There’s an interesting entrepreneurial principle that I learned from skiing. When you learn how to ski, the first thing you must master is how to recover when you fall. It takes some doing, as your feet are strapped to long, awkward skis where the entire point is that they’re slippery in snow. But once you learn how to do the more difficult task first, on a slope, only then you may move on to the fun part.
As human beings, we all want to skip past the humiliating, grueling steps, and focus on the great success we’re all capable of. But if you master how to fall gracefully and recover quickly, this will no doubt serve you better in the long run when you make a mistake, as you inevitably will.
Kris Lindahl, a budding Midwestern real estate tycoon, is used to being misunderstood and underestimated. And to be fair, launching your business largely by plastering your grinning mug and outstretched arms across a billboard isn’t the way to endear yourself to the elites. But Lindahl forged ahead anyway, and the more people pooh-poohed his increasingly aggressive marketing strategy, the more they had to say his name. Increasingly, Kris Lindahl became a household name around the Twin Cities, a.k.a., “that billboard guy.” And just two short years after launching Kris Lindahl Real Estate, his company has dominated the market, and surpassed over $1 billion in sales.
Then, when it became clear that he was serious competition, the only way to discount his success was to suggest that of course he was doing well, as real estate is booming. In reality, that’s yet another thing to get wrong about Lindahl. He only got his start in real estate after attaining a master’s degree in education, only to find there were no teaching positions available. Lindahl then pivoted to real estate, during the heart of the housing crisis. And after taking a seminar in short sales, he began to find his footing.
Starting out when your industry is in crisis wouldn’t be anyone’s recommendation, but Lindahl embraced the challenge, and focused on how he could solve the problems his clients were universally facing. If he could do that, he could stand out, and win more and more business. As it turns out, in real estate one of the primary challenges when starting out is distinguishing yourself from the pack. What do you have to offer that every other smile on a business card doesn’t?
If you’re interested, by the way, I’m recommending Lindahl’s bestselling book, Sold!, which spells out exactly what he had to offer his sellers that other realtors didn’t. How do you increase demand for your home? Here’s one spoiler: raise the stakes. Inviting tons of people to an open house, regardless of their intention to buy, creates the appearance of more competition and thus boosts offers.
A clever salesman, Lindahl focused his strategy around human emotion, and is continuing to find various ways of applying this knowledge to his team’s advantage. Every now and then, that requires going against the grain. As tempting as it might be to appear as a slick CEO, Lindahl chooses to appear on his social media feeds in a T-shirt and a ball cap, delivering unscripted market updates that are easily digestible and understood by anyone with a few minutes on their hands.
No matter the success he’s earned, he’s stuck with his strategy of being approachable, helpful, and maintaining a one-on-one relationship with his clients. It’s what got him here in the first place. His two cents? “If you can find an approach where you can win business in the worst of circumstances, you don’t have to worry about anything the market throws at you.”
