Special offer

Pushy Realtor...or Pully Realtor?? Which one are you?

By
Services for Real Estate Pros with Owner of FlyersToYou, Inc. and former Top Realtor

So, last night on ActiveRain...I commented on a really terrific blog posted by Greg Nino about a fictitious seller named "Skip", a tough old coot who wants to overprice his home and have it sell almost immediately. He's really rough on all agents...and his first question is what your marketing gameplan will be to sell his home. He's been interviewing tons of agents...and he's not much of a charmer.

Greg had asked agents to join in on a role-playing exercise...and I thought "Ohhhh, what fun!!"

Many of the responses were great...but some shifted into "sales-mode" immediately.

"I can do this for you...and that for you, and these things for you."

It reminded me of an old boss of mine who carried a piece of string with him wherever he went. Kinda weird I thought.

But that little piece of string taught me an incredibly valuable lesson one day over lunch.



I'll explain.

Steve (my boss) and I loved discussing sales strategies together. He was a consummate salesperson and I always enjoyed how he let me "steal the podium" whenever we had conversations like this. He seemed to listen to whatever I had to say before commenting with some magical words of wisdom.

Well, that afternoon, while sipping coffee after our meal....he pulls out a piece of string...and lays it on the table. One end near my side of the table...and one end near his side of the table.

He said to me, "Dave, let me see if I can illustrate the difference between a "pushy" salesperson...and a "pully" salesperson."

He continued.

"A pushy salesperson does this."

::: while talking, he begins to push his end of the string toward mine:::

"Pushy salespeople....in their attempt to get their points across, push their arguments, push their justifications, and push their "pitches" on us."

::: he keeps pushing his end the string toward mine and it's all beginning to bunch up on my side of the table ::: 

"But all that ever happens in the end is the customer winds up with a knotted, tangled piece of string sitting in front of them. That knotted up pile of string represents the pushy salesperson's sales pitch. Disorganized...and in a mess. And they'll fail every time if they do that."

He was right as far as the visual. Sitting before me, on my side of the table, WAS a knotted up, tangled mess of a string.

He then straightened the string back out, only this time he says

"Now, watch what a "pully" salesperson does." (I'm thinking to myself..."What the heck is a PULLY salesperson??")

He takes his end of the string...and starts pulling it around the table, effortlessly gliding it with only his fingertip. Over to the left....over to the right....all around the table. And I couldn't help but notice that everywhere he pulled his end of the string...my end followed.

All the while he's saying:

"A pully salesperson asks more questions than a pushy salesperson.  And what happens is the customer's end of the string always follows. Effortlessly." 

It was funny to watch MY end of the string following his end everywhere. He finally pointed to a spot on the table and said:

"If you want your client to wind up here (pointing at a spot on the table)...you have to guide them there by asking questions. They won't get there on their own."

I watched as my end of the string wound up dead center in the exact spot he was pointing to. He had guided my end of the string there perfectly.

He finished by suggesting that every time I found myself in any kind of sales situation....to simply

REMEMBER THE STRING!

And I have. And I probably always will. I'm 50 now...and that scenario happened in my early twenties. It's amazing how often I still "remember the string" and close sales by simply guiding my client's end of the string around to MY spot on the table.

I don't want to repeat Greg's entire post here...but it might be kind of fun for you to go have a read through the various comments. There are a lot of them....and I think mine's probably somewhere near the bottom still. But it'll definitely give you an idea of how that string changed my whole sales career!

You can read Greg's post and the comment I left by clicking here: http://activerain.com/blogsview/638539/Meet-Skeptical-Skip

Have fun!!

Dave

Comments (11)

Travis Newton
Salem and Bend Oregon FHA, VA & USDA 503.931.4490 - Salem, OR
FHA, USDA, VA, LOAN EXPERT - Salem OR Homes For Heroes SALEM OREGON

Yes, pulling is a much better way to go.

Aug 13, 2008 05:11 AM
Linsey Ehle
M Realty - Rancho Santa Margarita, CA

What a super visual image to remind us that any point we are attempting to make, happens most effectively by asking someone questions that allow them to discover the point for themselves in the process.  Being told the way it is and discovering it via asking the right questions is an entirely different experience.  Thanks for the reminder.

Aug 13, 2008 05:16 AM
Jason Crouch
Austin Texas Homes, LLC - Austin, TX
Broker - Austin Texas Real Estate (512-796-7653)

Dave - I had seen that object lesson before (a long time ago).  It is a great lesson!

