For the 2011 edition, Brian wrote Selling Your Professional Appraisal Services and Products, which covers many of the skills needed to successfully market an appraisal practice.
Within his article on promoting the appraisal practice, Brian writes
The Psychology of Selling
A great deal has been written about selling and the psychology be-hind it. This section will not address the study of what makes people buy. The most important aspect of the psychology of selling is the understanding of what it takes to create a great salesperson and why some people cringe when they are told they must sell.
The stereotype of a salesperson is a pushy, glad-handed, plaid jack-eted dufus that sells used cars. In truth, a sales professional does one thing. He or she solves a problem. An appraiser creates a solution in the form of a report or a consultation in order to make a problem go away.
Sometime in the latter part of the last millennium (about twenty years ago) I taught my first class for ISA. I had the wonderful opportunity to teach the original ISA 101. The three-day class covered ethics and business practices. Over the years the membership pushed back on the business portion of the program explaining that “everyone already knows how to run a business – I signed up to learn how to appraise.” Eventually the course was restructured and the marketing and sales portions were dropped.
It was painfully obvious to me that the reason most participants did not want to cover the sales and marketing topics was not because they knew it, but because it was too hard and took great effort to successfully prepare. Participants were eliminating a critical skill in their success system.
Being successful in sales requires a paradigm shift. Consider the chart below which compares “appraising” and “consulting.”
Stop Appraising and Start Consulting
APPRAISERS and CONSULTANTS
Appraisers write reports
Consultants solve problems
People pay appraisers for a bunch of paper
People pay consultants for sage advice.
Appraisers do a job once
Consultants become trusted advisors for life
Appraisers get Nickel-and-dimed to death
Consultants get big retainers
Appraisers have an office and a job
Consultants have a firm and a practice
What is the difference between an appraiser and an appraisal consultant? It is a paradigm shift in both your mind and in the mind of those who need or want appraisal services advice.
Your discussion with prospects must be focused on helping them understand that you are their consultant. Help them discover how much you know about things that they know nothing about. You can advise them on many different valuation issues. Your website must help prospects understand what you do and how you do it. It goes WAY beyond writing an appraisal report. Your brochures, radio interviews, articles and presentations must be designed to make you the appraisal consultant, which far exceeds the image of being an appraiser.
Be prepared to respond correctly the next time someone asks about what you do. Be ready to tell them – you are an appraisal consultant. You are there to help people solve their personal possession problems.
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