This is an amazing quote from an amazing man.  Dale Carnegie:  author, speaker and human influencer.  His book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, written in 1936 has sold over 15 million copies and is, to this day considered one of the best self-improvement books ever written.

One of the core ideas in his books is that it is possible to change other people’s behavior by changing one’s reaction to them.

People don’t want to be sold.

As real estate salespeople – this is important.   If we want to truly be masterful at what we do – we must work in the self interest of our people.  Whether prospects or clients – it is our responsibility as professionals, to learn what they want and find a way to help them get it.

Often, this is not as straight forward as it seems.  People usually won’t tell us what they want.  Perhaps they are unclear of it themselves.  Perhaps they don’t trust us enough.  Perhaps someone has told them to be careful with their information or perhaps they just aren’t familiar with sharing their thoughts and feelings.

None of this changes how critically important it is for us to discover what they  truly want.

This discovery process is the art of sales and communication.  It is the foundation of win/win collaborative negotiations and it is a key skill set that you will need to excel in real estate sales.

People don’t want to be told.

To discover what really is important to someone we must be deeply curious,  we must ask powerful question…….and then listen intently to the answers.  We must quiet our own internal dialogue and let go of what we believe to be, so that we are able to hear what truly matters to them.   Done well, this will build rapport and trust and will unlock the valuable information that is so critical to successful real estate relationships.

Real estate sales is not as much about selling properties as it is about attracting the right clients and helping them get what they want!  If you can do this well – you will build the real estate practice that you deserve.