Have you ever called up old friends to share news about your new property consultant post? Did they make excuses when you try to catch-up in person?

Have you ever shared an open house poster invite on Facebook? Did you notice that your average post likes of 200 dropped to 20?

Oh, and one more thing. Have you ever been poked fun off by your colleagues when you try to do your job like flyering? (Yes, that’s still a thing.)

Then you, my friend, have low-key experienced Sales Shaming. And you are not alone.

The truth is there isn’t any job function that gets as many raised eyebrows more than Sales.

I may not be able to trace history but I’ll take a wild guess. Perhaps the confusion started when someone from retail thought he could apply aggressive selling in real estate.

How did this become the case towards an industry whose product is an investment, asset and a legacy all rolled into one?

Before real estate regulatory boards came in the picture, anyone from any background were able get into this practice. Though it was more appealing for someone who has sales experience, it didn’t stop many from testing the waters.

What did we get as a result? A diverse, multi-background industry that naturally comes with a series of unfavourable instances.

An example would be those associating a real estate sales person to someone who’s trying to sell a bunch of wilted cabbages: desperate and unnecessary.

Eventually, most cities would have now established a government body that monitors the practice of real estate. But it may take a while to completely eradicate the stigma that comes with selling unit after unit of high-rise apartments.

Let me throw light on the two groups each majorly responsible for Sales Shaming: the sellers and the shamers.

The Shamers

• People jealous of your guts (even as a colleague)
• People who usually can’t afford your product
• Those who generalise that all sales people only want their money
• People who are guilty because they themselves take money from others so it’s easier to divert said guilt towards the stereotype

Disconcerting, isn’t it? Maybe as a sales person you might even think they are all to blame, you’re simply doing your job.

But listen up. The other half of the blame fall under the characteristics of Sales people that give the job a bad rap:

The Sellers

• Aggressive and selfish – obvious they only care about making a sale
• Feigned interest with the company for the sake of a day job
• Minimal product knowledge
• Disingenuous towards a potential client

So the way I see it, you’re partly at fault if you let a ridicule get under your skin. Don’t you simply want to make an honest living by helping clients invest their hard-earned money? Why would you second-guess yourself?

Know what type of selling works best in your industry.

The best way to go about your job is to focus on honing your craft. Use your time to improve your sound knowledge of the real estate market. This way you become vital to homebuyers and not just fall under the The Sellers category.

On the other hand, if you fall under The Shamers category, let me ask you this. Does it give you peace when you secretly cast shame to people who’s just doing their job? Maybe you’re not impressed with this hustle being different from your 9-5 desk job, but is that a warrant to give an agent a castigating look?

Don’t you think your energy is better off directed to the real offenders of the society? Real estate agents may be aggressive but the reality is they are simply goal-pursuing, tax-paying professionals.

Why not, instead, find a way to respect the role that Sales people play? Let’s support their harmless intention to want to keep their businesses growing.

On the other hand, for sales people, let’s find the right balance of going after our goals and being empathetic on prospects. Striving to put clients’ needs first before our own will eventually get us the recognition that we seek.

And maybe, just maybe, if we all do our part, the word Sales can have more meaning to it. And no longer will sales shaming be a thing.