Pheromone for the struggling Real-Estate agent.

Field Reports & Anecdotal Experience Men's Pheromone Advice & Field Reports
21

That’s normal. People are always looking for a deal and trying to save money. One of the most important tools in sales is the “take away close” and the ability to say no and walk away from a bad deal. If a buyer sees you as weak or a pushover, they surely aren’t going to want you negotiating with another sales agent on their behalf.

These two go hand-in-hand. If you were buying a home, would you rather work with a sales agent who was friendly and you felt connected with, or one that seemed to be unfriendly and/or uncomfortable around you. Nobody is going to buy a home through an agent, or let them sell their home, unless that sales agent can get them feeling comfortable.

Not if you cant’ project the right persona. Picture Clint Eastwood in a clown outfit. He may look like a clown, but I doubt he could actually pull it off.

I am seeing signs of desperation here, and one of the fastest ways to lose a deal is if a prospective buyer senses desperation from the sales person

If the prosepctive buyer senses that you don’t trust them, that’s another quick way to lose a deal.

Instant Openness may help A LITTLE, but it’s not going to change who you are. To succeed in sales, you are going to have to work on and overcome the shyness and introversion on your own.

Again, only if you can project yourself properly. In sales it’s pretty much a sure bet that if you let a prospective buyer intimidate you, it’s game over.

I think the very best thing you can do for yourself is to work on being more outgoing, friendly and talkative. There is no pheromone that is going to completely change who you are or how you interact with others.

I have read your thread asking about Christians using pheromones too, and with your underlying concerns and beliefs, I am pretty well convinced that even if you decide that pheromones are not evil and/or witchcraft, you have a preconceived mindset and pheros aren’t going to work for you.

My suggestion is to start reading self-help books aimed at overcoming shyness, being more outgoing and improving your sales skills.

22

I have 2 books that I think you could benefit from and highly recommend reading for anybody that is in sales, both oldies but goodies:

Dale Carnagie’s "Secrets Of Closing The Sale. Awesome book on improving sales skills and he provides a great explanation of what means to be a sales person. When I first started in sales over 20 years ago, anytime I would start having self doubts or getting a bit depressed, I would go back and read those paragraphs again, and it would always bolster my attitude and confidence.

Tommy Hopkins’ “See You At The Top” Another great book that really helped me develop my sales ability.

23

I don’t know if the last post is the most honest post in this discussion, but it does seem almost like I’m on a wing-and-a-prayer until I really find the right client that I can work with because I’m not a natural salesman or people person. But then again, I’ve seen some reports of users of the combined effects of A314 and Instant Honesty to suggest there is more to it.

You see, if we are strictly going with congruency here then the thing is – there is really no point in pheromone products then, I mean, if you really don’t need them, why are you going to buy them, and if you really need them, then they are useless anyway?

There are some chemistry elements or personality elements with some people that are beyond any self-help book, and being more outgoing or friendly could also come across as creepy and incongruent if it’s really not you, or worst you could look like a push-over.

24

Well, I’ll be a little contrarian to Mark and think that pheromones could help you if you are shy, but it won’t change your underlying assumptions about the world, at least not right away.

I would agree with the self-help books though. You need to do alot of introspection and self-analysis. Maybe Real Estate really isn’t for you, but that’s only something you can decide. Maybe you just haven’t developed the right tools and mindset for your career. Honestly from your descriptions in the “Christian” thread in the Lounge, I’m wondering if you have the real mindset of a salesman, since you seem to be worried about influencing or manipulating people, when you should be more worried about giving people a good impression of the products you are trying to sell and matching them with products they’ll be happy with.

I’d wonder why you’ld have a problem being more outgoing? You don’t have to be a life of the party, just connect with them. Listen to what people have to say about themselves, show interest on your part- sincere interest. If you have a religious background, you should click with that stuff… various religions call it different things: compassion, love. Treat people like human beings like you would want to be treated. Don’t be bitter, that sort of stuff.

25

Seeing as how I’m the fool that concocted the big stripclub thread and have made that the focus of my persona here, this will probably seem to come out of left field. Oh well, we’re nothing if not multifaceted here, right?

Luke, it’s an unfortunate truth that sales is a manipulation game. Religiously speaking, specifically from a Christian standpoint, manipulation with evil intent is where the witchcraft comes into play. When I say “witchcraft”, I’m not necessarily talking about people in black hooded cloaks chanting around a pentagram. A biblical definition includes not only what could be considered blatantly occult, but also regular, mundane manipulation of will to both your advantage and the victim’s disadvantage. Perfect example: By convincing him to cut off his hair, Delilah was pulling witchcraft on Samson.

