Great post.  I don't consider myself a salesman, either - I'm just myself...Thanks for sharing!  :)

Thanks, Debi.  I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Ken

One more time.

Ken

Ken.  You touch on several issues here - rejection, FSBOs, are Realtors salepeople or not, and the value of being liked and liking back.   Since I've read a few other blogs recently that broach the Realtors as salespeople or not question, I'd like to weigh in on that.  If I'm off topic, please delete, apologies in advance.

Despite my youthful appearance, I've been in the business sixteen years.  According to the trends that have come and gone I started out a salesperson, then I wasn't a salesperson I was a Realtor, not a Realtor a facilitator, not a facilitator but a transaction coordinator (huh?), back to being a salesperson.  It seems the industry has tried hard for a while to get away from calling ourselves salespeople in favor of a more friendly, less 'harsh' sounding euphemism.  Bad news, the industry has failed.  Why?  Because a rose by any other name.

When you bought your last car, did you go to a auto facilitator?  I'm guessing not.  Need a new cell phone?  Did you drive over to the sprint store and talk to a telephonic coordinator?  Probably not.  What is the Scarlet "S" all about?  What is a seller paying me to do when they list with me?  Facilitate, coordinate, or some other -ate?  No.  When a seller calls an agent because it's been 60 days on the market and they want to know the status do they ask, "Why hasn't my home coordinated yet?" No.  Does your promulgated listing agreement say "Exclusive Right to Accommodate?" Doubtful.  What is everyone so afraid of?

I cause homes to be sold.  I sell my services. I do both aggressively, ethically and with a great deal of caffeine.  My clients expect this of me.  They expect me to try and sell the benefits of the home to people that call about it.  They expect me to sell agents with interested clients on our pricing.  When I'm at open houses I sell the area, the school district, the 415 acre park nearby, the convenient location to major thoroughfares and shopping.  No one has ever paid me to facilitate.  I have been paid handsomely for selling though.

Don't take my word for it, let's go to the pioneers.  Tommy Hopkins (www.tomhopkins.com), front page of the website, "Master the Art of Selling".  Danielle Kennedy (www.daniellekennedy.com), front page of the website, "Real Estate Sales Products".  Mike Ferry, well I won't even get you started on him, he's ALL about being a salesperson, having scripts, numbers, etc.  He's so into the sales process that he makes the first two look like they "wing it" most of the time.

The best part of accepting (I have no idea what choice there is) that one is a salesperson, the sooner they will be successful at it.  Salespeople have scripts, they have sales skills, they learn to overcome objections, the ask questions using direct and indirect probes, they know the difference between features and benefits, they are always closing - all sales techniques. Learn them, embrace them, accept real estate as a skill, not a hit and miss game of being liked or not.

Though in a perfect world all my clients love me and I love them back, I know that some people have listed with me for the sole reason that they have seen my track record in the area and they believe that by listing with me that they increase their chances of getting the highest possible price in the least amount of time - whether they like me personally or not.  They think I'm the best SALESperson for the job, that's why they list with me, and I submit to you that the majority of home sellers are concerned with only one thing - who is going to net me the most in the sale of my home - like 'em or not.

So Ken, your blog (and the comment above) implies that you have to either be yourself or a salesperson, as if the two need to be mutually exclusive.  Oddly, it's a self-fulfilling prophecy - if you want to be yourself AND you consider yourself a salesperson, then when you're out there selling homes and your services, you ARE being yourself, crisis resolved!

I enjoy your self-effacing blogs and though I respectfully (and often) hold differing opinions, I think you have a great knack of hitting important, if not polarizing, subjects to discuss.  Keep up the good work sir.

Thanks for the COMMENT.  I have noticed you and I are opposite sides of the fence.  But boy, are your comments great.

Keep reading.

I have a listing appointment tonight.  I will be myself.  We will see what happens.  Maybe myself is a salesperson already??

Ken

Ken.  Opposite sides of the fence?  Nahhh.  I like to think of it this way:  because of our disparate breadth of real estate experience, our real estate philosophies have not yet reconciled.  We'll see what happens, no?

Good luck tonight!  I know you will be successful selling them on you, your company and your services!  (Sorry, couldn't help it)

Hi Leonard.  I will do my best!! 

