Selling Soulfully with Jennifer Allan

Last year (or the year before? Egads), I wrote a blog called "Always extend your hand first" which encouraged the more introverted among us to always initiate the handshake instead of waiting for the other person to do it. Why? Because if the other person doesn't do it, and no handshake ensues, the relationship starts off awkwardly.

I got an email yesterday from someone who didn't agree with me (and that's always cool). She said that she's finding more and more people avoiding hand-contact upon introduction due to concerns about germs & flu's & such. So, she's decided never to initiate a handshake and let the other person decide the matter.

Hmmmmm. I'm a bit skeptical. While I'm no hand-shaking expert, I can't say that I've noticed any trend toward avoiding introductory contact. And I wonder if this reaction has more to do with the non-initiator's attitude toward touch than a concern over the other person's preference.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not disagreeing with or belittling my reader's opinion! Maybe she's onto something I've been too socially isolated lately to notice.

However, I believe I shall continue to initiate handshakes - I'd much rather take the risk of being rebuffed by my introductee, than of alienating a potential new friend or client.

Thoughts? Please share!!

The Savvy Prospector 
8 Weeks to a Full Pipeline for Life!

Been talking a lot about the Introverted Salesperson/Real Estate Agent experience lately - at least, here on Active Rain - so I guess I should say I've been writing a lot about it.

This Wednesday morning, I'll get to TALK about it on live radio! While I've done lots of radio interviews before, I've never addressed this particular topic live, so if you tune in, you can see for yourself how well I think on my feet. 

Here are the details:

Get More Business! - Featuring Jennifer Allan, The Introverted Salesperson's New Best Friend 
Check out my interview with Jennifer Allan. Jennifer is the author of Sell With Soul. She specializes in dynamic and powerful soft sell techniques that hold incredible value for any business owner, but especially for Introverted Salespeople and Reluctant Prospectors.

Whether you're a business owner, a consultant, an adviser, a facilitator, a broker, an entrepreneur, or a solopreneur, you need to generate a steady stream of new business to stay IN business. But for many people, sales is the least favorite part of their job, even though it is essential. If you would say YES to any of these questions....

• Do you have to force yourself to attend networking events?
• Do you dread cold-calling...or even warm-calling?
• Do you cringe when you read about smooth "closing" techniques?
• Do you secretly fear that your un-salesy personality will doom you to failure in your chosen career?

....you will love Jennifer's approach to sales and marketing. We'll be talking about proven techniques to drive sales without irritating and alienating your client base. Don't miss this show!

Will I see you there? Would sure love the moral support...

I don't know what it is lately, but I'm getting slammed with emails from readers (that sounds negative, I don't mean it to be - I love hearing from y'all!) about how to meet people to add to their Spheres of Influence. Since a lot of my readers lean toward the introverted side of the personality teeter-totter, they bemoan the fact that they "just aren't that friendly" or "don't enjoy networking events." ME, TOO, and ME, NEITHER!

So, how does a not-that-friendly, networking-phobic real estate agent make new friends?

First, let's clarify why we might want to have more friends as a real estate agent. Agents who follow the Sell with Soul philosophy aren't interested in pestering people for a living - that is - they aren't going to cold-call, door-knock or otherwise impose self-promotion techniques that they would not enjoy being used on them. They'd much rather attract business to them organically, rather than risk annoying people with an aggressive pursuit.

So, that's the mindset we're talking about here. In a very basic sense - inspiring people to ask for your business card instead of your asking if you can give it to them.

A little history about me - before I became a real estate agent, I didn't have a lot of friends... by choice, I liked to believe. I didn't willingly attend parties or other social events because I dreaded those polite conversations where I struggled to find something to say to fill the silence and often that "something" was eye-rolling ridiculous.

So, I avoided social situations when I could, and when I couldn't, I'd hide in the corner with a glass of wine, a plate of cheese and a deer-in-headlights look on my face. I rarely invited anyone to dinner or out for coffee, and when I received such invitations, my automatic response was to find an excuse to say no.

And I was happy enough. Didn't bother me; I like my own company and don't mind being alone. I was successful at my job as an account manager for an insurance company; I had a cool boyfriend and a nice house. What did I need friends for?

