The Assistant Buyer
I often suggest to salespeople that they get away from what I call the “Hat Syndrome”. This occurs when I see myself with a “Sales Hat” on my head, and I see my prospect wearing their own “Buyer’s Hat”. As soon as my perspective is about our roles, it diminishes my ability to see this relationship as between two people. I launch into my sales role, and I expect my prospect to act like a typical customer.
The entire notion speaks to the concept of an adversarial relationship, which we know of course is counter-productive to our purpose. Instead, I rather like the idea that I can come alongside my prospect with a partnership mentality. I can see myself as the “Assistant Buyer.”
This mindset relies upon the concept of having a shared sense of purpose. The customer has a goal – a dream – and I am committed to making that dream come true. When I see myself as an Assistant Buyer it changes my behavior. I concentrate more on thinking how they think. I anticipate their needs. I get them more involved in the emotional side of the experience.
When I see myself as an Assistant Buyer….I change their world!

I have a brutal stretch of travel coming up. That’s not a complaint; I feel entirely blessed to have a full calendar and a host of incredible clients! But I do know that I need to rigorously manage my project list or I’ll quickly find things are slipping through the cracks.
I’d like to hear your thoughts on something. Many new home salespeople feel that they could sell anything. Is that you?
As I get older I deal more and more with a question that I find very valuable: How do I continually move from success to significance? This might be one of the most important introspective questions I can ask. At the risk of sounding arrogant, I consider myself to be successful. Business is healthy for me, I have an incredible wife and three great kids, a wonderful church, fantastic friends… all the things we hope for when we say we want to be successful.
As an expert in the area of sales and sales management, I admit that I see the world through a sales lens (forgive me – occupational hazard). But so much of what makes for an excellent sales process also makes for great interpersonal relationships. After all, effective selling depends upon strong connection skills.
I love this quote from Daniel Coyle, author of The Talent Code.
Anecdotally, it would appear that May was something less than a banner sales month for most homebuilders in the country. The expiration of the federal tax credit seems to have taken some wind out of the “sales sails”, especially in the early weeks of May. Many builders and salespeople are left scratching their heads over what to do now. The most pessimistic are wondering how to recover in this post-tax credit environment.
Excerpt from Tough Market New Home Sales by Jeff Shore
Right now, this moment, you have an uncomfortable task on your to do list. It’s a phone call you don’t want to make, or an unpleasant task that needs to be completed. Stop right now and ask yourself these two questions:



