How to Turn Adversity into Achievements: A Sales Leader's Story

Guest: Mohsin Imran, real estate business owner in the UAE, former Hult International Business School student of Ramez Helou.

00:00:12 – 00:01:00
We get inspired by others’ success, but what really inspires us is turning failure into success. I met Mohsin in 2018, when I was teaching at Hult International Business School, and he was going through his Master’s in International Business.

00:01:00 – 00:01:44
Mohsin runs a real estate business in the UAE. I’ve known him as a student and worked with him as he built his business to where it is now.

00:01:44 – 00:02:11
I’m originally from Pakistan. I did my undergrad, then the international business school, met some amazing professors.

00:02:11 – 00:02:31
You individually played a huge role in that success. It takes two hands to clap — if the intention is there, you’ll find people to help you get there.

00:02:31 – 00:02:54
After a master’s, people have big aspirations, but things didn’t turn out the way you wanted.

00:02:54 – 00:03:30
It’s a long story — things had to shift into a completely different dynamic of life. If something doesn’t go your way, you get back up, dust yourself off, and keep going.

00:03:30 – 00:03:56
It worked out in my favor, and here we are — a 23-year journey. Everything that doesn’t go your way teaches you how to be better, preparing you for something you haven’t had before.

00:03:56 – 00:04:20
At one point you inherited a business that wasn’t in its best shape — needed the work of 7-8-9 people but only had a couple. Instead of packing up, you said “let’s put on the seatbelt and make it happen.”

00:04:54 – 00:05:14
I’ve been in and around real estate for the last ten years, but reading from your courses: you don’t know until you don’t know.

00:05:14 – 00:05:56
The first session I took with you gave me a perspective on how many things need to be learned. I came with a complimentary pass, came back again, then brought my team, and right after that we had the biggest quarter in our company — we took the Systematic Selling Strategies course.

00:05:56 – 00:06:16
It worked out — it removed a mental block. Some beliefs in your head are just things you’ve made up.

00:06:16 – 00:06:37
One thing that worked really well: reciprocity, giving before you receive. Everybody wants to make a sale, nobody wants to give first.

00:06:37 – 00:06:58
It’s something everybody thinks they know, but when you attend a course like that, you realize there’s so much more to it.

00:06:58 – 00:07:21
You’re a giver by nature — it fit your values as raised in a Pakistani household, warm, family-oriented, always giving before receiving, programmed since childhood.

00:07:22 – 00:07:45
Another important point: to listen rather than react to talk. We all want to sell, but rarely understand that the only way to sell is by really understanding what the other person wants, through asking and listening.

00:08:27 – 00:08:54
Whenever I meet with sales teams and do a bit of meta-analysis, the biggest gap I see is people don’t listen. Clients would say “thank you for listening” because they’d met three or four people before who couldn’t understand their requirement.

00:08:54 – 00:09:16
A colleague who took the training with me had his biggest month right after, simply because he started listening more.

00:09:16 – 00:09:43
You introduced me to Zig Ziglar, one of your favorites — a quote that stuck: “People say motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing. That’s why we recommend it daily.”

00:10:04 – 00:10:39
One of the biggest mistakes I see sales professionals make: they achieve success, but then stop investing in themselves. Less than 10-15% of audiences at events have read a sales book in the last 12 months, or paid for a seminar themselves.

00:11:02 – 00:11:24
Top athletes don’t practice once and then show up for the medal — it’s continuous practice. What are you as a leader doing to help your team stay on top of their game?

00:11:41 – 00:12:06
Around 2018, when the market wasn’t doing well, big companies came to me asking to help transform their people.

00:12:06 – 00:12:30
One co-owner said, “We want to be different — I want my people to build relationships, not just make sales when the market helps them. I want customers to remember us after the sale.”

00:12:30 – 00:13:01
If we don’t build the DNA of the organization to make our people the difference, and the product is similar across competitors, then it’s not the product but yourself that’s the differentiator.

00:13:01 – 00:13:26
People buy from people they know, like and trust — that’s registered in my head, and I teach it within my company too, since the product is basically identical to competitors.

00:13:26 – 00:13:46
What makes us different is who we are, how we treat clients, how much we listen — all learned from these training courses.

00:14:10 – 00:14:28
Your team grew from a couple of salespeople to almost ten — what helped you grow the team?

00:14:28 – 00:14:37
I started hiring people I could trust and train — the two most important aspects.

00:14:37 – 00:14:54
Trust, then train. If I trust them and they trust me, I’m ready to spend money and time on them, and they have the mentality of wanting to be trained.

00:14:54 – 00:15:19
You cannot succeed as a lone wolf — the only thing you can do at the top is bring other people with you.

00:15:56 – 00:16:16
The moment you stop learning at any job, it’s time to start looking for the next job — I’m not looking for lone wolves, I’m looking for people I can work with as a team, a family.

00:16:34 – 00:16:55
Someone who’s humble, open to drive things forward — God has a funny way of humbling people, and success is on the other side of failure.

00:16:55 – 00:17:29
The 80/20 rule (Pareto principle) — out of ten people, two bring more than 80% of business. How true is this for your setup?

