7 New Home Closing Experts Share Their Best Closing Strategy

Here’s  a quick read with 7 ideas you can use to help your closing process today!

Happy Selling

~Rick

http://www.housingzone.com/probuilder/article/CA6718962.html

Home Builders, Remodelers and Realtors- You Have a 96% Chance of Failure if You Miss This

Are you ready for the spring sales market?

Are you looking for innovative ways to Close More Sales and Maximize Profits?

Statistics show that about 60% of your sales are made by June 1st. These next couple of months will either make or break your year.

Well, this is where the rubber meets the road…

It’s where I pull out all the stops and take a full day to share with my clients the most powerful sales techniques I know.

If you’re tired of muddling along without the sales tools you need in 2010- this is your once-a-year chance to attend my Sales Symposium…

The Ultimate System for Closing More Sales and Maximizing Profits>>.

Here’s the deal. I put this on for my clients and only let a few other people attend. That’s it. No encores.

This year I’ve decided to let 10 other people get the same iron-clad strategies my clients are using to outsell their competitors 8 to 1.

I’ll be presenting the same sure-fire tactics that my clients get- only at a fraction of the price. And when 10 other people have signed on- the doors are closed on this symposium until next year.

Does this stuff work? Don’t listen to me. Click on this link to see how Andy beat out 25 other competitors who didn’t have my training.

Use this link to hear Andy’s story>>

One last thing…if you register for the class in the next 3 days, you can take 10% off the registration when you use the promo code moresales2010. Just type in “moresales2010″ when you checkout to save 10%. You need to do it by February 19th to get it!

Will you be in my video talking about your great 2010 next year?

P.S Remember- only 10 people get the opportunity to get my easy-to-implement ideas AND save 10% off the registration. Good luck!

Register for the symposium here>>

Click here>> and get Rick’s FREE copy of 6 Secrets to Maximizing Your Home Sales in Any Market Revealed.

Ask Rick a question and he may feature it in an upcoming issue of Coach’s Corner>>

Rick Storlie has been helping home builders and remodelers maximize their sales since 1992. Get your FREE e-guide, “6 Secrets to Maximizing your Sales in any Economy Revealed by visiting

www.NHSalesCoach.com.

Did you Miss the International Builders Show? Here’s a Shortcut for the 7 Best Ideas from the 2010 show…

I returned from the International Builder’s Show in Las Vegas last Friday at 1:20 in the morning. It rained for 4 days in the desert causing delays at the airport.

The weather inside the convention center, however, wasn’t all rain. There were some beautiful sunny ideas. Here is a list of the 7 best thoughts from the show. Enjoy!

~Rick

The Best of the Best

J Van Rose Jr. of Rose & Womble Realty New Homes Division on the key traits of salespeople in today’s housing market…

Tom Richey of Richey Resources commented on what type of training salespeople should be focusing on…

Brian Flook of The Brian Flook Group commented on how it’s more important to have quality names in your database vs. quantity.

This reminds me of a quote from another trainer…

Set a goal to build a list of 100 Qualified leads and make sure you know everything about them and they know everything about you and your company.

Mike Lyon of Do You Convert had 4 great ideas…

On how fast to follow up with e-leads…“5 minutes or less. Try to get back to them when they’re still on your website.”

Mike also commented on what percent of e-leads are viable, “80% won’t do anything so don’t get frustrated.”

On how long to follow up with leads…“Most salespeople don’t follow up for more than 1 month. Most buyers won’t buy for at least 3 months. Make sure you have a dedicated 12 week follow-up program.”

On social media…“Focus your social media efforts towards Realtors. Most of them are already using social media and will follow you or become a fan.”

Honorable Mentions

Myers Barnes of Myers Barnes and Associates was as dynamic as ever. He has been one of the most motivational and educational mentors of my past.

Jeff Shore of Shore Forrest did some great presentations and always has a unique and fresh perspective on the housing market.

You can watch a short video courtesy of Mike Lyon on Jeff’s perspective below

“Realtors, Remodelers and Home Builders- Discover how to go from Bust to Boom in 2010 with these 3   Sure Fire Tactics”

What’s in store for housing in 2010? Wouldn’t we all like to foresee that!

My crystal ball is in the shop again so I’ve put together 3 tactics that cutting edge Remodelers, Home Builders and Realtors are using to “crack the code” in 2010.

Warning: You will not hear about these iron-clad strategies from others so if you snooze, you lose…Enjoy!

~Rick

Ok- 2009 is over. Great, right? I know this was a tough and trying year. But before we close the doors, let’s look at what was good about it…

• A lot of your competitors are gone and you (the strong) have survived

• You’re efficiency is off the charts because you’re doing more with less

• The market has taught you invaluable lessons and you’re a LOT smarter in January 2010 than January 2009

What the worst mistake most of you made in 2009?

