4 Types of Sales Persons In Real Estate

• The Relationship Guru
• The Pumped Up Closer
• The Friendly Helper
• The Proactive Consultant
• Frequently Asked Questions About Types of Sales Persons

Without sales skills, no business would survive. Strong sales skills include building trust authentically. Building trust with your clients is a requirement in real estate, because it’s a priority for people who are learning how to find a good real estate agent.

Learning about the types of sales persons in real estate uncovers your strengths. If you’re a new agent, this helps you identify your innate skills, so you know how to market yourself as a realtor. If you’re a brokerage or company leader, you can create more effective training materials and guide your team to success. 

Every individual has their own style of course, but there are four basic types of sales persons in real estate. Keep reading to discover what they are as well as the strengths and weaknesses of each type. 

The Relationship Guru

A relationship guru is your classic “people person.” Relationship selling articles are written based off of them, because they’re naturals at relationship selling. They are the people who find joy in conversations, meeting new people, and serving core client needs. 

Relationship gurus love to get to know people on their terms. These professionals are happy to do a dinner meeting, lunch call, coffee meetup, or whatever their clients prefer.

They are of the mind that business will go well if their client is comfortable. To this end, they’re happy to adjust their own plans (within reason) if they’ll land an appointment or opportunity for doing so. 

Many relationship gurus can be described as gregarious, outgoing, hospitable, and even lively. They are motivated by connecting with individuals and serving needs rather than the size of their commission. 

Strengths

The strengths of relationship gurus include their hospitality, warmth, and flexibility. They barely need to brush up on relationship selling techniques or the ABCs of relationship selling, because it’s an innate ability for them. Relationship gurus strive to be the person anyone can feel comfortable sharing their questions with, and they build genuine connections because of it.

Weaknesses

Relationship gurus’ weaknesses can lie in not targeting the right kinds of buyers. Early on in sales careers, it can be hard to spot tire kickers. These are the types of people who ask questions and show interest, but don’t have any serious intent to buy. Because relationship-driven people are happy to connect with almost anyone, they may miss these characteristics and end up wasting time. 

What to Focus On

Relationship gurus should focus on setting a reasonable amount of appointments each week to start. Though they love to connect with people, overextending oneself leads to exhaustion and poor performance.

They should also be upfront with all of their prospects, as this sets conversations up for success. Being honest from day one about what one can and can’t do fosters respect in all of one’s business relationships. 

The Pumped Up Closer

The pumped up closer is one of the types of sales persons who loves the challenge of prospecting and closing deals. They’re typically high energy, somewhat (or very) aggressive, extroverted, and smooth with words. 

There’s no such thing as too many leads for the pumped up closer because they want as many conversations as possible. Learning why a smaller number of strong leads is good for business usually isn’t on their mind.

This type of salesperson is not deterred by prospects’ reluctance or unfamiliarity with their work. Pumped up closers are gratified by sealing another deal and becoming the best at what they do. 

Strengths

The strengths of this type are their extroverted nature, resilience, and familiarity with all kinds of questions. They stay informed on the housing market forecast and the best time to sell a house.

Though anyone can learn to be thick-skinned, pumped up closers seem to be born with this trait. Such professionals are drawn to sales roles at a young age and build knowledge on the go. This gives them experience that can’t be taught in a classroom and they become higher value the further their career takes them. 

Weaknesses

For all their energy, pumped up closers have soft spots too. One of their weaknesses is focusing too much on the deal and not enough on the person. No matter who it is, prospects want to know an agent has their best interests at heart. If pumped up closers aren’t careful, they can alienate leads before they ever get a chance to speak with them. 

What to Focus On

Pumped up closers do well to remember that everyone is human at the end of the day. Rather than viewing sales conversations as targets, see them as opportunities to understand people. The best sales professionals don’t have to push for the deal; they listen first and identify actions later. 

The Friendly Helper

The friendly helper is exactly as they sound–someone who loves helping people. They thrive by bridging people to solutions and vice versa. Friendly helpers are delighted to provide answers and support for their clients and seek out opportunities to do so. 

One can expect friendly helpers to be remarkably warm and personable–and they are. Traits that are often overlooked, however, are their quick-wittedness and resourcefulness.

Because of the sheer number of people they’ve helped over the years, they often have an answer for every inquiry. Chances are they already know the fastest way to get more referrals, as it comes naturally to them.

