General - The number one tip for successful selling is don’t sell.

Brett Graham is the owner of five residential Ray White offices, plus two other businesses all located here on the Sunshine Coast. He has a 37-strong sales team. Brett is also currently a mayoral candidate for the next election. We asked him to share his secrets to sales success with our readers. 

1.         Brett says the number one thing he believes makes sales people great is to stop selling.  He says people will pick up on a sales vibe very quickly and the fact is that people just don’t want to be sold to.

2.  The second most important thing is trust. The person you are sitting in front of will have most likely researched your product anyway, so you need to build trust with them. Know your product and be a nice person, if you have only been in your industry a minute, it doesn’t matter, you just have to be nice and you have to listen to your client.

3.  Really understand what you are selling.  McDonalds, for example, don’t sell chips or hamburgers, they sell time.  The reason people go there is that they need time.  So understand what you are providing, what need you are servicing.  In real estate, Brett says he doesn’t do deals. Rather his product is shelter, the place people sleep at night, raise families and create wealth and with that comes a lot of emotion. 

4.         Talk to more people.  We asked Brett, how someone goes from mediocre to extraordinary sales?  He said that if he has a sales person that is not performing, he would tell them to go home and write a list of 20 people they know (friends, associates, whoever) and then to make an effort to actually contact and talk to each of those people about the real estate market, and to offer their services either to that person, or someone else that person may know.  

5.         Follow-up each and every person. Brett says a person might go to see 20 open homes, however only have two agents call them back. He says sometimes people are reluctant to leave their number, however they need not worry because most agents don’t actually call.  If a person is serious about purchasing, they will want follow up and sales people need to do that. Strike while the iron is hot. 

6.         Close the sale.  You have to ask for the order/sale. 99 percent of the public actually find it quite difficult to make a buying decision and they need a hand to make it.  It really doesn’t hurt to say, “do you want to buy this? Is this what you are after?”  Buyers often close themselves, but sales people need to make sure they ask the question. Don’t beat around the bush, just ask.

7.  Walk fast.  Top sales people walk fast – really, they walk fast – and they make more phone calls and talk to more people each day.  All fantastic sales people feel good about themselves, have confidence, totally understand their purpose and understand that they are playing a part in peoples’ lives.

8.         Have integrity. Integrity occurs when there is no gap between your intent and behaviour. In other words you do exactly what you say you are going to do. Clients, consumers and customers can see if that gap exists between what you say and what you do.

9.         Educate yourself. Be mentally fit and read things about your industry.  Learn about your industry, and also about things in general. That way you can speak to lots of different people about lots of different things with confidence.

At a glance

1.         Don’t sell
2.         Build trust
3.         Know what you are selling
4.         Talk to more people
5.         Follow-up each and every time
6.         Ask for the order, “Do you want to buy this?”
7.         Walk fast
8.         Have integrity
9.         Educate yourself on everything you can

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