Walk Like a Giant, Sell Like a Madman

20.2. Viewing Problems as Opportunities

Most people view problems as nuisances—obstacles they must get past. As a rainmaker, you need to view problems as opportunities. Name the biggest problem facing the world today: We have global warming, terrorism, hunger, pandemics, and fuel shortages to name a few. In every one of these problems are a host of opportunities to make billions, perhaps even trillions of dollars.

Whenever you encounter a problem that is preventing you from achieving the sales volume or profits you desire, it is a pretty safe bet that your competitors and colleagues have or will encounter the same problem. This means that if you can solve the problem, you gain a competitive edge.

You can gain even more of a competitive edge if you can recognize problems that your customers are having (and solve those problems for them) before your competitors become aware of them.

Several years ago, I noticed a disturbing trend in the real estate industry. (Well, maybe you wouldn't think of it as a disturbing trend, but many of my colleagues and I did.) More and more homeowners were "cutting out the middleman" by listing and selling their homes without the use of a real estate agent. At the time, about 25 percent of all homes were FSBO. Many agents refused to show FSBO homes or give FSBO sellers any information or advice.

I took a different approach: I sold FSBO kits to people who wanted to sell their homes on their own. I knew that a good percentage of these sellers would ultimately ...