If a friendly helper doesn’t have an answer, they know where and how to find one. These characteristics make them fun and enjoyable to be around.

Strengths

Friendly helpers’ strengths are their powerful combination of personability and relevant input. They’re the kind that make buying or selling a home simpler because of how it feels.

Rather than being a drawn out process of paperwork and legal requirements, it becomes a fun series of tasks that can be completed in short bursts. Those tasks include learning how to get a home appraisal and getting a comparative market analysis.

Weaknesses

One weakness of these types of sales persons is that they may have unrealized potential. Some professionals of this kind are generalists by nature, and they simply love pitching in where they can.

Other friendly helpers have become so because they’re reluctant to share their real gifts with the world. This can cause someone to effectively flounder at a low level, when what they’d much rather do is generate unique results. 

What to Focus On

Friendly helpers should focus on developing their strengths. While it’s incredibly useful to be helpful to all kinds of people, this often means you can’t provide specialized help when it’s needed most. 

Friendly helpers are likely to feel revitalized as they lean into what they do best. By identifying the types of clients they’ve served most often, they can uncover previously missed or misunderstood strengths. This brings out the best of their experience and gives them natural means to connect with new people.

The Proactive Consultant

Proactive consultants are one of the most complex types of sales persons and also the most misunderstood. While most people can wrap their minds around the idea of an outgoing or super friendly salesperson, fewer people understand where a different personality fits in. 

The proactive consultant is a keen individual that seeks customized solutions for clients. They understand that no client is the same, and accordingly, no response should be one-size-fits-all. This type of salesperson tends to read often, sharing their findings in conversations with colleagues and friends. 

Strengths

A proactive consultant strives to make the most of every interaction. They treat every client as their last and aren’t satisfied offering mediocre service.

This type of real estate agent may take notes at every appointment, keeping detailed records of clients’ needs. Because of their attention to detail, they tend to be the best at holding an open house for clients.

This level of care and attention gives them a clear advantage over reluctant and inexperienced agents. Clients who feel valued and seen are more likely to open up, making it easier to close deals. Proactive consultants balance their professional insights with individualized attention–a powerhouse combination. 

Weaknesses

Proactive consultants are remarkable at noticing the details, but sometimes they spend too long on them. Despite their genuine efforts to find just the right home, consultants may forget that they aren’t the ones in the driver’s seat.

Clients are the ones who decide yes or no, and it’s to the agent’s benefit to remember this. Rather than trying to find a perfect answer all the time, simply listen well and let the client speak on the rest. If a customer doesn’t like a property, they will let you know. 

Proactive consultants may also forget they can’t read minds. Even though they bring years of experience to the table, insight never replaces the human touch. Being friendly and open-minded is the perfect complement to the consultant’s robust analytical skills.

What to Focus On

While other types need to lean in and pay attention to the details, proactive consultants benefit from the opposite. Since this type is already focused on the nitty gritty, stepping back to review existing listings for a good fit is beneficial. 

The proactive consultant wants to offer something unique to every client, but is relieved when they discover they don’t need to. Not every home buyer is looking for an exceptional home; many simply want one that meets their needs. By placing less pressure on themselves to be perfectionists, they can still drive business without as much stress. 

Frequently Asked Questions About Types of Sales Persons

Whether you read this article because you want to grow your business or simply understand your team better, one thing is certain. Embracing personality differences among salespeople can be confusing or even stressful. 

Recognizing diverse strengths is the key to success. But it’s difficult to know what those strengths are unless you’ve been educated on them. We had the same questions, so we researched commonly asked questions about the types of sales persons and approaches. 

Check out our answers here:

What Are The 4 Types of Selling?

The four types of selling are transactional selling, provocative selling, consultative selling, and solution selling. Let’s break each one down: 

• Transactional selling. Transactional selling is the simplest of the four kinds. It’s the way most people think of sales: a customer has a problem, they look for a solution, and a salesperson provides the answer. While there’s nothing wrong with this technique, it may or may not suit the context. Transactional selling is best when working with a buyer that doesn’t have complex needs.
  • OFFER TYPE: Usually low ticket, low touch

