In my column last month, I talked about the single most powerful question to initiate meaningful dialogue with prospects: what’s your biggest reason for moving? This question is 10 times more potent than all the others most agents fire off at their prospects.

I always talk about not being a “salesy slickster”. Let’s be clear: you must avoid old-school manipulative sales “skills”. Nobody falls for that crap anymore. It’s just a big turn-off.

Rather, we need to work on actually delivering exceptional results for our clients. But, to deliver exceptional results, you still need “new-school” sales skills.

It boils down to what you care about. For example, are you focused on where your next commission cheque is coming from? Or are you focused on how you can help your clients achieve their goals?

Put this ultimate sales superpower in your tool kit

Assuming you’re my kind of agent and you’re genuinely focused on your clients, what’s the ultimate sales superpower?

It’s the ability to read your prospects’ minds. And you do this with empathy. But, since empathy sounds like sympathy, most of us think of this as a soft skill that we all have naturally, and we don’t need to do anything to implement it. That’s dead wrong.

How to apply empathy to become more successful

Think about what your prospect really cares about. If you were them, what would you do and why? What’s the real reason behind their “why”? What drives them? How do they get rewarded?

You can start by asking the right questions, such as: What’s your biggest reason for moving? Then, listen carefully to the answer and probe further, always working to gain a greater understanding.

That’s empathy, and it’s your ultimate sales superpower.

Putting focus, time, and energy into empathizing makes everything so much easier. Instead of talking, pitching, persuading, pressuring – use empathy. Think like they do, and watch your sales go through the roof.