The Psychology of the Deal

People Buy Emotion, Then Justify with Logic

As an engineer, this infuriated me. I would show a client the perfect investment. Great ROI. Undervalued. Solid construction. They would say no.

Then they would buy a terrible property down the street because “the feng shui felt right” or “the lobby looked grand.”

I had to learn a hard lesson: You are not selling the product. You are selling the feeling the product gives them.

• The investor isn’t buying a condo; he is buying “safety for his retirement.”
• The young couple isn’t buying a house; they are buying “status among their friends.”

Once I identified the emotional driver, the logic became just a tool to help them justify the decision they had already made.

The 1,000 “No”s

Sales is a game of managing your own psychology. A “No” is not a personal attack. It is data. It means “Not now,” or “Not this product,” or “I don’t trust you yet.”

I gamified rejection. My goal was not to get a “Yes.” My goal was to get 10 “No”s a day. If I got 10 “No”s, the law of averages guaranteed a “Yes” eventually.

This detached me from the outcome. I walked into meetings with zero desperation. And ironically, zero desperation is the most attractive trait in a salesperson. When you don’t need the deal, you usually get the deal.

Reading the Room

I learned to read micro-expressions. The glance between husband and wife. The crossing of arms. The hesitation on the price.

I stopped talking and started listening. “You seem hesitant about the location. Tell me more.” “What are you comparing this to?”

Most salespeople talk themselves out of a deal. They keep pitching when they should be extracting information. He who asks the questions controls the conversation.

Trust as an Asset

In Malaysia, the real estate market is full of sharks. Agents lie. Developers over-promise. I decided to play the “Honesty Arbitrage.”

I would tell clients the bad news first. “Sir, this unit faces the highway. It will be noisy. That is why it is cheap.” “Madam, this developer has been late on their last two projects. There is a risk.”

The shock on their faces was palpable. An agent telling the truth? That created Trust Capital. And once they trusted me, they bought whatever I told them to buy. Not just once, but for years.