Now, with that in mind, I’ve known a few real estate agents, all successful, and their modus operandi is in truly helping their client find the right home for them. How do they do it? I can’t say specifically, but I’ll bet it lies in an ability to really listen to what the client is saying. Learn body language, as that can reveal a lot of unspoken things. Nothing witchy about it, it’s just proven psychology. You have to protect yourself, because your time is money. If you can get a sense early on that a client is wasting your time, there’s nothing wrong with walking away.

I think that’s one of the biggest weaknesses of struggling salespeople-- knowing when to walk away. This has parallels in the world if attraction, too. Some guys will get so hung up on that one girl, spending time, energy, and money on trying to win her over, when the whole time there are plenty of others out there that are more worth it.

Mark suggested a Dale Carnegie book, and let me suggest another that might help you. How To Win Friends and Influence People. Though this book is pretty old, there is very little in it that is anachronistic. Carnegie knew human nature, and the tips he provides in that book are just as relevant today as when it was first published back in 1936. It’s such a mainstay in the area of interpersonal relations that it’s readily available at Border’s or on Amazon even now.

Something else you want to consider is networking with other agents, particularly ones in areas where you’re not competing. Not sure how you would go about doing this. Perhaps talk to mortgage brokers, or check the phone book for realtors’ associations. Establish a mutually beneficial relationship with someone who can refer leads to you and vice versa.

This is kind of a brain dump, so I’m not sure how helpful it may be to you. I hope you can find something useful in it.

-D4

26

Well, I’d imagine they have to do something if the pheromone product is successfully selling. People who do well without them would think this product is for losers and would be too proud to give it a try.

Total unemployment isn’t for me either. This is not a perfect world, or obviously I’d be in something else. No matter where I am in the world, unless I’m a hermit, I’m going to have to deal with people at some juncture and still sell myself unless I win the lottery or something.

I think you need people skills to get ahead in the work place, or as a salesman. Again, even if you take a job interview, you are still going to have to sell yourself that you are capable to do the job. Again, I’ve read reports that Instant Honesty and A314 worked for people in the job interviews and made them feel level with the interviewer, or even intimidated the interviewer. Heck, if it has that effect, then it would seem foolish not to give it a try with clients since a client is sort of like an interviewer but in a different sence.

Listening to people isn’t being outgoing. If you are too outgoing and soft with people, then you wont be taken seriously. There has to be a right mix of being in authority, command, being aboout, and then soften that tone a bit by connecting a bit. The way this is described – is almost like talking about mixing a few pheromone products togehter – but you have to have the right mix.

27

Oh, ok! You’re right, after working in straight sommission sales and sales management for over 20 years! I’m wrong and was less than honest in my assessment of your situation.

I tried to touch on the areas where you said you were having problems and why I felt you might be having those problems, then I offered suggestions that I thought could help, and I was dishonest?

You are on your own my friend!

28

Ok, I understand the walking away part. So if a client is wasting my time, a pheromone spray of A314 is not going to miracolously save the day then?

29

Great post, Data (and another rep).

I’d also add, there are some people I’ve known that are very religious, like my aunt, who have a heck of a time connecting with people. There is a profound sense of arrogance on her part alot of the time, and a profound disinterest in other peoples lives or opinions. I’m not going to slam religion in general, because I believe it would be crass and baseless, but that particular way of viewing the world is counter-productive: an “us vs. them” mentality. This mentality infects everything about her personality as well. In short, she’s a control freak and she radiates this to other people who meet her, and it really has nothing to do with her beliefs (but they help reinforce her feelings, for sure). If you don’t play her game, she takes her bat and goes home and won’t offer you the time of the day… and can then self-righteously condemn you to hell without a twinge of guilt on her part. She’d be horrible in sales, because not only is she unable to be very interesting, she has no authentic interest in other people.

It’s pretty sad really but it all stems from stuff that happened to her in her childhood. The only good to come about in her life… she finally found a man that would tolerate her problems and they’ve been married for a long time. But she hasn’t mellowed with age much. She handled the death of my grandfather particularly poorly, and was quick to try and assign blame to people that only tried to help. It’s very difficult to be around somebody like that and to love them as a family member.

BTW, A314 might help if a client is wasting your time, since it would send a message sort of like “This guy is important, don’t waste his time”. Some people might not “get it” as much as others, though. And you’ve got to balance pushing away the timekillers vs. pushing away the timid, but well meaning people- that’s why I think a spray might be better, at least at first.

30

That’s fine. But you didn’t understand what I said.

I said, since you are not promoting the pheromone product and are telling me to virtually stay away from them – that sounds very honest because you are not promoting the product. This is what I meant.

31

Thanks, Daedelus. :slight_smile:

Luke, here’s an outline of the book I suggested, to give you an idea of what it covers.

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

-D4

32

I’ve read this book in the past, but maybe I’ll read it again.

