Retro

ˈretrō/

Adjective

imitative of a style, fashion, or design from the recent past.

“retro 60’s fashions”

Retro is used to describe new artifacts that self-consciously reference particular modes, motifs, techniques and materials of the past.

In sales, negotiation and marketing we attempt to convince people to do things that we want them to do. In ethical sales, we want them to do things that are in their best interest. We need to be skilled in understanding human nature to do this successfully as the human mind is a complicated thing. This is the psychology of sales and while the collective human mind evolves and changes, it doesn’t change as much as we may like to think.

I am very grateful for the opportunity to coach and mentor some amazing younger agents. I learn a lot from them and feed off of their energy. Sometimes, they, or more likely a member of their team, calls some of my sales methodologies “old school” and are concerned that the use of them could undermine their branding. I listen like a hawk when these opportunities arise because I am completely committed to learning and not to being right.

What I have taken away from these conversations is a concept I am calling Retro Psychology. We take the older sales methodology that worked and modernize it.

Some examples:

• Sending a letter out to the neighbourhood saying that you have a qualified buyer and if they are interested in selling, please contact you. In the old days, we often didn’t have a real buyer and we were misleading people so that we would have a chance to pitch for a listing. The retro version is to be fully honest and transparent. State that you have a contract signed with the buyer, give the buyers name and tell them that the buyer will be paying your commission. (If they are).
• In offer negotiations, converting a money gap, say $50,000 into a monthly number to make it seem more manageable can convince people to accept a sign back. In the old days we might say, “it’s only $200 dollars per month, about the price of a coffee a day. (gourmet coffee!). You can afford that can’t you?” The retro version might be, “Sally, one way to look at this is to consider the monthly payments and if you can comfortably manage those it may be worth getting the home you really love. Would you like me to do that calculation for you?” And then give them the monthly payment accurately from the interest payment they would actually be paying and not the lowest published interest rate available. This is using the persuasion principle of contrast and it can be very helpful to people in their decision making process

The retro version isn’t about tricking them. It’s about presenting it in another way to help them make great decisions. When we use all of our resources to help people, we create better experiences and better outcomes.

Retro isn’t old. It is a derivative of the old.

A retro toaster uses modern technology but takes its style from the old.

Retro has a place in design and retro has a place in psychology.