Booked review: The Sell: The Secrets of Selling Anything to Anyone

Fredrik Eklund is a young Swede living the American Dream. Having arrived from Europe just over 10 years ago with "nothing but a worn out pair of sneakers", he has risen to the top of the New York real estate profession and has become a reality TV star on the show Million Dollar Listing New York.

Eklund is not short on modesty or confidence. He says he is the number one real estate agent in New York, the most competitive real estate market on the planet.

At the time of writing, he says he has $1 billion worth of residential property for sale between New York and Scandinavia and that his teams earned $20 million in commission last year.

Several times in the last year he has personally sold more than $100 million in property in the course of a month.

The book is part-biography and part-motivational with a strong ‘you can do this too’ message.

Eklund is certainly a colourful character who seems incapable of entering a room without making a big impression. Most readers will either love him or find him intensely irritating.

He makes no apologies about this. Blandness is a sin in his eyes. He is a total extrovert from the way he dresses, to his signature high-kick celebrations.

Eklund is a charmer, a craft honed early from days selling Christmas card calendars in Sweden at the age of seven, breaking all records for sales of these items, he tells us.

Then it was grannies, who warmed to his outgoing personality and patience to listen – now it is the uber rich, including superstars.

Celebrity clients are liberally name checked throughout the book such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Mick Jagger, Jennifer Lopez, Justin Timberlake, Cameron Diaz, P Diddy and Britney Spears.

Eklund does spent a lot of time trying to impress us and we learn about his lifestyle in New York where he lives with his husband Derek and their two dogs Fritzy and Mousey. He gives us an hour by hour breakdown of his typical day, including his fitness and dietary regimen. This is presented as part of his blueprint for success and some no doubt will find the specifics interesting.

However, he does take a long time to get into the meat of what it takes to be a successful real estate agent or to be a successful negotiator in any aspect of business or life for that matter. Knowing where the floor is in a negotiation, racking up the tension and desire on the part of buyers by keeping them waiting, being prepared to walk away and realising the importance of negotiating face to face are all discussed.

Body language reveals a lot and Eklund loves scanning the counterparty’s non-verbal signs during negotiations. Watch for give-away tells, he says.

Sometimes someone is trying to be tough and in control, refusing to improve an offer but you can see his jaw clenching or his foot tapping against the chair.

If he was truly comfortable in his position and never coming up to the requested price, he would be relaxed or if he really was at the highest he could do, he might start to look sad as he slowly acknowledges that the deal is not going to happen.

Strangely, Eklund also gives away one of his secret negotiating tactics. This is one where he enters a room full of positivity, making the other side think that as he is so pleasant, they will be able to control the negotiations. All of a sudden, he turns mood, blurting out, ‘There is no way that this deal will work out’. The aim is to catch the other side off guard, thinking he is unstable.

When they respond negatively, he feigns hurt but gradually resuscitates the deal, starting with just a small chink of optimism. Some homespun Eklund philosophy sums up this tactic: you can only see the sunrays coming in through the window because the room is dark.

Eklund also expands on his views on the power of social media, believing that it is increasingly the only way to sell if you want to achieve any traction in business. A huge enthusiast for social media, he says resisting it is futile and stupid.

He also talks about the importance of having a good business partner to complement your strengths and compensate for your weaknesses.

Eklund and his book will not be to everyone’s taste but you can’t help admire his bravado and acknowledge his success.