 In the (slightly edited) words of Billy Zane in the movie Titanic, “a real [sales]man (or woman) makes his own luck.”
Yes, most good salespeople have natural selling abilities, people skills, and an interest in building relationships. What sets great salespeople apart isn’t that they were lucky enough to get incredible leads or have selling instincts that the average professional lacks. What takes a salesperson from good to great is how they invest their time and energy, and making that change is as simple as a shift in perspective. Quality over Quantity. Many salespeople assume that in order to close more accounts, they need to go after more leads. They think of their closing rate as relatively fixed (perhaps it’s roughly the average closing rate for their team or has been their closing rate for years), so they believe that the more leads they have, the more deals they’ll close and the higher their numbers will be. When they have free time, they sign up for networking events. They make cold call after cold call. They look at the top of the funnel. They ask for more. A great salesperson, however, understands that quality, not quantity, is what will boost their bottom line. Well, of course the quality of the lead matters, you may be thinking. And it does. Some leads that enter the funnel don’t fit the ideal customer profile, aren’t serious about buying in the near future, or have an incumbent vendor who they have no real intention of leaving. But quality doesn’t just refer to the quality of the leads coming in. It also encompasses the quality of the experience the salesperson offers to the prospective customer. A great salesperson realizes this, so they don’t use every spare moment of their day looking for more leads. Instead, they focus their energy on stacking the deck in their favor. This means researching the organization and the customer contact to make sure they uncover every detail that’s readily available so that they can approach an initial discovery meeting or call with tailored questions that position them to get more information. They set themselves up to dive deeper. Get Curious. Once a great salesperson has learned everything they can, they’re able to figure out everything they don’t know that could help them form a relationship with the customer. They realize that the best (and really, only) strategy to start gaining an understanding of what’s going on beneath the surface is by asking questions, not with the intention of selling, but with the intention of learning. The list of questions isn’t a set of boxes to tick. They don’t lead you down one of two selling paths, where your path forward is clearly charted. Instead, each question is merely a starting point. The answers lead to unplanned follow up questions, natural conversations, and seemingly minor details that help the salesperson build a relationship with the customer. When you commit to remaining curious, the discovery process never ends - you’re consistently looking to understand what is going on in the customer’s world so that you can figure out how you fit into the picture. Get Deeper.
These questions are all important and undoubtedly the answers matter, but asking them won’t set a salesperson apart from anyone else the buyer is meeting with. That’s all surface level information - and what you need to know doesn’t necessarily come from asking questions. It comes from having conversations. If you ask a customer what the company values, they’ll likely rattle off the mission statement or core values listed on their website. But if you start talking about different corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs they’ve participated in, you’ll get past the corporate speak and get an idea of what really matters to them. You’ll start to uncover what’s going on in their world, why they care about the things they do, what’s important to the company, what their culture is really like, and what it would mean to be a part of their team or be a vendor that supports them. This type of deeper understanding puts you in a position of discovery, which in turn can help you see clues to different types of opportunities where you may be able to be of service. This may provide you better ideas on how your offerings could be of real value to this customer and put you in a position where you’re a partner instead of a vendor. Learn More. Iceberg Selling is a technique grounded in the understanding that for every person, organization, and situation, you can only see 10% of what’s really going on. By adopting the right mindsets, prioritizing building relationships, and approaching customers with genuine curiosity, you can start to explore the other 90% and improve your sales performance. Get the book to learn more about Iceberg Selling. Karl joined Justin Stoddart on the Think Bigger Real Estate podcast to dig into what makes sales meaningful and effective in an age of automation: real human connection. While many salespeople are tempted by the promise of working faster using technology, especially AI, Karl and Justin make a compelling case that being human is your competitive advantage.
In this conversation, Karl shares candid stories and experiences in relationship-driven industries, where going beyond surface-level interactions leads to trust and lasting impact. He explains how to use Iceberg Selling to build rapport with curiosity and authenticity, be more present, and apply emotional intelligence to every client interaction. Whether it’s taking the time to understand a client’s life, brainstorming ways to provide value beyond your core service, or shifting from an impersonal list of clients to a focused network of trusted partners, Karl offers a grounded, real-world roadmap to selling with depth and intention. He even tackles the tension between being efficient versus being effective, reminding us that while we should be efficient with our work, we should never be efficient with people. Listen to the full conversation on your favorite podcast app, visit Think Bigger Real Estate's podcast page or watch the video above to explore how you can be more present, show more empathy, and add more value to your sales approach. |
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We are headquartered in Colorado with domestic and international teammates and clients. Please use the contact form on this page to inquire about any of our books, podcasts appearances, speaking engagements and workshops, any of our offerings, or simply to connect.
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