Ken

You rock Leonard. Wonderful post. I could not agree more. I am an insurance saleman and I am darn proud of it. I have integrity, I am honest, and and I sell stuff. I agree with you 100%. Once I ditched the title Financial Advisor or Retirement Income Specialist it was liberating.

People don't want me to "help" them with term life insurance. They want me to sell them a policy that fits what they want. So you ask the right questions, and go find the policy and then sell it to them.

Our prospects are not looking for a new best friend.

Now my definition of sell does not mean "convince, lie to, pressure" or any of the other things that the negative stereo type brings to mind.  It means being trustworthy, honest and doing the right thing.

I love being a salesman.

Another differing opinion here.

Using Leonard's analogy, then, isn't your doctor, your CPA...well in fact everyone a salesperson?  Most of them are certainly selling their time or their talents.  I'm in my tenth year of business and I don't give myself any titles other than those my State or National affilations require.  Titles help drive our ego, not our actions.  

Take your Realtor shoes off and pretend you're Joe Citizen.  Then say loudly, there's a saleman here to see me.  Do you get a warm and fuzzy feeling inside or does your stomach churn just a bit.  I submit the latter...if you're being honest with yourself.  I don't call myself a salesman because I don't think I'm a salesman.  I'm a professional real esate broker.  I help my clients achieve their objective as effectively and efficiently as possible.  While some of my clients may not want to sit with me in a hot tub after a few beers, most genuinely like me as a professional.  If I were hiring someone and couldn't stand them, I wouldn't hire them even if they were one of the top agents in the area.  Relationships are important in this business and it's hard to have one with someone you dislike. If it makes my clients or the public at large feel better to call me a saleperson, please feel free to do so...I've certainly been called worse.  

Now, for my feelings on the real estate guru's (and doesn't there seem to be a never ending supply of them).  In my market there are many successful, talented agents doing the right thing and doing it very differently than these guru's recommend, and oddly enough these agents are still successful by their own definition.  Many agents/brokers watch what "everyone" else is doing, then do something different or do the same thing differently.  Few guru's make money from that which they preach...they make money by selling themselves (expensive seminars, mentoring, etc.) and their products.  

So, for those who thrive on calling themselves, or for that matter all agents/brokers, salespersons, please do so.  But please remember that your definition is just that...yours.  Mine happens to be very different.   

Hi Carl and Guy. 

It looks like there are different ways to do business.

I am happy for the inciteful commentary.

Thanks,

Ken

I love the post and the comments! I "sell" houses for a living. I love what I do, am enthusiastic and aggressive and knowledgeable. But the reality is I sell, that is what I am hired to do essentially, whether by the seller or the buyer. I specialize in selling homes, and all that that entails, nothing else. I also understand the whole "salesman" issue, like the comment about not feeling warm and fuzzy when a salesman is there to see yo. I accept that there are some I don't click with and that my style, verbiage and general demeanor will decide the client, with or without prejudice. I am myself and I tell it like it is, but I also have a bit of spit and polish. You have to be invested in what you do and bring that forward into any interaction with a possible client. It is a fine line sometimes and i can easily end up on one side or the other, but I try to straddle it and succeed mostly.

"People don't want me to "help" them with term life insurance. They want me ..."

"Our prospects are not looking..."

Just two quotes I took from a comment on my post.

I make no assumptions what the client wants.   I ASK.

Ken

I came from a marketing/advertising and public relations background and years ago I was in sales. I don't see real estate as a sales position at all. It is by far closer to marketing, advertising and public relations. You are marketing, advertising yourself and your listings, public relations is hugely involved.

Guy.  As a trainer, as well as a Broker, I've had the opportunity to have this discussion with literally 100s of other real estate professionals so I enjoy the discourse.  I'm certainly not saying that the majority (or any for that matter) of my clients have not liked me and I HAVE ended up in a hot tub drinking beers with more than one of them, but that's a different post.

I have liked all my dentists and doctors growing up, that doesn't mean I don't want to throw up every time I step in their office, so I'm not a big fan of your test there.

But more importantly, especially being from Texas where I already know the answer to this question, you're a broker right?  You have two licensees under you, Scott and Shawn?  What does it say on the Texas Real Estate Commission's website about their license type? (http://www.trec.state.tx.us/) ... It says Salesperson.  The only reason yours (and mine, for that matter) don't say Salesperson (it used to right?) is because we're both Brokers.  I'm guessing it wasn't Texas' way of telling us we've been promoted to no longer have to do sales, but I could be wrong.  Or maybe it's your implication that the elected TREC officials and attorneys that for 75 years (more?  I have no idea TREC's history) have actually had it wrong all this time?

