Step Up Your sales Performance with Iceberg Selling on the Smart Agents Podcast

What has the power to kill a sale faster than any other single factor?

A salesperson who doesn’t listen to their customer.

When Karl and his family outgrew their house and started looking for a new one, he reached out to a realtor named Stephanie. Within weeks she found what, on paper, looked like the perfect house. It was the right size, their ideal layout, the style the family liked. It even backed up to a golf course - a dream for a family who loved to golf.

There was one problem: it wasn’t in Boulder County, and Karl’s son desperately wanted to enroll at one of their high schools.

Karl called the realtor. “Hey,” he said. “I think it’s worth seeing this house. It might even be our dream house. But I need you to do me a favor. At the showing, don’t tell my son that this house isn’t in Boulder County. He’ll immediately think he won’t be able to attend the high school he wants, and there’s no way he’ll look at it objectively. Instead, let’s just look at the house, see if it’s as good of a fit as we think it is, and figure the rest out down the line.”

“I totally understand,” Stephanie said. And yet, when they arrived at the showing, before they even shook hands, she gave the family a smile. “Great news! I did some research and may have solved the high school problem. Even though the house isn’t in Boulder County, you might be able to open enroll and attend any of the schools!”

She was beaming with delight, but a dark cloud had formed over the entire family’s heads. She thought that she had brought them a solution, but all Karl’s son heard was “high school problem.” And all Karl saw was a realtor who didn’t listen to his one request because she thought she knew better. Without realizing it, she poisoned the entire experience.

This is why Iceberg Selling Matters. You need to understand the entire picture before you try to solve a problem, or you might end up causing one.

Karl’s appearance on the Step Up Your Sales Performance with Iceberg Selling Episode of the Smart Agents podcast is packed with lessons and insights from both the perspective of the salesperson and the customer. You’ll learn:

• Why jumping to a solution before taking time to understand your customer may sour your relationship
• How honoring your customer’s requests builds trust
• Why purposeful listening allows for discovery without limitation

​Check out the episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to learn more about why listening to your customers and working to understand their needs is the key to building lasting relationships.