As Realtors® most of us are trained in all kinds of strategies to get the appointment, get the listing, and get the purchase agreement signed.
We create polished and practiced presentations and we learn scripts to help us know what to say to every question or objection. These are useful tools and can help our business, but when we don't get the listing or the sale, we wonder what went wrong? Not long ago I had a chance to interview someone who gave me a unique, and powerful, perspective about that moment when we "ask for the sale."
What he said might help all of us reframe our interactions in a way that can increase our numbers, and our personal satisfaction.
Arsene Dupin is a Parisian who has made his living as a street performer for the past 27 years, and he is the source of the wisdom I want to share. Street performers in this country tend to be looked at as people only slightly above panhandlers on the social scale, but in Europe street performers, or buskers as they're called there, have been a respected profession for centuries.
Europeans recognize the special skills it takes for a busker to be able to walk out into a lane with nothing except a small prop box or musical instrument, attract a large crowd, engage them, connect with them, and release their natural energy in a way that the crowd is willing to show their appreciation by filling the performers hat with money. Arsene's hat almost always comes back overflowing. The secret to his success is simple, yet very powerful for anyone involved in sales or service.
I interviewed Arsene as part of a documentary about what buskers have to teach business people, so I've come to understand the language of busking. Terms like "Claim Your Pitch," "Build Your Circle," and "Juice the Jam," are some of the terms I've learned about, but a good performer's favorite term is "Pass the Hat."
Passing the Hat is simply the moment at the end of a performance when the busker asks the audience to put money in his hat. If the audience liked the performance, the hat will be full. If they didn't like the performance, not much money will be in the hat. It's immediate feedback on the quality of the connection the performer built.
Arsene's perspective about Passing the Hat, however, under girds everything he does from the moment he steps into the lane. You might think, "of course it under girds everything, it's about the money!" but you'd be wrong. What he told me is this, "Passing the Hat is a reflection of what I gave the audience."
Entertainment value is part of what he gives, but to Arsene, it's of far less value to the audience than what he gives of himself. He connects with them, face-to-face, a few at a time. "They may be on their way to an appointment, or the grocer, or to meet friends," he said, "but when they see me, and see that they want something, they stop and we spend a few minutes together." He added, "I recognize them. I look in their eyes and connect to their heart. I see all of who they are, and everyone wants that. When they see that my interest in them comes from my heart, they are willing to stop and create this moment with me." By the way, he does this, and his entire show, without speaking.
Arsene's secret is that he understands everyone has a need to be seen and valued and he has a deep interest in them. His interest isn't a strategy or a technique for filling his hat at the end of his show. It's based on his love for people and a genuine desire to give himself wholeheartedly to them. He's passionate about building authentic connections with people and he uses his art as the vehicle for building those connections -- even if it's for only a few minutes of fun.
How can that help us in our business? Simply put, when you are in front of someone, concentrate on what genuinely interests you about them. Look them in the eye and take time to build that relationship. Bring all of you, not just your interest in the deal, to the interaction, and give it to them. It's being vulnerable. It's recognizing their vulnerability. And it's saying; let's see what we can create together in the time we're together. When you do this, and it comes time to Pass the Hat, or "ask for the sale," their response will be a "reflection of what you gave them." Give them yourself, and serve their needs, and your hat will likely come back full.
To learn more about the language of street performing, and how it can help you build your business, and your personal satisfaction with your work, check out the new book, Top Performer, a Bold Approach to Sales and Service.
