As a self-professed introvert (and proud of it), articles about the introvert experience frequently catch my eye. Unfortunately, so many of them center around "curing" introversion or "overcoming" introversion or "succeeding in spite of" introversion, especially when the topic in question is a career in sales.

Well, I disagree, at least for real estate salespeople. Sure, if you sell widgets or gidgets or smidgets and it's your primary job to continually SELL your product, then yeah, the natural personality of an introvert might get in the way. We don't like to bug people; we don't like to intrude on people; we worry constantly how others are perceiving us and therefore have a pretty tough time Doing Unto Others as We'd Hate Them to Do Unto Us (that is, try to sell them something they may not want).

But, I've always argued, how exactly is real estate a sales career? What, exactly, do we sell? Houses? Uh, no. We don't actually sell the house.

Ourselves? Well, yes, but so do a lot of other self-employed professions and we don't call them salespeople. When you visit your accountant and he helps you through a complicated process (e.g. filing your tax return) and gives you professional advice, is he selling? When your general contractor manages all the moving pieces and parts of your construction project, is he a salesperson? When your dentist uses his professional expertise to do your root canal and oversees the process from start to finish ... is he selling? No, and neither are we when we help our clients buy or sell homes.

Sure, we need some sales-type skills. We need to be able to write appealing copy for our marketing materials; we should be good negotiators and we should have some systems in place to stay in touch with the people we know and a plan to meet new people, but I don't think one needs "natural sales ability" (whatever that is) to be a good writer/negotiator/stay-in-touch-er. In fact, one might argue that we introverts ('cause we LOVE the details) might actually be better at such things! No offense to our wonderful, delightful, charismatic extrovert friends, but STOP trying to cure us. We're terrific just the way we are!!! And yeah, we can sell real estate!

Published: May 5, 2009

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

Jennifer Allan is a former top producing real estate broker, a published author, a speaker and a trainer. She has written five books a bout the business of selling real estate, including her flagship book: Sell with Soul: Creating an Extraordinary Career in Real Estate without Losing Your Friends, Your Principles or Your Self-Respect. Her new book entitled "If You’re Not Having Fun Selling Real Estate, You're Not Doing it Right!" will be released in early 2010. Jennifer believes that the secret of success for real estate agents is not in aggressive marketing techniques or hard-core sales pitches, but rather in being competent in one's craft. Competence begets Confidence. And in today's world of increasingly suspicious and ad-weary consumers, having an air of self-assurance and enthusiasm will be far more effective than a slick sales campaign. Jennifer writes and speaks with this philosophy in mind. She preaches that salespeople should follow the Golden Rule in their day-to-day practice of business - treating clients and prospects respectfully, as the salesperson him or herself would like to be treated. Being competent, reliable and fair, and motivated by a true desire to earn a paycheck, not just show up at closing with hand outstretched. She is a regular contributor to several real estate newsletters and magazines, a member of the RE/MAX Hall of Fame and one of the industry's most popular bloggers. You can learn more about Jennifer's "soulful" philosophies at www.SellWithSoul.com. Subscribe to Jennifer Allan's Newsletter for SOI'ers Tips & Strategies for Generating Business from Your Sphere of Influence Your Email Address: Your Name: