Achieving any level of success in real estate is challenging, but without the right strategy in place, the chances of having a profitable career are even more difficult. On a recent episode of The Walkthrough, author and former mega-agent Sean Moudry says that aligning your sales strategy with your personality type will hugely impact the prosperity of your business. Why? Because Moudry believes that there’s a direct correlation between personality type and the sales strategy that will work best for you. After years of extensive research and experience, Moudry has compiled his findings in a book entitled “16 Strategies for Sales”. His book draws on the Myers-Briggs Personality Assessment, which outlines 16 personality types. He created sales strategies for all 16 that he says are the most effective for each specific personality type. The first step to finding out the best strategies for success in sales is understanding your personality type and preferences. Although the DISC personality profile is popular in real estate, Moudry suggests taking the Myers-Briggs personality assessment. “The Myers-Briggs, it’s been around for many years, almost 70 years now, developed in the late 1930s, been perfected really over 50 years and a lot of research has been done on it. I found that it was the best thing that I could find to give me a better explanation of why somebody does the things that they do. Because it’s kind of the way they see the world versus their observable behaviors like the DISC is.” Moudry says that the most common personality profile for real estate agents is “feelers.” These are “people persons” who are often guided by emotions. “Sixty percent of people who get into real estate got in because they just like people,” Moudry says. “So, that’s a big demographic of people who…wanna nurture clients, they wanna work with people day-to-day, they wanna serve and help people or their community. That’s a big metric of our industry. So, that’s what I would say is one group.” Moudry also points out that two of the most successful people in the real estate industry are “introverts” — Gary Keller, founder of Keller Williams, and Glenn Sanford, founder of eXp Realty. “The other group that tends to get mislabeled oftentimes is the introverts because they feel like all of the training that we have is built for the extroverts. And so they’re like, where do I fit in here? How do I fit in here? And I think that’s kind of the two demographics that struggle the most because with the feelers, you can really, really care for your clients, and you’ll be broke if you don’t generate business,” says Moudry. No matter what your personality type is, use it to your advantage. Despite popular opinion, the “dominant” or “high D” personality (from the DISC profile) is not necessarily going to always be the top salesperson. There are both strengths and weaknesses in every personality type, but the key is recognizing what those are and embracing them, rather than shying away from your true self. “I think the misconception, especially in real estate, is that we have to be salespeople all the time. We don’t. Sales are part of the process but servicing the customer is a part of the process. Doing marketing is part of the process. Managing a file is part of the process. So, if you’re not good at something – let’s say you’re not good at making cold calls, well, be really good at the other stuff. And then find a way around, a workaround, for the lead generation aspect for you.” But you have to identify your strengths and weaknesses before applying those specific sales strategies, and then tailor those strategies to your strengths. Once you’ve identified the sales strategy for your personality type, implement the strategy based on your own strengths. But, Moudry says to keep in mind that a successful outcome will depend upon the individual because everyone has a unique way of reaching the end result. “Just because someone shows up differently doesn’t mean the outcome is not going to be positive,” says Moudry. He also suggests that if you absolutely hate one strategy, try another, as some strategies can apply to more than one personality type. Immediate results would be wonderful, but we all know that the real estate industry can sometimes be a long game. These strategies for success are no different – time is a factor, and you should, therefore, plan your strategy accordingly. “The key is some strategies are long-term strategies and some strategies have to be short-term. Now, what determines that? Well, honestly, your situation and your goals. So, if you get into real estate, and let’s say you’ve been licensed for a year and last year you did five transactions, which is great for your first year, right? Great job. But you wanna make more money, you wanna double your business or maybe triple your business, you want to get to 15-20 transactions a year. Well, in order to do that, you’re gonna have to go to strategies that generate business quicker. If you focus on some of these longer-term strategies which are great over time like farming, [and] blogging is a wonderful long-tail strategy. YouTube can be a great long-tail strategy. Podcasting is a great long-tail strategy, right? What they’re not gonna do is generate you a deal in 30 days,” says Moudry. Having the right strategy is integral to growing your business no matter your personality type. According to Moudry, “anyone can be successful at sales if they follow a strategy that aligns with their innate preferences.” And knowing your own personality preferences will help to pinpoint the best strategy for success.Take the profile assessment to learn your personality type
“Feelers” and “introverts” may struggle the most
Identify and embrace your natural strengths and weaknesses
Match your sales strategy to your personality
Manage your own expectations