But I'm not trying to bust your chops Guy.  You've had your license a long time and you can call yourself (or not call yourself) anything you choose.  

As a much newer agent, and as I understand the purpose of AR to be, I just wanted to give Ken a different perspective, no more right or wrong than yours or anyone else's.

Hi LaNita and Leonard.

Thanks again for reading.

Leonard, you are one of my most "loyal" readers.  Thanks. 

Ken

I think it's so funny that you guys don't think you sell houses.  

You should stop making commission then, and start charging an hourly fee, if you are "consultants" or whatever else you want to call yourself. That way you would get paid to do all the things that have nothing to do with selling the house.

You could charge $100 per hour to market, do open houses, and all those things.

 Gotta go. I am going to prospect today and try to find someone who wants "To make sure their money lasts for 30 years in retirement"

If I find someone who wants that, I will explain how an annuity works, and if they want it I will gladly sell it to them

Thanks again for reading, Carl.

I don't "call" myself anything, other than real estate agent.

I am who I am.  I am good at helping people accomplish their goals.

As far as our pay structure, I don't make the rules.  I just play by them.

Good luck "selling" today! :)

Ken

Carl:  I understand your position.  We do sell houses, but we also market, complete and review documents, give opinion and advice on protecting our clients, etc, etc. and of course, etc.   My point was that we can call ourselves salesman or we can call ourselves mechanics...it doesn't really matter.  You do what you do and your title doesn't determine that, your skills do.  Frankly, we do get paid to do ALL the things we do, we just receive compensation based on performance.  

Leonard:  I also understand your take on things.  A title can be whatever we're comfortable with.  And the appointed members of TREC have in fact chosen "salesperson" as the title on the licenses.   But if the licenses instead stated "professional real estate counselor," would that really make all agents professional real estate counselors or would it merely be a title assigned by a an appointed commission, few of whom have sold real estate in many years?  My point is that I personally do not equate myself with sales.  Do I sell homes?  Sure.  Do I complete documents, reivew documents, market, give sound opinion and advice regarding contractual matters, discuss the benefits of adding language to the promulgated forms, explain market trends, provide information on limiting liabilities....well, you get the message.  I do so much more than sales, which is why I choose not to see myself as a salesperson.

And Leonard, you're not busting my chops and I certainly don't take it that way.  This is the beauty of blogging.  We get an opportunity to discuss and debate things with folks across town and across the country.  I read and respond to postings because I seek to learn and to understand, not to argue.  I have my opinions and they may be right or wrong based on the readerrs view of life, business, etc.  I love reading your opinions and those of hundreds of other agents around the country.  It's what makes this blogging world great.

Yeah this blogging this is pretty cool. It stirs up good debate. And no one can bully anybody else or yell. You get to think and write down your thoughts.

 Great topic Ken.

I give people the opportunity to use me as their agent. If they reject me, I know it is not personal. Although my feelings might get hurt a little bit, the thrill of the sale takes care of that.

Hi Carl, Guy, and Matthew.  Thanks again for reading.

Carl, AKA "Hoss" have been a friend of mine for years.  You can check out his insurance website.

Thanks everyone,

Ken

Ken, you make a great point about targeting your ideal customers that want to work with you. FSBOs can be converted into that, but I agree, not all of them.

Thanks, Gary.

I do try to introduce myself to FSBO's.  I just don't sell them too hard.

I used to.  I used to have a full head of hair, too.

Ken

Ken, nice ThemThem to Bob, thanks for sharing.

Hi Duane.  Thanks for reading.  Bob, you were my inspiration for this controversial post.

Ken

I know i truly don't like rejection. I prefer my SOI instead. I've never had good luck trying to work with them.

Hi Robert.  Thanks for reading one of my old posts.  Keep doing what you enjoy.  You will kick butt.

Ken

Great Post.  It boils down to people doing business with people.  I buy my shirts from someone I enjoy doing business with.  Same with many other aspects of my personal and busines decisions. 

When my wife and I go to our favorite restaurants we tyr to get a server that we like and that we know likes us.

The experience often makes the dollars spent feel just as rewarding to us as the person we are paying.  It works that way in real estate as well.

Bruce Bylsma