| Sales
professionals had it so darn good lately, with the
housing market strong in nearly every sector across
America. As Woody Allen once said, "Ninety percent
of life is just about showing up." And until
recently, showing up and giving a nice tour of your
models and clubhouse was all that was needed to close
a sale. But that time is now gone. So now what? You
need to get back to selling again! Are you willing
to reacquaint yourself with selling's best practices?
Undoing old habits may be harder than starting anew,
but that is precisely what's required to succeed in
today's housing market. The Superstars of the boom
years aren't shining as brightly now. What will it
take to rekindle your light?
Attributes of a Sales
Superstar
Unlike order takers, Superstars possess a passion
for sales, and are committed to the pursuit of excellence.
As Gian Hasbrock, MIRM, MCSP, CRS states, Superstars
who will survive 2008 possess a "positive heroic
attitude with the notion that everything is at stake,
and failure is not an option." This means your
product knowledge must be thorough, and you must present
that knowledge to potential buyers with infectious
enthusiasm. You must have great listening skills and
guard against the "talking head" syndrome.
If you are not listening, you can't hear what your
buyers want, or what they object to.
Focus on the Process
W. Edwards Deming, one of the 20th century's best-known
business thinkers and an advocate for uncompromising
quality, once said, "Do your best, continually
seek to improve that best, look out for the people
you are responsible for, and recognize that everyone
is in this together." He added, "If you
can't define what you are doing as a process, you
don't know what you are doing."
Bob Schultz, Fellow, MIRM, CAASH, CSP, notes that,
"Failure that results in a well-conceived process
over time will be far more valuable than success in
the absence of the process. Blind luck is not repeated
on demand!"
Sales professionals are familiar with the critical
path to successful selling. But Hasbrock points out
that the time spent on each part of the path has shifted
over the years.
The traditional paradigm has been turned
upside down, emphasizing the need to spend more time
with customers at the onset of the process. That's
the time to build trust and discover their hotbutton
drivers-items that speak to the emotional and practical
side of your prospect and reveal individuality and
motivation. Hasbrock uses a wheel, not a path, as
an image to define the divisions of the process. Welcome
flows into Discovery, leads to Presentation and finally
to Closing and Service. And he adds that a new Welcome
starts with a referral from a well-developed relationship
with your new homeowner.
Schultz warns that while relationship building is
important, you cannot lose sight of the fact that
you are in the transactional selling business, in
which the aim of building relationships is to close
the transaction, the sale.
Discovery
Do you have a defined process to build a sales relationship?
Is it written down and used as a reference? Do you
add to your Discovery questionnaire as new questions
arise? If you answer "yes," then you are
working toward Superstardom!
Discovery has five key areas: Learning about a prospective
buyer's present home; discovering where else they've
shopped; getting to know your prospect; financial
discovery; and determining what it will take to close
the sale.
Qualify your lead by establishing key facts: Are they
appropriate for your age-qualified community?
Are they looking for a lifestyle community? Have they
given you their names? If you don't have that information,
then back up and get it, because you can't develop
an unqualified lead. Once they're qualified, discover
and understand your buyer's motivation, needs, desires,
timeframe, and ability to purchase-all key tools to
advance your sale.
Discover information about your prospect's present
home: layout, location, how long they've lived there,
and whether it's on the market. Ask, "Who maintains
your yard?" or "What other communities have
you visited?" Ask what they liked or disliked
about other communities. Ask, "What do you like
about your present home? What would you change?"
Help them imagine with you by asking, "What would
your dream home look like?" Ask them to describe
it to you in detail.
Get to know your prospect and understand who influences
them. Will it be their adult children, other family
members, their financial advisor, or a Realtor? What
do they like to do in their spare time? Learn about
their social connectivity. Find out how fitness and
exercise fits into their day or what hobbies or sports
they enjoy. Learn if they are still working. Inquire
about grandchildren or pets, and listen as they proudly
boast. Ask if they need to sell their existing home
before buying their dream home.
Follow-Through
Follow up the contact! In an increasingly competitive
market, this will make the difference in your conversion
ratios. Follow-through builds the relationship, conveys
lifestyle, creates awareness, builds momentum, dissolves
objections, and evokes emotion. It is designed to
create a sense of urgency. Build trust, and focus
on closing the sale through a structured-and persistent-follow-through
plan.
The first three months after initial contact is the
critical time to solidify your new relationships.
Plot your strategies on an annual calendar, quarter
by quarter, month by month. Communicate with your
contacts regularly, and keep your homes in the forefront
of their minds. When they are ready, you will be their
choice.
Follow-up methods may include: A thank you note for
a visit or inquiry; a telephone call, with prior permission;
a newsletter; a personal note or an oversized, full-color
postcard; an e-mail; an invitation to an event, such
as a new model or clubhouse grand opening; an announcement
for a new neighborhood release; an announcement of
a new price structure; a greeting for a change of
season or holiday wish; a co-broker communication;
a special builder program; a reprint of a feature
newspaper article on your community; a follow-up by
"the boss;" a CD or DVD of your community;
or an activities calendar.
Dissolving
Objections
Prospects walk through your doors with objections:
"I'm not ready yet . . . We're just looking."
Or, "We have a home to sell, and it is not even
listed with a Realtor yet." The way you respond
to the objections separates you from all the rest
as a Superstar.
The first step in dissolving objections is to keep
a journal of every one you hear, minor or major. For
each, write six good answers focused on dissolving
the objection. Build your journal, crafting answers
that enhance your delivery. If an objection is not
answered, it remains an objection, and the sale doesn't
advance. Superstars don't leave winning to chance!