00:17:29 – 00:17:53
For us it’s more like 70/30, but some people perform better than the rest, based primarily on how much they’ve been trained and the systems they follow.

00:17:53 – 00:18:17
A quote I framed and kept in my office: “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”

00:18:17 – 00:18:45
Top performers — athletes, businessmen, salespeople — have a system, train constantly, stay motivated even when they shouldn’t need to, and follow their system.

00:19:08 – 00:19:32
What systems does your business have, and are your results where you want them to be?

00:19:32 – 00:20:21
Michael Jordan: “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” Some companies invest in leads — but are they followed up on and nurtured?

00:20:21 – 00:20:40
When looking to move apartments myself, the first question the agent asked was “when do you plan to move in?” instead of even asking my name — a confrontational, qualification-first approach.

00:21:00 – 00:21:22
If it’s the first question, it’s obvious she doesn’t care about me, just wants to sift through inquiries fast — but you lose someone spending millions on a property.

00:21:54 – 00:22:12
Salespeople today feel like they don’t have enough time — are they in this game short term or long term? Those in the industry more than five years, before it picked up, ask all the right questions and spend time, even if it doesn’t immediately result in a sale.

00:22:12 – 00:22:38
That’s what helped us outperform other sellers — even if you don’t buy today, five years down the line, are you my first choice or not?

00:23:00 – 00:23:22
Asking why someone is buying — to live in, invest, or for appreciation — and recommending a different area if it doesn’t match their goal, even at a cheaper price now.

00:23:51 – 00:24:13
People buy when they’re ready to buy, not when you want them to. If you’re an expert asking the right qualification questions, people remember you and keep coming back.

00:24:33 – 00:25:05
The value of deals you personally bring is much bigger than the value of deals your team brings — owners with a clear understanding of relationships end up bringing the biggest deals.

00:25:05 – 00:25:29
It’s a journey — giving everyone the same level of attention, whether they’re buying at 600,000 or 6 million.

00:25:29 – 00:26:20
I did a very small transaction, spent weeks on it, forgot about it — then months later the same person’s boss bought something 15 times the size of the original transaction.

00:26:20 – 00:26:37
You can’t write off anybody. Relationship is everything. And you have to be willing to say no if a deal isn’t right for a client, even if it makes you money.

00:26:37 – 00:27:10
Clients call and ask if they should buy something they heard about, even though it would be a sale for me, and I tell them no if it doesn’t fit their investment criteria — that’s ethical selling.

00:27:10 – 00:27:32
It might help you achieve your goal short term, but it hurts you multiple times more in the long run.

00:28:06 – 00:28:29
Many are attracted to real estate for quick money by riding the market wave — but doing it right builds significant long-term value for you and your loved ones.

00:28:29 – 00:28:58
Top three tips? First: systematic selling — have a system, whatever works for you, and follow it.

00:28:58 – 00:29:16
If someone calls asking about a project, I don’t just go to the developer’s office — I invite them for a coffee first, to understand them, like a doctor listening before prescribing.

00:29:35 – 00:30:09
Taking time to build the relationship and understand the need, rather than just prescribing what they asked for.

00:30:09 – 00:30:35
Point two: no transaction is below you — even something small deserves your best effort, because for someone it might be their life savings.

00:30:35 – 00:31:12
NCT — Never Can Tell. Treat everyone like your best client. Most of my sales come from referrals, not from advertising spend, because of the network and trust built over time.

00:31:34 – 00:31:57
Point three: always be open to training, to educating yourself, no matter your position, income, or number of transactions — keep an open mind about learning every day, month, year.

00:33:07 – 00:33:29
“Invest in your mind and it will fill your pockets” — a quote from Benjamin Franklin.

00:33:29 – 00:33:59
Once the mind opens, it never regains its original shape — it just keeps opening. Selling is fast evolving with AI, chatbots, and automation putting the customer at the center.

00:34:47 – 00:34:54
Until next time, sell more, sell faster and profitably.

00:37:43 – 00:38:10
These quotes from six or seven years ago are having a lasting effect on you — how have they helped?

00:38:31 – 00:38:59
Everybody has the same goal, but the person who trained the most for four years to run a 100m sprint is going to win — the person with the best system wins.

00:39:33 – 00:39:53
Carbs burn quickly, making you hungry for more; protein is a slower, longer-lasting burn. Are you feeding your brain carbs or protein — short-form distraction, or focused learning?

00:40:57 – 00:41:26
Having run a direct sales force on commission for 30-35 years, I had to perfect the art of motivation and psychology — studying Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracy, Anthony Robbins, attending their seminars, to build my own approach and share it with others.

00:42:02 – 00:42:25
One quote you said six years ago stuck with you, helped you through darkness, gave you strength to persevere. I genuinely thank you for sharing that.

00:42:25 – 00:42:53
It’s funny how this ability to share with others was put inside me — call it talent, skill, whatever. I’m just here as a messenger, and I keep learning too. You can’t stand still in the world of AI and evolution — if you stand still, the end is near.

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