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Sam Shar was selling $15 million homes when his father passed away, leaving him to take over a business in an industry he knew little about.

With a newborn son and a business he never planned to run, Sam suddenly found himself leading TSCi, the consulting firm his father had built over decades.

But what could have been a difficult career reset came with an unexpected advantage. The skills that made Sam successful in luxury real estate turned out to be just as valuable in consulting.

In our conversation, we explore how Sam applied those skills to earn clients' trust, win business without the hard sell, and build relationships that keep clients coming back.

What did you learn about managing relationships in luxury real estate that you've been able to bring into your consulting business?

Sam: I think people buy confidence, not just your product or service.

In luxury real estate, you're dealing with multimillion-dollar decisions. Buyers expect you to know your market, understand their priorities, and guide them through the process without creating undue or unnecessary stress.

Enterprise consulting is surprisingly similar. The client wants to know that you understand their problem, that you're capable of solving it, and that they won't have to worry about you.

I've always believed that the best salespeople are those who make others feel comfortable and heard when making important decisions.

Whether someone's buying a $5 million house or approving a multimillion-dollar consulting engagement, what they're really buying is confidence. That's the transferable skill from high-end real estate to whatever other room you're walking into.

To be successful in either career, I think the key is to listen well and ask the right questions.

A lot of salespeople talk too much. Sometimes you walk into a store, and the salesperson is asking so many questions that you just want to leave. Then you get someone who's helpful but doesn't push too much. They give you time to absorb everything, ask if there's anything you're looking for, and make themselves available.

In that situation, you don’t feel ignored. You were acknowledged but also given space.

As a consultant, you have to understand what the person is looking for. Maybe they're just curious. Maybe they're testing the waters. Let them figure it out.

It sounds to me like you trust the process more than a lot of people. You're not pushy, and you're willing to meet clients where they are. Do you trust that your process will eventually lead to revenue?

Sam: I think so, because you reek of desperation if you don't – and that's always unattractive.

You can't force a sale, whether it's consulting or real estate. That person might buy something and come back to return it later because they didn't even want it. They were just convinced to buy it.

Maybe you sign someone; you start working with them, and then they back out because they realize they didn't actually want your services. They have to see the value. If they want it, they'll meet you halfway. You can't go all the way.

But if you're pushy and clawing your way to every agreement, it's just not the way I like to do business. I like people to feel comfortable doing business with me.

A lot of consultants associate prospecting with being pushy, but you want to understand someone's needs and help them. How have you adapted that approach to business development and relationship growth?

Sam: I'm not a huge prospector, but I probably should be. For me, it's been a lot of referrals and working within organizations to see what other needs and projects we can get involved with.

Our approach is account management and business development within existing relationships. We make sure we're delivering, getting referred, following up, and staying in touch. It’s always been my methodology.

When you're building a pipeline, establishing yourself, and building a business, you absolutely need prospecting. But you eventually get to a place where your existing business is doing its thing, and I think it looks a little different.

My focus is delivering to the clients I already have and doing so well for them that they keep us busy. If there's a new relationship to be had, it often comes from a referral, which is the loveliest compliment anyone can give me.

I think about an insurance broker in my family who would remember everyone's birthday and make that call every year. Sometimes he'd call, sometimes he'd email, and sometimes he'd send a letter. But birthdays were always his thing – and he’s been in business for 40 years.

It's a very simple strategy: having the ability to stay in touch, even if it's just once a year.

It makes people remember you, because you actually take the time to make someone feel special.

It doesn't even have to be limited to birthdays. It could be, "Hey, you had a big project deadline last time we spoke. I wanted to see how that went. Did everything go smoothly?" Or maybe it's, "How did your son's soccer game go?"

It's remembering, staying in touch, and showing that you're a real person. You remember the conversation you had. You connect those dots, stay in touch, and see where you can provide some value or help.

That personal touch of making people feel heard, seen, and remembered is so crucial.

What We Can Learn from Sam Shar:

Organizations commit to new priorities all the time. But every new initiative requires something finite: people, skills, and capacity.

When those realities aren’t part of the decision, even the right strategy can become impossible to execute.

ProSymmetry created the Execution Capacity Assessment to help leaders and advisors ask seven questions that expose the gap between what an organization wants to accomplish and what its people can actually deliver.

👉  Get the Execution Capacity Assessment

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