Gamification: selling double price on the falling market

By Dmitriy Lukyan.
Author of neural network patents. Product manager, system architect, automator, and gamifier of processes. Over 20 years in the field… Father of three children.
Published with the permission of the author.
The original article is here.

Gamification: How to sell for twice as much in a falling market through auction — Gamification: selling double price on the falling market 29

…

In the photo, it’s me and Vladislav Korkin, the owner of the franchise “Useful People Agency” in Samara.

Vladislav Korkin, a former intelligence officer, taxi driver, and investor, is now the owner of the "Useful People Agency" in Samara. He shared a method on how to quickly find clients, even if the market is not in your favour…

A good salesperson should drive the market, not wait for a client with money to fall into their lap!
Vladislav expressed his dissatisfaction.

Later, Vladislav revealed his method for driving the market and achieving quick sales…

Gamification in Real Estate: Vladislav is no ordinary person, I thought…

During the conversation, it was revealed that in the past, Vladislav was a military conscript, a reconnaissance officer, and also worked as a taxi driver, investing in a taxi fleet in Moscow. As we know, there’s no such thing as the “former officer”!) ))

…

TV journalists are conducting an interview with Vladislav Korkin.

In 2017, unable to find employment after completing his military service, he took a job as a taxi driver. After some time, he owned four cars and serviced Domodedovo Airport.

… I earned over 500,000 rubles in a month, after covering expenses and taxes.
Vladislav was telling this story during his interviews.

And then the pandemic hit, and everything collapsed. Vladislav moved to Samara, where he founded his own real estate agency, which soon skyrocketed in sales in the region.

The headquarters of the “Useful People Agency” noticed the surge in sales and offered to buy the franchise for Samara from him. Vladislav agreed, and that’s what he did.

…

The secret to the sales growth lies in…

Initially, it’s important to understand that there is a limited number of customers in the market, and merely wanting to sell something won’t increase their numbers.
Vladislav says

So, it doesn’t matter what we are selling. Whether it’s an apartment, a plot of land, or a website creation service: the essence is the same; deciding to start doing it doesn’t magically increase the number of customers.

You either have to sell or leave the market!
Vladislav emphasises.

It means that there’s no point in putting an offer on the market that the market is not ready to buy. You should either present the offer below the market to attract maximum attention from the customer, or not present it at all.

We all understand perfectly well that the market price of an object is the amount of money people are willing to pay today. Everything else is just your biases.
Vladislav Korkin believes so.

dl5 — Gamification: selling double price on the falling market 32

…

Following the principle of “work only with those who want to sell,” Vladislav prioritizes whom to work with first, thus conserving his own resources.

… Typically, I suggest lowering the price by 25% below the market average to generate a surge in phone calls…
Vladislav is revealing his method.

The essence of this action is simply to gather all the buyer demand from the market.

We sell during the showing, in face-to-face meetings, not in advertisements.
Vladislav emphasises.

“We sell during the showing, in face-to-face meetings. With this approach, you gather everyone interested in buying in a specific location. In other words, there are simply no other buyers in the market in that place at that time,” notes Vladislav.

“Logical,” I thought, “if the offer is significantly below the market, then the maximum number of potential clients, including bargain hunters, will be interested. That’s why I asked a few more questions.”

…

“Selling cheaply is easy for anyone, are your clients really satisfied?”

Vladislav very elaborately and persuasively defended his position:

“Firstly, I separate those who just want to look from those with money who are genuinely ready to buy!”
Vladislav pointed out.

“Secondly, having gathered everyone interested in buying a particular property, I propose participating in an anonymous auction to raise the price,”
Vladislav reveals his trick.

So, at this point, all the people who could genuinely buy the offered property are in one, figurative, information space where the auction takes place.

“And are people genuinely willing to bargain and increase the price?”

“What choice do they have?) ) Initially, it’s the best offer on the market. Of course, they want to compete for it. Those who don’t want to, are not our clients,”
Vladislav notes.

