How to Lose a Sale, By Kanye West

January 23, 2020

Kanye West is a self-centered MEANIE-HEAD…but my momma always told me “you can learn something from everyone.”

So let’s look at what we can learn from this fool’s lack of class and apply it to our own efforts to connect, persuade and earn a sale:

  1. Sober Up Before Your Presentation. Unless you’re on a golf course, a fishing trip, or your client’s bachelor party, leave the flask in your rental car. I can’t think of any sale (of any significance) I’ve closed while drunk.  

  2. Let Your Client Have the Spotlight. Selling is all about cashing checks, not stroking your ego. (Salespeople get their ego stroked BY cashing checks!) If you are stealing the spotlight from your client your chances of earning their business diminish exponentially.

  3. Bring Your Own Microphone. You will come across more polished and prepared if you don’t have to rip the mic from your co-presenter and then slobber all over it because you forgot Rule #1.

  4. Timing, Timing, Timing. Real estate is all about location. Selling, persuasion and negotiation is all about timing. I like some of Beyonce’s stuff—and she eventually won Video of the Year—so “Cocktail Kanye” seems that much more insane because he was fighting a fight that didn’t need to be fought.

  5. Know When To Speak and When to Shut the Hell Up! I learned early on that it’s better to keep quiet and have people think I’m a fool, than to open my mouth and remove all doubt. You can talk yourself right past the sale. Learn to be interested in your client instead of interesting to them.

  6. Remember Your Manners. Southern Hospitality goes a long way, even if you’re not from the South. Learn and remember the manners your momma taught you growing up and use them in every selling situation.

  7. Get Over It. If you think you’re desperate, you are. We all have skeletons in our closets; family members we hope don’t come to the reunion; mistakes we’ve made in business and should have known better. Suck it up. We don’t want to hear your weak ass excuses. We want results. Shake it off and make things happen.

Kanye West is a narcissistic nincompoop and Taylor Swift and Beyonce are classy individuals. Learn from them all and learn to learn from all of life’s situations at all times. It’ll be your secret weapon on the journey…

If you need more help growing your sales, check out the following resources scattered around this site and a few others I operate, such as:

Good Selling