You Can Sell Something Without Selling Anything

January 31, 2007 |

Sales is something that happens all the time, many times without us even noticing. Commercials on the radio and TV, ads in magazines and newspapers, billboards as we zoom about town, all of these are selling something. Most of the time, I think that people are so accustomed to being sold, that they don’t even think about it. Sometimes, however, “being sold” is topmost on people’s mind. I encountered just such a situation this past weekend.

I showed property to a lovely couple who came from Northern Virginia. As with many of my clients, the first time we met face-to-face was Sunday when I showed them property. Prior to that, we had never actually spoken to each other, our only conversations were via email. After a few hours and plenty of homes, we returned to the office to discuss how the day had gone, and their plans for the future. At this point, they made what I found to be an interesting comment. My client said, “you know, we really like working with you; we don’t feel like you are trying to sell us anything.”

I thought this comment was interesting only because I had never really thought about it before. As I told them, when I represent buyers, I see my function as mostly consultative and advisory. My standard comment to most buyers is, “it doesn’t matter to me which home you buy because I’m not the one who has to live in it.” Listing homes is different, a listing agent is contracted specifically for the purpose of selling the home. You can call it marketing if you want, but when you boil it down, selling homes is just that- selling homes.

It occurred to me that these people felt they did not want their buyer’s agent to sell anything. To them, selling was a negative quality for a buyer’s agent. In a way, this makes sense. Think about it like this: when you go onto a car lot, you know the person who comes out to help you is there for the benefit of the dealership. That person’s job, their raison d’etre, is to sell you a car. That is what makes people defensive when they go to car dealerships. It is the reason that people go to great lengths to avoid the car salesperson up until the point that their involvement becomes absolutely necessary. For whatever reason, it is human nature to resist being sold. I think that it has to do with the fact that to be sold requires that a person give up a degree of control over a situation. People like to be in control. But, that’s enough pop psychology, back to my clients. . .

My clients liked feeling that they were not being “sold.”  They knew that they had control of their situation and their home-buying destiny.  To use a nautical metaphor, my clients are captains of the ship, I am merely navigator and first officer.  That is the way I like to work with all of my clients.  It was good to hear first hand that they appreciate this approach.

They were, however, wrong about one thing:  I didn’t sell them nothing.  I sold them on my ability to faithfully represent their interests in the home-buying process.  That is the biggest sale of all.

[tags] real estate, realtor, charlottesville, sales, marketing [/tags]

Posted by Daniel | Filed Under Buying, Industry Issues, Selling 

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