I would like to add that, besides the initial manipulation based on greed, gamification is also involved in the trading process. It’s a complex and very interesting concept!

dl6 1 — Gamification: selling double price on the falling market 34

…

For example, the following Octalysis drivers are activated: social pressure, scarcity, fear of loss, unpredictability of the outcome, achievement, reinforced with a special significance from within the participant.

In general, it’s almost a complete set for competing fiercely and striving to be the first!

And is it possible that the seller does not want to sell at the final market-offered price?

Certainly. In this case, we conclude that our client lacks the proper motivation to sell. We either counteroffer or remove the property from the market to prevent other participants from considering a false value.
Vladislav notes.

But usually, if everything is done correctly: effectively gathering all the market demand and conducting negotiations and showings skilfully, the market offers the maximum possible price for the property. This price, by the way, may even exceed the initial expectations.
Vladislav Korkin says.

How much will the price increase at the auction?

Essentially, the property sells for the highest possible price it can fetch. No one would have bought it for a higher amount.
Korkin notes.

Not always does the price surpass the seller’s initial expectations; sometimes, those expectations are inflated. However, the method allows selling the property for a price higher than what it would realistically fetch in the current market situation.

However, there are rare cases when auction participants get so caught up in the competition that they exceed the initial offer by two or more times.

…

There was a case when two Armenian friends wanted to buy a land plot for 500,000 rubles. Unaware of each other, in the heat of the moment, they negotiated up to a sum of 1,000,000 rubles, and we closed the deal…
Vladislav Korkin recalls.

Actually, the method described by Vladislav is applicable not only to real estate or goods. It is actively used during the sale of tokens, limited-volume services, and access rights to exclusive events.

This phenomenon is called the "fear of missing out" or FOMO. It is the fear of missing out on something important, a profitable opportunity, including for profit, or simply the fear of being left out of interesting events. For example, in trading and investing, this syndrome manifests as the desire to buy or sell assets immediately just because everyone else is doing it.

And naturally, it’s worth considering how to apply FOMO in your project, even if you’re not involved in real estate sales.

…

What’s interesting about all this?

FOMO and the auction sales method can be effective in various projects and business types. Here are a few examples:

E-commerce: In online stores, time-limited sales or offers can create a sense of urgency and fear of missing out on a profitable deal.
.
Cryptocurrencies and tokens: Many projects conduct ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings) or IEOs (Initial Exchange Offerings) using the auction sales method for tokens. This creates demand and encourages investors to make quick purchases.
.
Tourism and leisure: Travel companies can hold auctions for vacation packages, hotels, or excursions, creating competition and motivating customers to make a purchase.
.
Gaming industry: Video game developers can auction exclusive items, characters, or access to closed beta tests to attract players and create a sense of uniqueness.
.
Collectibles: In collecting niches such as coins, stamps, paintings, and other art items, auctions are a common way of selling, where FOMO can be used to encourage participation and increase prices.
.
Internet marketing: In internet marketing, FOMO can be utilized by offering time-limited promotions or special deals to engage customers and encourage them to make a purchase.

Overall, FOMO and the auction sales method are timeless ways to stimulate sales that are worth considering if you haven’t already.

Where to run?

If you want to sell an apartment or are a real estate agent, the current case falls into the category of “Take and do.”
.
Delving deeper, following the current method, you can create an industry startup for real estate sales that may revolutionise the traditional approach to finding clients for a property on sale.
// By the way, with this, we can help you in Startupus
.
If your business is not related to real estate, you can think about where exactly you can apply FOMO and (or) the gaming mechanics of an auction. I’m confident that this method is applicable in all industries and am ready to provide advice in the comments.
.
If you haven’t delved deeply into the topic of gamification and concise manipulation of user consciousness, I recommend starting with the book “Octalysis” by my acquaintance, author Yu-Kai Chou, known in Russia as “Gamify This.”