[Book] Sales never betray

Sales is certainly not my expertise. Selling may require a lot of energy and time for me than other tasks.

Recently, I had to find tenants for my new rental property. It’s a new construction, beautifully designed, located in a great neighborhood, but a bit pricy for the size. I wanted to find good tenants for my target rent fee. In the middle of the process, I tried out lessons from a recently read Korean book, “Sales Never Betray” by Jinhwan Lim. At the end of the day, I found the lessons either really worked or gave me new lessons on top. At the end, both I and my wife believe that we signed with the best applicants for our situation, and we are very happy. 

Lesson 1: When it's about to end the process with a positive sign for the deal, i.e., when receiving the ball in front of the goal, a decisive action and attribute must be taken within 0.01 seconds.

This lesson is introduced in Chapter 1 in this book. This should be very important. So, I decided to try out this approach.

40+ people requested the tour of my rental unit, 20+ actually visited, and 10+ submitted their applications in the past three weeks. Initially, I didn’t set deadlines to move to the next step with us, which is about signing on the lease agreement document. I let them freely look for other places for a few days at least. In fact, most of these applications were not really my top candidates, so I thought it was okay. At the end, all of these applicants with enough time either counter-offered a 10% or lower rent fee or withdrew their applications for many different reasons.

For applicants I liked and felt a sort of chemistry, I tried hard to sign the lease agreement ASAP. I told them to do their tour ASAP. For example, when their preferred tour date was a weekend, I told them to come today if they really wanted to have a chance. Otherwise, it may be gone, because I was almost at the end of the review process for other existing applications. Many of them really came on the date they contacted me. During the tour, I shared my situation about the review status with others again, and asked them to submit applications on the night of their tour with all the information I needed if they really wanted to be considered. A few of them really submitted on the night with full information. The given timeline was short for them, but they indeed provided all important information to me fast. As a by-product, I was able to see how interested they were (I mean, how really interested),  how much they knew about this neighborhood, how they communicated (e.g., courteous, nice, responsive, respectful, flexible, ...). I also prioritized answering all of their questions super fast. And I really moved on to the next step, discussing the lease agreement, within 24 hours from their application submission. It was interesting to see how fast it could move. 

Lesson 2: Even if it takes time, become a friend first so they can trust you.

Before meeting the couple who signed the lease doc with us, I got an inquery from another couple who I liked a lot. The guy was from New York. He recently got a job, and his office is super close to our rental unit. He reminded me of my first year in Los Angeles. My roommate showed me good cafes, restaurants, and parks near our place. During the tour of the guy, I started with casual chat and asked what he does for a living and what he likes. He liked coffee and was actually running a small coffee business. At the end of the tour, I took him to Bar 9 (2-min walk from our unit), which is known for really good coffee. I also told him about my long-term relationships with my other tenants in different properties. “My first tenant in each of my rental properties is today’s tenant. I support them living there happily, and that’s important for me.” I believe we had a good talk.

This couple really submitted their applications on that date he visited. In fact, the lady of the couple didn't even visit us. We discussed the lease term on the next day. It was interesting to see how their responses were different from other visitors'; Others didn’t move as fast as this couple. We ended up not moving forward; It turned out our rental fee is on the top range of their budget, and they're looking for a bit lower than my target rent. And they knew that rental fees started going down lately in the market, probably by macro economic change. They seemed smoking (or marihuana as well?), although my Zillow posting mentioned non-smoking. What I’ve learned is that moving fast helps, but first make sure important terms are agreed each other, not just on the surface level, but underlying the surface.

Other Lessons

This book has a lot of lessons. Some are listed below:  

    이기고 나면 관계는 복원할 수 있다. Relationships can be restored after winning.  

    긍정적인 의사결정 징후가 보인 이후 종결할 때, 즉 골문 앞에서 공을 받았을 때는 0.01초 만에 결정적인 행동과 자세를 위해야 한다. 최대한 빨리, 긴장해서 열정을 쏟아부어야 한다. 계약서에 도장을 찍는 것을 하루라도 빨리, 한 시간이라도 빨리 하려고 최대한 집중한다. When it's about to end the process with a positive sign for the deal, i.e., when receiving the ball in front of the goal, a decisive action and attribute must be taken within 0.01 seconds. You should pour your passion out as quickly as possible, tensed up. You should concentrate at your best to put a stamp on the contract as soon as possible, even for a day or an hour.  