33

Jon jogged my memory concerning Dale Carnegie and I figured I should come back and say that I was wrong about the author of one of the books I suggested: “Secrets Of Closing The Sale” was actually authored by Zig Ziglar.

And, Dale Carnagie’s book “How To Win Friends And Influence People” is also an excellent book.

34

This is actually why I bought some MX 172- for job interviews. Too many job interviews I’ve been to, the job interviewer look down on me, and I even sense condescension- stuff I thought would come across as humility came across as weakness or ineptitude. I don’t think that’s fair to me, really, and doesn’t give a realistic view of myself. Granted, my body language used to be poor, but I’m sure my pheromones, or lack thereof weren’t helping. Not to boast, but I’m above-average looking but my presence in a room wasn’t exactly nonexistant, but sometimes it was unsettling or not “congruent”.

It depends on the situation but in general people like people who listen and offer thoughtful remarks more than talking only about themselves. Nobody likes being around somebody who talks only about themselves, wheather it is bragging, boasting, or talking only about their problems. Only the most naive people are actually impressed by that. At some point stuff like that just becomes a long monologue, not a conversation. I’ve come to realize I am guilty of this sometimes, too, and this was a flaw in the image I was projecting- because I’d spent so much time bottled up inside myself, I had trouble talking about anything besides myself.

It’s sort of like Clint Eastwood. He has alot of presence in his films, even though he never says alot- he says all he needs with his body language and looks. In fact we call that the “Clint Eastwood” effect here on Pherotalk. It can be bad in some situations (trying to approach women) but carefully measuring you speech and using alot of nonverbal communication can make all the difference in the world, I suppose, in many situations. And nobody is ever going to push Clint Eastwood around just because he doesn’t talk alot :slight_smile:

35

I would say that sales might not be for you. I think you need to fully assess yourself as an agent and figure out what you are doing wrong.

Maybe take some time to think of past interactions with clients and see yourself from their eyes. How do you move, speak etc.

Ask yourself if you would buy from this guy. This is sort of a NLP exercise I guess but I think it could help.

Also, keep in your mind that you don’t NEED that sale. They will smell you being nervous and needy and ppl will walk away from that I think.

as much as we would all like, phero’s will not make ppl do things they dont want to. A drop of A314 is not going to make people buy houses, but it might help overall, and i dont think it will hurt. My suggestion, buy everything at once that you might need so you don’t pay extra custom changer/shipping. If its not what you want, return it.

I would give yourself a good self evaluation and do what needs to be done.

fake it till you make it, right?

good luck

36

I’ve been in residential Real-Estate since 2003, and held a Real-Estate license since 1997. In a sence I’ve been supported by my parents all this time, and while I have had bank accounts in excess of $ 10 000 (i.e. enough money to move out), I’m still too jittery to do so because you just need to hit a slump, and all that money could start going down as you have to pay your business expenses.

For example, last year I grossed $ 85 000 in sales and netted about
$ 30 000 after business expenses. While this may not sound like a struggling agent, most of those deals were in the spring of 2007, and before I made my first deal in 2007, my account nearly completely bottomed out, I had no credit, and there was no way out so it was make a deal or die. Just after that period, all of a sudden I just start getting a bunch of ‘angel’ clients that instantly connected with me and worked with me, and in fact tipped me more commission than I should make and the account started building up with a series of deals.

The year before 2006, was slump like, virtually just a handful of deals for the whole year and a net loss reported of about $ 6000, and the year before that, a net income of $ 18 000, and the year before that, a net income of $ 3000 for the year.

Last year when I changed offices and saw real progress, I thought things would be normal – but when things tapered off in the fall, and I was making fewer deals with smaller commissions - I made a couple of deals in January – then all of a sudden this slump with a bad luck string of clients.

The strategy of choice is always to advertise on magazines.

I’m looking into training programs such as Brian Buffini and looking for stratgies to stabalize the income levels both, because unless there is a reliable source of income, then you are no better off than when you started and made your first deal and wondered if and when you would make your next and you always feel like you are in square one.

To fine tune other aspects of the process – such as Open Houses, or other venues where I’m meeting people, or during my duties, I may be thinking of trying out pheromones to help facilitate things – or at least if it would help me feel that I didn’t lose an upper hand with anyone with I usually feel often.

But it’s hard to quit being at it for so long – and if there is a method of stabalizing it in this training program I just signed on. Now, I’d say if I cant stabalize my income with this system I’m about to join – then I could say this business is not for me (duh), but then again, the part of the business that deals with people difficulties is something that would be encountered anywhere, in any profession. Unless you win the lottery and live like a hermit, you are always going to encounter problems.

