Avoid Toxic People in Sales

In commercial real estate brokerage, you will come across some salespeople in your office and territory that have a ‘downbeat’ or ‘poor attitude’ when it comes to the market and the opportunities that are available.   In many ways they are totally ‘toxic’ to listing progress and momentum.  Stay away from them at every opportunity.

If you are a team leader in a commercial real estate brokerage, it is best to counsel or remove these ‘negative’ people from the team.  They certainly do nothing for progress.

It is a known fact that underperforming salespeople will blame others, and direct criticism for their poor results at everything possible including the market; they will then fail to address the real personal reasons for poor performance.

Most poor salespeople have a combination of the following as issues and hurdles in their business:

• Lack of prospecting
• No attention to detail
• No time management practices
• Too many priorities that are not income earners
• Poor communication

Let’s face the facts here; commercial real estate brokerage is a ‘people based industry’.  If you are having trouble connecting with ‘people’, then the problem needs to be fixed (sooner rather than later).  When it comes to new people entering the industry, I like to emphasise the critical nature of prospecting.  If better commissions and market share are important factors to personal growth, then there is only one way to do that; prospecting.

If you are a salesperson in a team of agents or brokers, choose your associates wisely.  Make sure that you connect with the best people in the team that have a good attitude on building market share, prospecting and negotiating.

It is interesting to note that many clients and prospects will quickly observe any ‘poor attitude’ or ‘too much ego’ when a salesperson enters the room for a sales pitch or presentation.  Both factors are a real detraction from winning or converting new business.

We all have choices when it comes to what we do and how we do it in commercial real estate brokerage.  If things are not heading in the right direction when it comes to listings and commissions, it is time to look at personal skills and actions.  In many ways we must become more accountable for our skills and actions.  To be the top agents in the market we need to practice and take daily action.