    시장으로 가는 모든 가능성을 파악하라. 영업 직원을 통한 직접 영업, 대리점을 통한 간접영업, 고객사에 영향려을 행사할 수 있는 사람인 인플루언서를 통한 협업영업, 주 협력업체 혹은 솔루션업체를 통한 협업영업으로 정리할 수 있다. 그 외에도 시장으로 가는 모든 경로 및 고객사와 어우러져 살고 있는 모든 기업 및 이해관계자가 모두 판매경로라고 볼 수 있다. Explore all possibilities to enter the market. This includes direct sales through sales staff, indirect sales through agencies, collaborative sales through influencers who can influence customers, and collaborative sales through major partner companies or solution providers. In addition, all paths to the market and all companies and stakeholders for customers can be your sales channels, too.  

    예의 바른 태도와 자세에 감동했으며 그를 위해 잘해보겠다는 내용이었다. 영업 자세도 중요했고, 맷집과 끈기도 적절했다. 평소 관계를 잘 유지해놓은 덕분이었다. They were impressed by his courteousness, and they said that they would do their best for him. His sales mind, firmness and tenacity were important as well. Maintaining a good relationship on a regular basis helped.  

    관계 정립 및 유지도 지속적으로 수행해야 한다. Establishing and preserving good relationship must be continuous.  

    신뢰를 바탕으로 한 관계, 고객의 문제와 니즈를 해결하는 것, 전략적 사고방식이 필수, 창조와 혁신, 협업과 소통, 주인정신, 고객 비즈니스에 대한 통찰과 적극적이고 능동적인 사고와 행동, 책임감과 성취욕, 승부사 정신, 동기부여를 통한 자율적 업무수행, 프로정신, 돈 냄새 맡는 능력과 맷집. A relationship based on trust, solving customer problems and needs, strategic thinking, creativity and innovation, collaboration and communication, ownership, insight into customer business, proactive thinking and action, sense of responsibility and achievement, spirit of winning, autonomous task performance through motivation, professionalism, ability to smell money and firmness.  

    시간이 걸려도 믿을 만한 친구부터 돼라. Even if it takes time, start by becoming a friend they can trust.  

    진정한 애인은 신뢰 쌓기부터 시작한다. A true romantic relationship begins with building trust.  

    고객의 문제를 파악하고 고객의 니즈를 알아내어 해결하려면 고객에 관한 모든 것을 알아야 한다. 고객의 업무에 대해 알아야 한다. 은행은 무엇을 통해서 돈을 벌고, 은행의 위험요소는 무엇인지 파악해야 한다. 고객산업에 대한 기초지식을 갖춰야 고객이 반응한다. 그것을 이해하는 좋은 방법 중 하나는 고객 접점 시간을 늘려 고객과 소통하는 것이다. To understand and solve customer problems and needs, you must know everything about the customer. You should know about the customer's business. You need to understand how the bank makes money and what the risk factors are. You must have basic knowledge about the customer industry for the customer to respond. One good way to understand this is to increase customer contact time and communicate with them.  

    영업직원의 비전이 회사의 비전이다. The vision of the sales staff is the vision of the company.  

    통합형, 맞춤형 가격 제안은 단품 항목별 가격의 합이 되어서는 안된다. 통합의 가치에 대해 가격이 매겨져야 한다. Integrated and customized price proposals should not be the sum of individual item prices. The value of integration should be priced.  

    고객보다 먼저 세상의 변화를 읽어라. Read the changes in the world before the customers.  

    고객을 성공할 수 있게 하고, 부가가치를 제공함으로써 오래 지속되는 관계를 정립한다. Establish long-lasting relationships by making customers successful and providing added value.  

    비용을 줄이려는 고객에게도 매출을 만들 수 있다. 현상을 분석해서 혁신적 사고로 뚫고 나가며, 언제 어떤 위기를 만나도 슬기롭게 헤쳐나가는 위기 돌파 능력이 있어야 한다. Even for customers who want to reduce costs, it is possible to create revenue. To do this, one must analyze the situation, break through it with innovative thinking, and have the ability to skillfully overcome any crisis.  

    영업을 수행할 때는 반드시 전략적으로 사고해야 한다. 고객의 문제는 전략이 없이는 해결될 수도 없고, 기업에게도 의미가 없다. When performing sales, one must always think strategically. Without a strategy, customer problems cannot be solved, and they hold no meaning for the company.  

    부도덕하고 불법적인 것 이외에는 다 합니다. 적극적, 능동적으로 기회를 찾아라. We do everything except for things that are immoral and illegal. Actively and proactively seek out opportunities.  

    바른 사람을 싫어하는 사람은 없다. There is no one who dislikes an honest person.  

    따뜻함과 유능함의 조화는 끌림과 유대와 협력의 행동반응을 보인다고 한다. 따뜻함은 필수조건이다. 한번 만들어진 인연에는 따뜻함이 있어야 한다. The combination of warmth and competence leads to attraction, connection, and cooperative behavior. Warmth is a necessary condition. In any relationship that has been established, warmth must be present.