Tom Hopkins wasn’t born to wealth and privilege. He was a mediocre student and began his work life in construction carrying steel. At the age of 19, he was married with a child on the way and trying to find a better way to support his young family.
After looking around at the people who were dressed well and driving new cars, he decided on the field of real estate. It took Tom several tries to pass his licensing exam, but he eventually succeeded.
The next hurdle was to find someone to hire him. Visiting real estate offices around town on his way home from his construction job, Tom quickly learned the negative impact of the first impressions he was making.
Eventually, one office manager took pity on him and gave him a job. Tom’s first six months in real estate were anything but successful. He had sold only one home and averaged $42 a month in income. He was down to his last $150 in savings when a man came into the real estate office promoting a three-day sales training seminar with J. Douglas Edwards. He decided to invest his last bit of savings in the program.
Tom applied everything he learned from the training and by the time he turned 27, he was a millionaire salesperson in real estate. His last year as a real estate agent, he sold 365 homes—the equivalent of one each day. Then, Tom faced his next hurdle. Tom turned to J. Douglas Edwards who by this time had become Tom’s mentor. Mr. Edwards said, “You must do what you fear most in order to control your fear.” Taking that message to heart, Tom soon became a dedicated student of public speaking and teaching. Seeing the light of understanding dawn on the faces of those who heard his message created a burning desire in him to help as many people as possible to learn how to sell professionally and a new career was born.
Tom taught pre-licensing courses in the field of real estate first. He also taught courses on how to get started in the business. Eventually, this evolved into his current sales training career where he is recognized as America’s #1 Sales Trainer and The Builder of Sales Champions.
Tom Hopkins understands both sides of the selling equation. He understands the fears of both buyers and salespeople. Buyers don’t want to be “sold” anything. Salespeople fear failure. The selling skills and strategies that Tom Hopkins teaches today reflect an understanding of how to communicate with buyers so they feel confident in making good decisions about the products and services they own. They also are taught in such a manner as to be entertaining and memorable by the sales professionals who seek them out.
