Coach Patti's Blog

One answer might be that selling is all about saying the right things that will convince people to buy, whether it's a house, a car, or a carton of milk. Others might say that selling is about being in the right place at the right time to connect with people who are ready to buy. And some will add that selling means following tried and true methods of reaching people, knowing that a certain percentage of those contacts will turn into sales.

Anything wrong with all that? Not really, except that there's one very important point missing. In sales, and in life, what you think becomes your reality. Now expand that thought, and you'll see that at the same time, your seller's thoughts create their reality. I'm not saying that thoughts are reality, only that these accumulations of beliefs and attitudes about what reality is are what we need to recognize when working with people to complete any transaction.

Let's look at the players in a home sale: You (the sellers' agent), your sellers, the buyers, and the buyers' agent.

• You understand that the real estate market has changed in the last couple of years. The houses on your seller's street used to sell for $600,000, but now they are in the $475,000 to $550,000 range. That's your reality about price.
• Your sellers have lived in their house for many years. They bought it for $215,000 and saw the market value rise to over $600,000. Now that they are ready to sell, they expect to get at least $600,000 for it. That's their price reality.
• The buyers have done their homework and know the going price range for this house. They admit it's nicer than most, but still don't think it's worth more than $525,000. Their reality.
• The buyers' agent sold a similar house in the neighborhood for $540,000 a few months ago, so that is her reality.

Now…what's the "real" price of this house?

Clearly, if there is to be a meeting of all these minds, somehow they need to come together. If no one budges, there's no deal at all. But you have an advantage – you know that each party has a different "reality," and so you can recognize the basis of their differences.

If your thoughts and their thoughts are not in sync, you won't be seeing things the same way, and that's the root of problems. But knowing their points of view, you are in a position to influence them. You will have to expand your "reality" to recognize and include all the others. Then you have the complete picture and can bring those different realities into alignment. That's where the real selling starts.

You have about 80,000 thoughts a day, and many of them are negative. If you want to change your reality, change your thinking. You have a choice of how and what you think; think negative and you will create a negative environment, think positive and you create an environment of positive possibilities. From that positive position you become known as a person who makes deals come together in a way that everyone wins. That's a reality that everyone can appreciate.

Patti Kouri, Accelerated Performance Coaching
Helping You Through Self-Made Limitations! 

Will you Take My Challenge and increase your income? Here's what one student said:

"In 2006 I left REMAX and went to Prudential in West Chester OH. I was in a slump and Bob Daniel handed me $100 and told me to sign up for some Real Estate Game that Patti Kouri was conducting. It was the best money spent.  Last year (2008) I did 100 transactions. It all began with you, Ms. Patti. My thanks." - Pamela Bensen

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