A few years ago, celebrated author Seth Godin introduced a book called “The Dip“. The title was a bit misleading because really what it was all about was when to keep going and when to give up. Seth didn’t mean ‘give up’ in a bad way, he meant don’t waste your time.
So I was looking at that book the other day and I thought, “You know what? There’s some really good value in here,” and I wanted to share some ideas with you about how you can make sure that you are pushing through when you should and conversely, that you are not pushing through when you shouldn’t.
So here’s 3 real life real estate sales examples:
#1. When a sales client offers you a condition, in other words, “We can’t move because we haven’t got our job transfer approved yet,” then that really is a give-up situation. It doesn’t mean that you throw it away. What it does mean is that you shouldn’t put much energy and effort into it until they do get the approval.
If it was an objection, for example, “We can’t move because Fred has to clean out the garage,” that’s a whole different story. But as far as a condition stopping you from moving forward, like they can’t get their financing, for example, that’s a condition. Forget about it. Move on.
#2. The second example of when you really want to think about saying, “I’m not going to go any further,” is if they are not motivated. Everybody says they want to move, they want to do this and they want to do that, but the fact is, if they really don’t answer the questions right, (ie: where are you moving?, when do you want to be there?, and why are you moving?) that’s when you find out their motivation.
If they’re not motivated, give up for now. Don’t throw them away, just don’t spend any time on them right now.
#3. Third example: This is a critical one and it’s more about gut-feel. The first two are more logic based, and this one is more feeling based.
If you don’t feel the respect is there for what you do, and all the effort you put into your job, and your professionalism and your quality of service you provide don’t work with them. If they don’t respect your time, they don’t respect your opinions and your knowledge that you have, then move on.
You don’t have to work with those people because here’s the problem. They won’t make you feel good about yourself, and that will affect all the other people you work with. Have the courage (and the self-respect) to walk away.
Conclusion
Be selective. Understand when to move forward and when to back off. Saying NO is just as important as saying YES. NO Excuses.
Question…how difficult is it for you to let go? What makes it easier? Leave a comment below. It will be read!
Great video Bruce. Very helpful!
It’s important Neil to be able to identify those leads that I call “squishy tomatoes”…you know, those ones you would not buy even if you were desperate. Keep looking for new and better leads so the squishy tomatoes have ZERO power over you. You are winning!
Excellent idea. Extremely helpfull and motivate keep going.
You are most welcome Cam. Thanks for reaching out. Have a look at my comment to Neil below…it applies to all of us in sales. Keep on growing!