This six-part process for dissolving objections moves
the sale further around the wheel:
Hear the objection and listen with empathy; restate
the objection to the prospect; question the objection,
saying "Tell me more about why you feel that
way;" answer the objection with a pre-planned
strategy; confirm the answer; move on.
If one of your answers doesn't work, no problem-you
have more answers prepared. If an objection lingers,
try to qualify it as minor or major by asking, "How
crucial is that to you?" An objection that may
seem major, when questioned, may turn out to be not
as important as it sounded.
The Presentation
Process
As sales and marketing icon Bill Becker, Fellow, MIRM,
CAASH, shares, there are six factors that make a professional
presentation. Becker's Blueprint is as follows:
- 1. Sell the company first-its history, reputation,
and references.
- 2. Sell the location second-the surrounding neighborhood,
the transportation network and the neighbors. Point
out how your prospect will "fit in."
- 3. Sell quality construction and pride of workmanship
third-the use of name brands people recognize and
trust. Develop a construction proforma from skin
to wall.
- 4. Sell perceived and actual value fourth-both
make up the total package. Relate to a dollars-and-cents
figure. Point out hidden values your competitors
don't have.
- 5. Sell product design fifth-everyone believes
their home is a personal haven, so make each customer
believe their home will be one of a kind.
- 6. Sell service last-the icing on the cake. Explain
how you take care of customers, not only during
purchase and construction, but after they move in,
and when problems arise. The key is peace of mind
for your customer.
Practice, drill, and rehearse. Role-play
with team members to polish your selling skills. Share
objections and ask how to best answer them. Be open
to constructive criticism to make your presentation
stronger and more effective.
Muhammad Ali inspired all to understand the importance
of practice when he said, "The fight is won or
lost far away from witnesses. It is won behind the
lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long
before I dance under those lights."
The Tracking
Process
The days of guest cards filed in a box are over. Computerized
tracking systems are the gold standard, tracking prospects
from their initial inquiry through the sales, closing,
and service phases. Many sophisticated systems are
available, including Web-based systems that allow
multiple users to access a database from anywhere,
anytime.
Guest cards can help gather the necessary information
to begin the sales process. Transfer that data to
your tracking system, and let it work for you. Many
good tracking systems can sort, categorizing "A",
"B", or "C" prospects. They can
record notes, communications, and e-mails, with date
and time; produce traffic and sales reports; schedule
calls and appointments; manage to-do lists; mail merge
e-mail, labels or letters; and create histories of
all communications with prospects.
So get rid of the shoeboxes full of guest cards and
begin to close sales with a laser-focused, computerized
tracking system. You cannot afford not to!
Selling Amenities
The 50+ sale is all about lifestyle, as demonstrated
by the amenities within the home, the community, and
the area. Demonstrate the values and benefits your
homes, community, and location will offer buyers seeking
an active lifestyle.
Pointing out amenities such as single-level living,
maintenance-free exteriors, and excellence in finishes
and appliances. Sell flexible design as an amenity,
as well as a willingness to customize and personalize
their new home. Clubhouses, great or small, offer
fitness options and social spaces, and walking trails
are a nice fitness offering when a clubhouse is not
an option.
Sell the regional identity of your community's location
as a value, rich with convenience and cultural and
entertainment venues. Learn what your prospects most
value and seek, and let them know what the area has
to offer: golf, recreation, shopping, restaurants,
entertainment, and other local amenities.
The Closing Process
The closing process sounds as if it should come at
the end. But in truth, closing starts at the beginning
of your relationship with a prospect. Focus on getting
each "little yes" that begins the acceptance
and ownership of the home, community, and location
you are selling. The overview you present in your
Welcome Center offers you opportunities for many "little
yes's." Ask, "Is quality important to you?"
or "Are you interested in customizing your home
to fit your lifestyle?" Both are closing questions.
Of course, your prospects will say "yes"
to these questions. Now that you've set the tone...keep
going. Try to get six "yes's" in every conversation
or meeting you have with each prospect you work with.
Focus their attention and choice to one home style,
eliminating all the other options.
Once you've answered all their questions and dissolved
their objections, judge your prospect's acceptance
and willingness to buy, and make the close natural.
Ask closed-ended questions and use trial closes like,
"Do you have more questions about the home?"
or "Doesn't this home fit the lifestyle you described?"
Accept resistance. If resistance continues, go back
to dissolving objections. Be patient.
Create urgency through limited availability, future
price escalation, favorable interest rates, or builder
promotions. Demystify the financial process by walking
buyers through it. Use contingent questions to involve
the buyer in decision making, such as, "If I
can...will you?" This lets you negotiate with
your buyer to a successful close.
The Service Process
Buyers are excited when they commit to a purchase,
but apprehensive about their decision. Make them comfortable.
Show them your company's process and what they can
expect. Explain that you or other members of your
company's team will guide them through the construction
and delivery of their beautiful new home. You and
your company will be judged in the end on the ease
of your process and the experience your buyers go
through. Remember that your buyers have made a huge
financial and emotional investment, and the transaction
deserves respect and gravitas.
When you are successful at creating customer delight
through a positive buying experience, your buyers
will become invaluable to you. They will happily offer
referrals that will help you increase your sales performance.
Raise the bar by setting strong sales goals for yourself.
Be passionate about improving your sales skills. Your
passion will be felt by every one of your buyers.
Be methodical and follow the process. Creating lasting
customer delight will sustain the momentum of the
wheel and transform your critical path in active lifestyle
selling.
You ARE a Superstar! 50+
This article appeared in
a recent issue of 50+ Housing Magazine, published
by the National Association of Home Builders' 50+
Housing Council.
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