Aug 13, 2008 05:18 AM
Theresa Grant
Coldwell Banker Sky Ridge Realty - Lake Arrowhead, CA
Broker/CEO/Team Lead - Theresa Grant & Associates

What a great illustration of the concept. The next time I'm speaking with someone in a transaction I'll try to visualize if I have a wad of string, or a nice fluid lead line in front of me. :)

Aug 13, 2008 05:35 AM
Andrew Johnson
Touchstone Realty - Martinsburg, WV
Real Estate Service and Inventory Specialist

Dave- I have seen the lesson before... Great lesson

Aug 13, 2008 05:41 AM
Erik Hitzelberger
RE/MAX Alliance - Louisville REALTOR-Luxury Homes - Louisville, KY
Louisville - Middletown Real Estate

Dave - This is an excellent analogy and I really like your answer on Greg's post.  Overall, I think both posts are great reminders of the power of AR.  We can come together, learn, and make the profession better. 

Aug 13, 2008 06:04 AM
David Daniels
Owner of FlyersToYou, Inc. and former Top Realtor - Hemet, CA

Travis,

Yep...it always has been for me anyway!!

Linsey,

You brought up a valuable point!! Letting the customer "discover" for themselves what you had already guided them toward. VERY effective!!! I've often responded to customer's objections by saying "That's a GREAT idea! Let's see if we can find the answer!" It almost doesn't even matter what their objection was....the response almost always works! ::: smile :::

Jason,

I kinda thought someone with your experience level had seen something like this before!! But aren't you too young to have had it happen a LONG time ago??? LOL!

Theresa,

I'm positive your line will be cast....and you'll be sitting there all calm and pretty...justa reelin' em in!! HEYYYYYYY!!! You're in Lake Arrowhead????? OMG! I thought everyone here was from North Carolina!!! Hiya neighbor!!! I'm in Hemet! For those of you who aren't familiar with Southern California, Lake Arrowhead is one of our mountain resort communities where some of us visit to get away from it all. We usually wind up meeting someone like Theresa and buying a log cabin we intend to use several times a month...but of course, never do. ::: smirk :::  Wonder what kind of bait they're using???

Andrew,

Did you ever work for Steve Campbell??? Sheesh, all this time I gave HIM credit for that illustration!! Grrrrr!

Erik,

Thank you for taking the time to go have a look at Greg's post. Kinda fun, huh?? And I totally agree! These are exactly the reasons why an ActiveRain should be as popular as it is! Thanks for commenting!


Dave

Aug 13, 2008 06:29 AM
Fran Gaspari
Patriot Land Transfer, Inc. - Limerick, PA
"The Title Man" - Title Insurance - PA & NJ

Dave,

Great ideas and suggestions in that analogy...!!! Requires much thought and consideration!!! Thanks,   Fran

Aug 13, 2008 06:34 AM
Kris Wales
Keller Williams Realty - Lakeside Market Center - Macomb, MI
Real Estate Blog & Homes for Sale search site, Macomb County MI

(I tried to flag this post for a feature, but the flag didn't work.)

Your old boss sounds like someone I would have loved to have met and I would be willing to bet cash money that you learned a lot from him!

 

 

Aug 13, 2008 08:01 AM
Michelle Chamberlain
Above All Financial Services -Pennsylvania Mortgage Broker - Secane, PA
Suburban Philadelphia Mortgage Broker

Dave,

You really should post more instead of writing all of your great comments in other people's posts which might get missed.  I totaly agree with what you said in the post you linked to.  But I think your comment and definitely your point was totally missed by most other people in the thread. 

The issue is that of controlling the sale.  The worst sales presentations that I've received are the ones where I have to ask all the questions.  You have to remember that the customer is not the expert, most times they don't even know what questions to ask to get the info they need.  When we first started our business I answered a classified ad about office space rental.  I called the Real Estate agency to get more information about the ad.  The woman who answered the phone responded with "what do you want to know?".  That is her job to tell ME what I need to know. ( How about price, terms, square foot, etc)  or at least ask some sort of leading questions to determine what I needed herself.

The other thing totally missed in the other post was building rapport.  I understand this was just a role playing exercise but no one even indicated that they'd try to build some sort of relationship before trying to get the guy to sign.

Lastly, I'm so glad that at least someone could spell mannequin.  LOL

Michelle

 

PS - This story reminded me of Mr.Miyagi and the Karate Kid, where Daniel thinks his teacher is crazy for making him do work around the house but then he ends up learning a valuable lesson. 

Aug 13, 2008 06:13 PM
Russel Ray, San Diego Business & Marketing Consultant & Photographer
Russel Ray - San Diego State University, CA

I try to get my Clients to be educational Realtors, which is in line with your post, but that sometimes requires pushing the Client because he's in a psychological wheel chair, or pulling him along because he's psychologically still a baby and afraid of what's on the other side of the door. People also seem to be empowered if you will provide them with choices. Want to sell fast? Want to sell high? Want to sell fast and high? Door #1, #2, or #3?

Aug 19, 2008 07:49 PM