Masterful marketer Seth Godin recently gave some timely and
prudent advice for real estate agents. His hard-hitting
advice is actually relevant to every salesperson and
entrepreneur who will listen. Pulling no punches as usual,
he had a great deal of wisdom to offer. Listen up
salespeople... you cannot afford to miss this valuable
sales lesson.
While speaking at a real estate professional convention,
Godin advised them that due to the current economic
conditions, it is now time to quit. Needless to say, he
effectively got their attention. Many took his advice,
actually having been searching for some time for someone to
give them permission to indeed quit, and left the meeting
at that point. The remaining agents then heard the rest of
his speech, the message that was meant for the true
professionals and committed members of their noble
profession.
"Now, if you're still with me, you'll be glad to know that
the competition for attention just got smaller. The agents
who built their business on low interest rates, easy money
and speculation (the order takers) have left the building.
The ones that are left, that's you, can consider Plan B. If
you're not going to be able to make a living by taking
orders, by selling houses the way everyone else does, by
using the never-ending rise in real estate prices to make
sales, then what are you going to do? Whining is not an
option. In fact, I think this is an extraordinary
opportunity for you" announced Godin.
Seth proceeded to share a philosophy with them, one that I
have been professing for a lifetime; that success mimics
the Pareto Principle in that 80% of your efforts must come
from personal development and 20% from specific techniques.
Godin fed his hungry and attentive audience a two-course
feast, teaching that there are two things they needed to do
immediately:
1. Become the expert in what you do. Micro-specialize in a
particular segment of your market. Become the authority,
the go-to person in that niche.
2. Interact with your clients and prospects, both past and
present. Open a dialog with them and communicate regularly.
Simple advice? Yes; advice appropriate for the times. An
investment in your self is always going to pay lucrative
dividends! Your specific skills and knowledge will be your
competitive edge, your differentiator. Your talent for
providing solutions will become your trademark.
Sharpen your saw; invest quality time improving your
interpersonal and communication skills. Make time for
self-investment. You are not as busy now as you were last
year at this time, so instead of catching up on re-runs of
Grey's Anatomy©, invest that time wisely, in you.
Become an expert in your chosen niche. Learn all you can.
Improve your productivity. Specialize.
We live in an age of communication, where multiple media
formats allow us to extend our reach to almost everyone,
everywhere, easier and faster than ever before! Do you have
a mailing list? A blog? A newsletter? A web site? A video
interview on You Tube? A pod-cast available on niche web
sites? Do you speak at local functions? Write local
newspaper articles? Why not? As Seth says "you're either
the best in the world (where 'world' can be a tiny slice of
the environment) or you're invisible." Learn to communicate
both effectively and regularly with your niche.
In our ever-evolving, currently slowing economy, you cannot
expect to be successful doing the same things in the same
manner that you always have. It's time for change. It's
time to reinvent both yourself and your approach. Develop a
new plan of action. You must get started now! Why are you
still sitting there watching TV? If you are, you may be
like one of Seth's "order takers." Will that realistically
work for you this year?
----------------------------------------------------
Daniel Sitter, author of both Learning For Profit and
Superior Selling Skills Mastery, has garnered extensive
experience in sales, training, marketing and personal
development over a successful twenty-six year sales career.
Visit his resourceful blog at http://www.idea-sellers.com
No comments:
Post a Comment