lazy or waiting for handouts. What I am suggesting is little motivators, moments of recognition, and the on going feeling of self worth and importance within a group and an organization.

Many jobs can get stagnant, boring, and unfulfilling. If everything is the same ALL the time, how can that feeling change?

Once you get in a rut of low self worth and monotony, it can be very difficult to climb out of that hole.

Want a better workplace? Try suggesting or implementing some of the following reward based incentives.

1. Recognize an outstanding employee at least once per month. Give them a nice gift card to a decent restaurant.
2. Switch up job duties within your group to “spice” things up. Let people experience something different. See how different people respond to similar situations. You may be surprised to learn of an individuals capabilities.
3. Allow your team to make decisions, without your permission. Making decisions is an important value shift that improves confidence and self worth.
4. Be receptive to suggestions / improvements in your organization. Just because you may be a manager doesn’t mean you know everything. Your way, may not be the BEST way. Strong leaders are not so arrogant to think they know everything.
5. Anytime you feel an employee has shown good decision making or exceptional service, recognize them in front of the group. Allow them a moment of feeling good about themselves.

Curt Fletcher aka The Likeability Guy, is a Real Estate Professional, Business Development Strategist, Published Author of the book, “How To Sell More Homes and Increase Your Income,” Sales Trainer, and Professional Speaker that focuses on improving your Likeability to increase your Opportunities for Success!

In the Real Estate world today, the term incentive has become the norm, which really means it no longer has much value. An incentive is supposed to be unexpected. It is supposed to carry enough “juice” to create a buzz thus encouraging a purchase to take place.

These days, just about every single home buyer asks the question, “What is your incentive?” Most times, prospective home buyers ask this question in the first 5 minutes of the conversation. That is before they know if you even offer a home that fits their needs or before they know the price.

Seems like a totally ridiculous time to ask the incentive question, but virtually everyone does it. The worst part about this is that this single question throws sales people off their game more then anything else.

That should never happen.

If you have been in Real Estate for only one day or even one hour, you should be well aware that the incentive question is coming early and often.

How to deflect the “incentive” Question in a normal situation:

• “Before we discuss incentives, help me understand what is important to you in a new home.”
• “I would be happy to go over my incentives, we will get there soon. First, lets discuss how I can help you find the home you desire, does that sound okay.”

How to deflect the “incentive” Question when the prospect is less friendly:

• “It sounds like incentives are very important to you and I can appreciate that, but what good is it to speak about incentives if I don’t offer the right home for you? Don’t you agree it would be better to come back to the incentive conversation after we discover that I offer a home that will work for you?”
• Would you be willing to make the purchase today on a home sight unseen and design unknown if I can offer what sounds like a good deal?”–the answer will most always be no to this. After you get the “no”go into discovery mode and find you what is important.

Curt Fletcher aka The Likeability Guy, is a Real Estate Professional, Business Development Strategist, Published Author of the book, “How To Sell More Homes and Increase Your Income,” Sales Trainer, and Professional Speaker that focuses on improving your Likeability to increase your Opportunities for Success!

Seriously.

Opportunities are really just “time” decisions. The more selective you become with your time, the more opportunities you can create.

For instance, you can choose to watch TV for a couple hours each night or you can choose to clarify your position on an issue, prepare for tomorrow’s meeting, practice your sales presentation, write about your product, market yourself on the Internet, Network with people you want to meet, or whatever else might improve your current position or knowledge even slightly.

While you may not see results overnight, you will see results in the future. If you ever want another person, prospect, or company to notice you, without just blind luck, you must improve your current standing.

That could be learning a new skill, making yourself more original, or simply generating a buzz about yourself in some form or fashion.

Opportunities are born out of personal time well spent. Don’t kid yourself into thinking you are either born with the magic touch or you aren’t.

That is a bunch of nonsense.

Tiger Woods was born with talent, but if any other human had even a small piece of his work ethic, they would be superstars as well. He creates opportunities every single time he plays golf because he puts the most work in when the cameras aren’t turned on. People only see a snapshot of him playing golf 10-15 times per year and winning tournaments.

From that, they deduce he is just a ridiculous athlete with enormous talent. They don’t understand that he cultivates his natural talent and learns new skills every single day by practicing ALL day.

The same can be said for most enormously successful people. When nobody is watching they are improving while everyone else stays the same. They read, learn, improve, practice, teach.

They don’t expect a handout. They put themselves in the best possible position by working hard in their spare time so when the time is right, they seize their opportunity.

Curt Fletcher aka The Likeability Guy, is a Real Estate Professional, Business Development Strategist, Published Author of the book, “How To Sell More Homes and Increase Your Income,” Sales Trainer, and Professional Speaker that focuses on improving your Likeability to increase your Opportunities for Success!

Have you ever found yourself trying to emulate that person, but seemingly not having the same results?

This is a tricky topic to explain because it can be thought of in different ways.

The old school of thought is to simply copy or emulate what the most successful people in your field of work do and you will improve. While I believe much of this is true, there is always one little hitch left off of this theory.

If you are ever going to do something really well, meaning better then most others, you must make it unique. You must put your own spin on it to allow for obvious differentiation amongst you and anyone you are competing with.