I don’t know what’s going on, but if your account is going up and down like a see-saw, that sounds very scary if you have to actually pay a mortgage, rent or real life expenses beyond the business expenses – so even if I made a string of deals and made $ 50 000, I’d still much rather that there was a predictable and reliable source of income because it’s still a psychological downer to see your account shrinking and not being replaced back by other deals.

Even if I had a purely technical job that involved minimal interaction with my peers – you still need to get through an interview, connect with the interviewer, and connect with in some way if you want to get a fair promotion anyway. But anyway, I prefer to stick to this for now and fine tune the system. I like seeing big accounts grow fast and it could only happen in Real-Estate.

37

Well, after having read the responses, I’ll only say that I recommend you try pheromones to see for yourself. I would recommend talking to Jasmin about the return procedure, as I believe the income guarantee is only for A314 meaning the guarantee is only for roughly $700US, not your entire order. However, they do offer the 200% guarantee for the consumer products, and I’m not sure how that works out. Either way, I’d call Jasmin and make sure exactly what your options are before you commit, seeing as how you’re very much on the fence, financially, as well as morally.

As far as your history as an agent, I mentioned before that I have no direct experience in Real Estate, so I can’t really comment about your techniques. I will say that sales wise, Mark offers great advice. That’s somewhere I do have some direct experience with, and yes, legitimately :smiley:.

That being said, I don’t know what your personal expenses/business expenses are, but usually finding stability amongst unstable income trends is a matter of careful budgeting and planning. That’s the only way. Unless you can find a way to generate income on demand (which is what we’re ALL looking for, so I assume you don’t), your stability is going to depend on budgeting and planning.

You could argue, if you had a big enough account, you wouldn’t need to budget carefully. That’s true to an extent, in that you can absorb drops in income more easily than if you have a smaller account. Ultimately, only your own budgeting will create stability. There’s no real ‘training’ for that. They’ll tell you that you need to invest carefully, ‘diversify’, ‘play the market’, rent houses, etc..etc..etc…

If you want stability, make as many deals as you can, budget yourself conservatively until you develop a roster of clients, then slowly make long term investments. It’s a simply theory, it’s actually pulling it off that’s hard. We all like seeing big accounts grow fast. :smiley: It can also happen in the cocaine industry, and you really don’t need to be that verbose at all. Just walk over, make the sale, walk away. But I’m sure that’s not your thing.

I might also recommend evaluating why you’re in Real Estate. You state yourself that you’d still much rather that there was a predictable and reliable source of income. That’s an office job my friend. Work for the government. That’s probably about as predictable and reliable you’re gonna get. If your government goes out of business or is ‘downsizing’, well, you might have bigger concerns then.

Real Estate, like any other commission occupation is risky, unpredictable, and rocky at best. There is no getting around the inherent risks of the business. If you want a fast growing bank account, you’re gonna have to take some risk.

There are variations to this, but there’s a saying for cars.

Performance, Reliability, Price - Choose two.

Well, when it comes to making money, you have two options.

Slow and steady or Fast and risky

But you don’t have to necessarily stick to one, once you generate some money with your ‘fast and risky’ business (Real Estate), take the earnings and put it into a ‘slow and steady’ ‘business’ (or investment, whatever you want to call it). That way you can have some steady income, and then if you really take off with RE, then you’ll make lots of money.

But ultimately, you gotta risk something to get something (AKA Scared money don’t make none). If you want to make money, you’ll need to accept that.

If any financially successful person can tell me otherwise, please do so.

38

Believe me I budget very hard and am sensitive to every penny that is on my account. In fact, I don’t actually spend that much money on myself, despite the fact I live with my parents and am just in an internal battle of nerves when it comes to finances and am very, very tight. The thing is, if I start cutting back on business expenses like advertising, then you think, maybe the next ad would have generated a deal but I cut it too soon and now owe a big bill here.

I’m weathering my storm right now, but unless I change offices, it’s quite expensive where I’m at now, plus I haven’t even paid a penny of last year’s taxes. It’s hard when you make lots of income on one year making you owe a tax bill, and then when you make less or nothing the next year, you are stuck with a tax bill you have to deal with.

39

I am curious how you can make 85, 000 in a year and walk away with only 30,000 .

Is the market not very good these days?

Perhaps getting a part time job/buisness might help

40

That’s true, such a situation would be difficult. However, I’m sure you also received a large reduction in your taxes because you seem to have a LOT of business expenses. At any rate, you budget very well so that’s not such a problem. Well, then that means you need to change up your advertising strategy or start cold calling people because you’re not spending your capital very efficiently. Budgeting your personal life is one thing, budgeting your business is another. Or maybe your budgeting is very good in both cases and it really is due to an unfortunate string of bad luck. Well, gee, if that’s the case, I guess there’s nothing you can do.

So I guess your options are, try pheromones, try cold calling more/approaching/actively looking for prospects, or just give in the the market and let it control your income.