Try this proven persuasion technique in your REI business

[Scott W. Cook]

Whether any of us like it or not, we're all sales people. I know that for some, that's a bit of a hard pill to swallow. Sales has gotten a bad rap over the years, mainly because of that particular kind of sales person who believes that if they're bulldog enough, you'll simply cave in and pay them.

We've all met that person, right? A pushy car salesman, a guy practically threatening you to buy his time share or a ravenous sales clerk who just won't leave you alone until you let her sell you something sparkley!

However, as investors, we certainly can't deny that we're sales people. On top of that, as a copywriter, my primary day job is to sell things for my clients - be it products, services or ideas. So I guess I'm a double salesman! Don't hold it against me, okay?

As you probably already realize, you're selling every time you work in your REI business. Sometimes it's obvious - selling a property or pitching a syndicate. On the other hand, sometimes you're selling and don't even realize it.

When you're talking to a seller about buying their home to flip or wholesale, you're selling... when you're interviewing a potential tenant, you're selling... really, anytime you're "buying" you're still selling, am I right?

With that being said, then, I'd like to share a little tip that I've learned through experience both as an entrepreneur and copywriter. A tip that's so simple yet so powerful, those who master it command remarkable powers of persuasion and profits.

And that tip is this: It's all about them.

This one simple concept could really become an entire seminar, or a book for that matter. In fact, if you've ever read Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People" then you know that this concept lies at the very core of this most powerful tome.

For now, though, I just want to explain that when talking to a prospective anybody, never forget that this person is primarily concerned with themselves. Not to be too harsh, but they don't care about you. It's their thoughts, feelings, desires and pain that motivates them... and the person who can empathize and see things from the prospect's perspective is the one who will win the deal.

One of the biggest parts of my job is reworking copy that's been written already. This might be a website, a sales letter, a brochure or even a book written by anyone from a real estate investor to an IT company even to sales training coaches! And the reason for it is that so much of what I see is what I like to call "I" focused rather than "you" focused. Let me give you an example:

We strive to provide our clients with top quality cloud services. With our 10 years of experience and our 3 awards from the council of who gives a crap, we're recognized as the #1 provider in all of... yadda, yadda, yadda.

Now how about this version:

As you grow and expand to profit in a global market, your ability to access and manage data and financial information remotely and at any time day or night gives your organization the edge it needs to take its rightful place as an industry leader. We understand what you need and how to support your efforts and when you choose to work with us, we leverage more than a decade of cloud software development experience to ensure that all of your needs are not just met, but exceeded. We're pleased and humbled by our 3 awards and believe that you'll be proud to have us as an integral part of your team.

See the difference? In the first case, this company couldn't say enough good things... about itself. But where do you come in? Do they care about your company and needs? Maybe... but they certainly didn't seem interested in anything but talking about them.

On the other hand, the second example is almost entirely about you. your needs, your goals, your pain points. The cloud provider lets you know they feel confident they can help, but because they've earned that through hard work and by really taking the time to understand you.

Now imagine this same aproach when talking to a prospect in your REI business. Whether its a hard money lender, a seller, a buyer or a potential set of partners.

What do they want? What's their pain? What are they afraid of? What interests them and drives them? How can you help?

I know that most folks who read this will say, "Well, duh, Scott..." but if this one little way of looking at things helps even a single investor, then it was worth the hundreds of hours it took to compose this post hahaha.

Let me know what you think. Share some stories of how you used empathy in your investing. I have no doubt that we'd all get far more out of those anecdotes than my little post here. Thanks for reading.