Well, going into real estate changed all that, forever. Call me mercenary, but once I was a real estate agent, I suddenly saw the value in having a social network. Hey, the more people I know... the more chances I have of selling some real estate! And I did. Sell a lot of real estate, that is. To and for the people I knew.

And you know what? I'll admit that my initial friend-finding mission was purely self-serving. Believe me, I was and still am an introvert and have no problem hanging out by myself for days on end. I still have no interest in small talk or polite conversation and would rather eat cottage cheese (ick!) than attend a networking event.

BUT... guess what? Having friends is WONDERFUL! And I'm not talking about "wonderful" from a business perspective; I'm talking wonderful as in - it's fun! For many of you, this is a big DUH, but for us introverts, it's not quite so obvious.

Okay, so I'm out of room for today... tomorrow I'll pick up with some ways the less-than-friendly among us can, well, make some new friends!

www.SellwithSoul.com

As a self-professed introvert (and proud of it), articles about the introvert experience frequently catch my eye. Unfortunately, so many of them center around "curing" introversion or "overcoming" introversion or "succeeding in spite of" introversion, especially when the topic in question is a career in sales.

Well, I disagree, at least for REAL ESTATE salespeople. Sure, if you sell widgets or gidgets or smidgets and it's your primary job to continually SELL your product, then yeah, the natural personality of an introvert might get in the way. We don't like to bug people; we don't like to intrude on people; we worry constantly how others are perceiving us and therefore have a pretty tough time Doing Unto Others as We'd Hate Them to Do Unto Us (that is, try to sell them something they may not want).

But, I've always argued... how exactly is real estate a sales career? What, exactly, do we sell?

Houses? Uh, no. We don't actually sell the house.

Ourselves? Well, yes, but so do a lot of other self-employed professions and we don't call them salespeople. When you visit your accountant and he helps you through a complicated process (e.g. filing your tax return) and gives you professional advice, is he selling? When your general contractor manages all the moving pieces and parts of your construction project, is he a salesperson? When your dentist uses his professional expertise to do your root canal and oversees the process from start to finish... is he selling?

No, and neither are we when we help our clients buy or sell homes.

Sure, we need some sales-type skills... we need to be able to write appealing copy for our marketing materials; we should be good negotiators and we should have some systems in place to stay in touch with the people we know and a plan to meet new people, but I don't think one needs "natural sales ability" (whatever that is) to be a good writer/negotiator/stay-in-touch-er. In fact, one might argue that we introverts (‘cause we LOVE the details) might actually be better at such things!

No offense to our wonderful, delightful, charismatic extrovert friends, but STOP trying to cure us. We're terrific just the way we are!!! And yeah, we can SELL REAL ESTATE!

Related links:

• The Reluctant Salesperson
• Introverts Are (Sales) People, Too!
• An Undiagnosed Introvert
• In Praise of the Unnatural Salesperson
• More...

THE SAVVY PROSPECTOR SELF-STUDY PROGRAM
Suitable for All Personality Types

http://www.sellwithsoul.com/savvyprospector.htm

Have you ever known a real estate salesperson who succeeds in spite of himself? He's sloppy, he's careless, he neglects to return his phone calls and he's always late? His listing presentation consists of an unorganized last-minute print-out from the MLS, handed to him by his assistant as he runs out the door (already 20 minutes late?). His planner is a collection of sticky-notes plastered all over his computer? Yeah, you know the type!

And darn-it, if he doesn't do well! How can this be?

Well, he's probably charismatic, charming and friendly. These characteristics will take a flibbertygidget salesperson a long way in his sales career. And, fortunately for him, he can always hire out the detail work.

We introverts - well, that's a whole different story. We wouldn't dream of using our personalities to cover up poor preparation (yeah, like we could!). If we're going to be two minutes late, we call ahead to let everyone know... and then we're still the first one to arrive. Our listing presentations are things of beauty. Our contact databases are up-to-date, our taxes are complete way before April 15 and we get true joy out of a marked-off to-do list.

And get this... if we screw up, we admit it. We take responsibility for it. Heck, if YOU screw up we might even take responsibility for your mistake!

This is just how we are. We're reliable, we're organized, we're punctual, and we're respectful.

And yes, we are salespeople. Good ones, even.

Go, us! Un-Natural Salespeople Rock!