If everyone takes the same books about success, implements all the theories, then what happens? Truthfully, not much. You will be working and operating in a big sea of similar people with no unique standout features.

What made the people like Dale Carnegie, Zig Ziglar, or you name the “success” person, is that they were totally unique in their particular era. So much is written today on the topics of success based on the theories of a small handful of people, that the message has been diluted.

What brings real success is when you implement successful habits on a daily basis, but also make yourself or product unique. You have to answer the “why” question for people, but it has to be answered in a way that is obvious to them. This isn’t something you can just tell someone.

To be selected in any situation, your clients, prospects, hiring managers, or whatever, must internally be able to answer these questions without much deep thought.

• “Why would I pick you?”
• “Why would I buy this?”
• “Why do I need that?”
• “Why is this better than that?”
• “Why is this person better than that person?”
• “Why is this person worth this much?”

Curt Fletcher aka The Likeability Guy, is a Real Estate Professional, Business Development Strategist, Published Author of the book, “How To Sell More Homes and Increase Your Income,” Sales Trainer, and Professional Speaker that focuses on improving your Likeability to increase your Opportunities for Success!

Seems guarded and optimism should not be in the same sentence.

While I do understand the meaning behind the phrase, it seems a different set of words could be used. After all, optimism is “glass half full” and guarded often means “glass half empty.” You are either one or the other, but not truly both.

You either believe something positive will happen or you think that a negative result is inevitable.

Deep down, most people have a “gut” feeling one way or the other, but to cover for not wanting to sound negative, the term “guarded optimism” is used.

If you start a new venture with guarded optimism, most likely you are destined to fail. You either go in with total belief or you don’t do it. Your mind is a funny thing. The things you think about most often, will typically become your reality.

So when you think with total success and optimism, more often then not, you will be correct. On he flip side, when you half attempt something because you don’t truly believe, failure is typically the result.

It’s as if everyone is in such a hurry these days that they cannot slow down for 15 seconds to either open a door or hold open a door. Next time you go anywhere that involves a door, start to notice how many “holders” that you encounter and how many “shutters” that you see.

I bet you will be amazed if you already haven’t noticed.

The biggie with door opening is also noticing if someone needs help with it. Pay attention to the person holding a child, or groceries, or anything that seems as though it may complicate the door opening process.

If you are at a restaurant in the waiting area and ever think to yourself, “someone else will help them,” this thought means that you need to get up and help. Be the difference maker for this other person.

Set yourself apart from the millions of other people that don’t even pay enough attention to their surroundings to think about helping someone else.

Opening and holding doors for people = High Likeability.

Curt Fletcher aka The Likeability Guy, is a Real Estate Professional, Business Development Strategist, Published Author of the book, “How To Sell More Homes and Increase Your Income,” Sales Trainer, and Professional Speaker that focuses on improving your Likeability to increase your Opportunities for Success!

About 6 months ago, I opted to focus my priorities on some different ventures and get back into writing. Then, a few weeks ago, an old friend called me up and enlisted my assistance with a New Custom Home Building Company, Diamond R Homes. They had such a great concept, something so fresh and new, that I just had to get involved.

Well, last night I enjoyed the first sale since my return to Real Estate. What a blast!

It’s hard to believe that I could forget what that feeling of excitement was like in such a short time, but sure enough, I did.

That feeling reminded me how much I truly enjoy helping people purchase homes. It also reminded me that while I have many interests and activities, Real Estate must remain on my top priority list.

It’s hard to explain that immediate feeling after a successful sale is made. But it is nice.

So what does all this mean?

Do what you love. Do it well. Enjoy it.

Curt Fletcher aka The Likeability Guy, is a Real Estate Professional, Business Development Strategist, Published Author of the book, “How To Sell More Homes and Increase Your Income,” Sales Trainer, and Professional Speaker that focuses on improving your Likeability to increase your Opportunities for Success!

The word “truth” conjures up particular thoughts in my mind as it probably does in yours. Truth is a tricky concept sometimes. Is it telling an event exactly as it happened? Which can make telling a story less exciting. Is it answering certain questions that your spouse asks with 100% honesty. Questions like, “How do I look in this shirt?”

While these are truth related questions and also very interesting, the “truth” that I have in my mind this morning goes a bit deeper than that.

I am curious about my personal truth.

I wonder if I stay true to myself in the events I have engaged in the past and am going to engage in the future.

I wonder if my daily habits coincide with what I believe to be my true path for the rest of my life.

These two questions are interesting.

In my mind, I know what I believe in. I know what I want to do and I know the journey I want the path of my life to take me on.

The question then is if I know these two very real life altering scenarios, do I stay true to my life’s ambition in my daily actions?

Is every action that I take in direct correspondence to what I desire to achieve?

Do I get further away from achieving what I believe to be my truth with each passing day because I engage in the wrong activities?

Do I spend more time each day on things that are not as productive as what something else might be?

I wonder if I am honest with myself each day about what I actually accomplished in accordance with my truth.

I wonder if other people have defined their own personal truth.

What about you?

Curt Fletcher aka The Likeability Guy, is a Real Estate Professional, Business Development Strategist, Published Author of the book, “How To Sell More Homes and Increase Your Income,” Sales Trainer, and Professional Speaker that focuses on improving your Likeability to increase your Opportunities for Success!