Lee Davenport
By Lee Davenport
Excerpt from “Profit with Your Personality“
I detest seeing tags in t-shirts that say, “one size fits all” because that one size never does. Whether the shirt hugs you like a baby’s onesie or drapes over you like a potato sack or Snuggie® Blanket, it is just not a fit for everyone. Similarly, mislabeled t-shirts are like our careers in residential real estate sales — different strokes are needed for different folks. Here is the shocker:
There is no one DiSC personality type that cannot succeed in residential real estate sales.
Did that make your brain go tilt? If you are like me, you have probably heard that only particular types of personality will do well in sales, whether real estate or otherwise. For those of us who are more reserved, we have likely acquiesced to that notion because doing the cold lead generation tactics (using outbound activities like cold calling and door knocking) have made us feel like the round peg being stuffed and banged into a square hole by an impatient kindergartner. It is uncomfortable, to say the least!
Business practitioners, including real estate firm managers, frequently use the DiSC personality assessment to size up its sales force due to its ease of use and four simple dimensions. DiSC profiles simply categorize the spectrum of our behaviors based on four prominent measures:
• Dominant (outgoing and task-oriented)
• Influencer (outgoing and people-oriented)
• Steady (introverted and people-oriented)
• Conscientious (introverted and task-oriented)
Among some companies, a prospective salesperson’s predominant DISC personality type is relied upon to determine her overall aptness for a residential real estate sales career.
What We Say:
The RIGHT Salesperson Personality
=
Sales Success
However, in my scholarly literature review of this topic, no significant correlation has been established between a salesperson’s ultimate sales success and her preeminent DiSC personality profile. Before you write a rebuttal, think about it this way: As managers, I have observed that we typically do not actually link a salesperson’s personality profile to their ultimate sales success either. Rather, we associate a salesperson’s personality with certain lead generation methods, particularly the methods we favor or the methods most used by our firm’s sales team.
For example, we likely assess that someone who is reserved will have a hard time cold-calling (a method) while someone who is outgoing and task-oriented, like the Dominant personality profile, will not. And, if we prefer our sales team to do cold-calling, we will more likely hire the Dominant person and dismiss the more introverted person. In essence, we have determined that the salesperson will not succeed with our customary lead generation methods. There is nothing wrong with that. But then we or the salesperson takes an unconnected leap, concluding the salesperson is completely unfit for real estate sales altogether. Unfortunately, a salesperson’s success (or lack there of) with certain methods were confused with the salesperson’s overall ability to succeed in sales. We must separate lead generation methods from overall ability. Here is why.
Top Producer Best Practices
I recently conducted a university-based study that polled a portion of the top 1,000 residential real estate salespeople in the United States. This study found:
“Top-producing residential real estate salespeople may have a prominent personality type stemming from any of the four DiSC profiles; no one or two personality types are core or crucial among sales professionals.”
That means that “Chatty Cathy,” typically seen as the Influencer personality style, is not the only type of top producer who can thrive in residential real estate sales. Real estate sales is not exclusive to the extroverted. This research proved that those of the more introverted natures (e.g. Steady and Conscientious) have achieved nationally-recognized sales success too, which is no small feat in an industry of more than 1 million professionals.
What Research Suggests:
Salesperson Personality
+
The RIGHT Lead-Gen. Activities
+
Consistency
=
Success
This is ground-breaking research that should help you breathe a sigh of relief. Why? The results prove you do not have to take on a fake persona in residential real estate sales because this career field is not exclusive to one or two personality types (as defined by DiSC). Your personality is not detestable in sales. One size does not fit all. There are lead generation methods that likely fit you uniquely. In my book, Profit with Your Personality, get ready to find out what they are.
Your Turn
• What sales limitations have been presented to you based on your personality, whether you are introverted or extroverted?
• How has the information from this chapter excerpt helped you?
• What is your most prominent DISC personality type? Bonus: Visit www.LearnWithLee.REALTOR and search “Profit with Your Personality” to take a complimentary quiz to find out.
I would love to hear from you. Give me a shout on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Google+, or by visiting LearnWithLee.Realtor. Want more of the best practices from our nation’s top producers? Grab your copy of the short read, Profit with Your Personality. And, be sure to tell the real estate agents you know to get a copy of the 5-star rated workbook, Plan to Win!, to transform their real estate sales game plan. Here’s to your success.
Dr. Lee Davenport is an Atlanta-based real estate coach who trains agents, teams, brokerages, and other business organizations on how to use today’s technology to work smarter. Join Lee’s free RE Tech Insider’s Club by visiting www.LearnWithLee.REALTOR.