• Provocative selling. Provocative selling is when you bring up a problem or weakness that your prospect didn’t even know they had. For example, a marketing software company may run ads to business owners who aren’t aware of the changes taking place on ad platforms. By pointing out how a business will fall behind if they don’t use their tool, they make a stronger case for their product. Provocative selling is useful in fast-moving industries where subtle changes can lead to significant results.
  • OFFER TYPE: Low or high ticket, usually low touch

• Consultative selling. Consultative selling is about understanding the unique problem(s) your prospect is facing. This approach does a deep dive with every lead, taking time to gather details about their work environment. Consultative salespeople often sell custom solutions that take time and resources to develop, and may require ongoing follow up. Consultative selling finds its home with large companies and those that perform proprietary work. These are the businesses most likely to need unique solutions but are also the least likely to seek them out.
  • OFFER TYPE: High ticket, high touch

• Solution selling. Solution selling emphasizes the result your client will get after they buy your product or service. Rather than simply listing the features and benefits of your offer–which is boring–you illustrate what work or life is like after buying. This is an excellent sales technique driven by why people buy, not just what or how. Solution selling is best for nuisances that prospects deal with daily, especially if it costs them a lot of time and money.
  • OFFER TYPE: Low or high ticket, usually low touch

The sales approach you use depends on how much you know about your prospect and their needs. It also depends on the industry you sell to. If you start with one technique and discover you need to pivot, you can always do so. 

What Are The Different Types of Sales Techniques?

There are different sales techniques you can employ depending on your goals. Here are a few of the most important techniques every salesperson should use:

• Active and global listening. Active listening is a fundamental skill for sales professionals. This includes asking clear questions, allowing your prospect time to speak, and being attentive with body language (eye contact and nods). Your leads want to feel like their perspective matters and this is one way to show it. 
• Warm outreach. Aside from rejection, the biggest obstacle in sales is building familiarity for people who don’t know you. Do this by learning how to generate real estate leads with the right real estate marketing ideas. Examples of this include learning how to master content marketing, leveraging email marketing tips, and reading about video marketing strategies so you can make videos with the right video editing tips.
• Making small asks. A proven sales secret is getting people to make micro-commitments. For example, before you book a showing for a client, see if they’ll agree to an initial phone call. After that goes well, ask them about the showing–so on and so forth. The more people agree to early on, the more comfortable they’ll feel later with straight sales questions. 
• Suggesting solutions, not pushing them. Another great sales technique is simply making suggestions. People hate to be sold, but they love to buy. Given the significance of buying a home, prospects don’t want to be rushed. Ask questions to learn more about what your buyer is looking for. Then, when they ask questions, make recommendations based on their interests. 

What Are 4 Types of Closes In Sales?

Once you’ve built rapport with your prospect and you’re ready for the “big ask,” there are several ways you can go about it. Here are four types of closes in sales used by various types of sales persons: 

• The assumption close. The assumption close is the simplest and most straightforward. It’s also called “assuming the yes” or moving towards the transaction. Unless your prospect says something that clarifies they aren’t ready to buy, it’s safe to ask for the sale.
  • Example: “I’m so glad you enjoyed the showing today. Are you ready to make an offer?”

• The suggestion close. This approach is ideal if you have a good working relationship with your client and they want your input. Try not to use it until you’ve known a client for at least a week, because it can seem pushy otherwise. Simply offer your idea to your client and allow them space to respond.
  • Example: “Based on what you’ve told me, I would suggest a showing at X property. Does Tuesday evening work for you?”

• The urgency close. Expressing urgency with clients should be used with caution, and only under specific circumstances. If you just met a client, pressing them on their decision right away will scare them off. However, if your client has already expressed they’re on a deadline, your ask won’t seem off-putting. Remember that being urgent isn’t an excuse to speak aggressively; questions should always be phrased respectfully.
  • Example: “You mentioned you want to move into a new place before the end of summer. How soon would you like to make an offer?”

• The option close. Offering options is another tried-and-true close. Since prospects want to feel in control of their buying journey, this gives you authentic leverage with them. Options shouldn’t be given at random, though–they should be based on your interactions with your client.
  • Example: “Based on what you’ve seen, do you prefer house A or house B?”

Sales Make The Business World Go ‘Round

Building a team with types of sales persons who complement each other takes time. It’s wise to observe your agents’ performance over time so you can provide training where needed and also celebrate wins. 

As your experienced agents get the chance to train your new hires, you’ll discover how important a diverse team is. Those with a relational approach can learn from agents who love closing and vice versa.