TSE 1191: Why You Can't Do It All On Your Own

Even if you consider yourself a fiercely independent seller, you’ll sometimes need help from others because you can’t do it all on your own.

Adam Carswell works for Concordia Realty Corporation, a private equity firm that invests in shopping centers. His company works with smaller mom-and-pop investors who can’t make million-dollar contributions and pools their capital with other investors. 

No siloes 

Adam worked as a residential realtor in 2017 when he decided he wanted to break free. He didn’t want to join a team and work within a system. He wanted to pursue his own course. 

He achieved significant success in his first year and expected the second year would be the same. Unfortunately, it was the opposite. 

Numerous deals fell through and he wasn’t sure what to do next. He was in a serious relationship so he hid his financial struggles, but that decision eventually blew up in his face.

He looks back now and realizes that if he had swallowed his pride and accepted support from the people around him, he would have been in a better position. Though he doesn’t always get it exactly right now, he tries to apply the lessons to everything he does now. 

Lost earnings

The fact that Adam had enjoyed great success prior to that point drove him to avoid accepting help from other people. He learned to routinely evaluate whether he was being prideful on any given day. 

Adam estimates that he earned about 50 percent less money the second year than he did the first year. Given that he hadn’t changed his spending habits over that time, it felt like a huge shortfall. 

Roadmap to success

Every industry has a roadmap to success unless, of course, you’re paving a new path. Adam points to the fact that he came up with some creative, successful prospecting ideas, and he closed a few deals as a result. 

He dropped off Oreos once a month to one prospect. He hosted open houses on Sundays. He took advice and applied some of it, but he didn’t enjoy the resources of a larger team. His sister works as a realtor now for a company that has a big database, CRM, drip email campaigns, and other tools that he didn’t know how to set up. As a result, she has enjoyed early success. 

Find and develop experience using a sales process that works. Then you can tweak it to fit your individual style. #SalesProcess

Blinded by optimism

Adam points to his optimistic outlook as a reason he didn’t recognize the problems as quickly. He was blindsided by the shortfall because he operated with a continued belief that things would work out. 

Now, in addition to his experience, he points to his faith as a support mechanism. He leans on his belief in God to help him know what to do. 

He recognizes now that even when he was young his parents taught him that he’s never really doing things on his own. 

Someone you trust

Adam advises sellers to get in with someone you trust and a system that works. Learn the system, even if it’s only for a brief period. Until you get comfortable making a jump or putting your own spin on it, stick to the script. 

Adam’s brother works in sales for a company with outstanding sales training, and he got lots of pushback when he tried to tweak the script during training. He learned that, at least at the beginning, you have to stick to the script, because they use it for a reason. It’s structured a certain way because that’s the process that works. The company has data and stats to prove its effectiveness.

There’s no need for you to reinvent a process for a company that has already enjoyed success. Begin by understanding why they do it the way they do. 

Add value first. When you’re new, be willing to listen and do what you’re asked to do. Once you earn your stripes and understand the process, then you can do your thing more successfully.

Outsource

If you can find someone who can do a task 80 percent as well as you can, and you have the capability to outsource it, do it. You’ll free up time for yourself and give yourself room to grow. You’ll also make room for the other person to grow. 

Adam, for example, has a drip campaign that his virtual assistant operates, and she arguably does it better than he does. It allows him to maximize himself. 

Even at TSE, once I relinquished certain tasks to other people who were arguably better at those tasks, it freed me up to do the tasks that I’m really good at. I earned more money by spending a little money to outsource. 

A rising tide raises all ships, so it benefitted others as well. 

If there’s a new task you want to explore or a new project you want to do, reverse-engineer it. Figure out ways to accomplish the task with help from other people. You’ll elevate the people around you and increase your own value.

You must have a team. You can’t do it all on your own.

“You Can’t Do It All On Your Own” episode resources

You can connect with Adam at www.carswell.io and then click on Adam Carswell. He’s on a variety of other platforms as well. 

If you’re a sales rep looking to hone your craft and learn from the top 1% of sellers, make plans to attend the Sales Success Summit in Austin, Tx, October 14-15. Scheduled on a Monday and Tuesday to limit the impact to the sales week, the Sales Success Summit connects sellers with top-level performers who have appeared on the podcast. Visit Top1Summit.com to learn more and register! 

You can also connect with me at [e-mail] or try our first module of  TSE Certified Sales Training Program for free. This episode has been made possible with the help of  TSE Certified Sales Training Program, a training course designed to help sellers in improving their performance. We want you guys to go out each and every single day to find more ideal customers and do big things.

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Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.