If there was one mistake I watched most home builders and remodelers make in 2009 it was REACTING to the market.

When you react it usually means two things-

1. Sales are down and you make a move to step them up. Usually this means you cut prices.
   
2. When you do make a sale, margins suffer.

Very few predicted the full extent of how much our market would change in one year…Don’t beat yourself up if you reacted to the market for most of ’09- it was a very difficult mistake to avoid.

So What’s Your Strategy to Ignite Sales This Year?

You’re smarter, more efficient and have less competitors.

If you’re going to get PROACTIVE you need some sure-fire tactics.

Here are 3…
1. Focus and Filter: Diversifying is NOT, I repeat, NOT the answer! Every other industry out there has specialty companies that target a certain demographic and psychographic profile. Very few in the housing industry do. We’re all trying to sell the same thing, the same way- yet we tell our prospects, “we’re better.” It’s no wonder we’re frustrated by price wars.

When money is tight consumers take longer to shop and will choose the companies they feel are best suited to solve their problems. Only about 10% of consumers will buy purely on price. The other 90% buy on emotional perceived value.

If you want consumers to choose you for what you are (and make a buck at doing it)- you can’t be everything to everyone.

The micro market (small niche business) section of our economy is poised to boom (and certain sectors are already booming!). The housing industry needs to take the lead from companies like Target, Best Buy and Ford. All of these companies focus on niche offering to a specific target market.

Focus on what you do best or focus on an un-served niche in your market. Filter everything else out- especially the sacred cows!

This is also called Market Positioning and you can discover how to do it by clicking on this link>>

2. Beware of Baby Boomers: I know, I know- you’ve been told that you should be targeting boomers- this is where the money is, right? This is where the money USED to be and this group may have the lowest consumer confidence.

Consider…

• Boomers are getting old (the oldest are turning 64 this year) and they don’t have a lot of time in the workplace. They’re not willing to take on large mortgages and want to do lateral moves as they consider down sizing (which doesn’t work because their current home has lost so much value).
  

• The dreams of early retirement and staying young forever are fading. Boomers lost an incredible amount of wealth last decade, have burned through a lot of savings and won’t be able to replenish it quickly.

The Exception…

Remodelers take note- aging in place along with certain remodeling projects will start to appeal to boomers because they will find themselves unable or unwilling to move (along with the acceptance they are getting old).

3. The Decade of the Woman: Over the last 30 years a woman’s role in buying, building and remodeling homes has grown to where she is now 80% – 91% of the primary influence.

Couple that with our current job market. Approximately 72% of the job losses have been men due to the high percentage of construction and manufacturing jobs shed.

There is no doubt that as this decade plays out women will not only continue to be the emotional decision makers- they will also take a larger role in the financial decisions of the home.

Find out how a group of home builders and remodelers are making their companies more appealing to women (and adding to their bottom line)>>

What are your predictions for 2010 and beyond? What tactics will the new and rebuilt home builders, Realtors and Remodelers be using to unleash sales?

Share your thoughts below…

Happy New Year & Happy Selling!

This is a great article by Melanie Notkin, Savvyauntie.com,

http://she-conomy.com/2009/10/15/are-aunts-the-new-mom/

explaining that we may be missing 36% of female buyers ages 20 – 44…those that don’t have children.

Check it out and start thinking about what you can do as a home builder and remodeler to target this niche group of “aunts”…

When you’re done reading this article, check out my video on how home builders and remodelers are utilizing marketing strategies to attract women to their companies>>

Multi-Step Marketing and Position Selling are some new buzz words I’ll be talking about August 25th, 2009 at the MN Builder/Remodeler Sales and Marketing Summit.

It’s happening at 2:00 and you can still walk in to register.

Get directions here>>

If you can’t make it, here’s 2 stages of marketing & selling you can’t ignore!

~Rick


Consider this…

• “Women initiate 80% of all home-improvement purchase decisions, especially when it comes to big-ticket orders like kitchen cabinets, flooring and bathrooms.” (Forbes, 2003).

• “Women directly purchase or have controlling influence in the purchase of 91% of all new homes.” (Smith-Dahmer Associates, NAHB IBS).

• “90% of all construction companies are owned by men.” (Bureau of Labor Statistics).

If you’re a home builder or remodeler, or sell for one, you WANT to pay attention to these 5 buying stages…

Discover a new home and remodeling sales system taylored to women>>

According to Marti Barletta, author of Marketing to Women and PrimeTime Women, when men and women buy as partners, women control at least four out of five stages of the purchasing process (well really all 5 but us men need to get our egos stroked a bit .

Stage I- The Kick-off
Who gets the idea, 8 or 9 times out of 10, to change their housing situation?

When a woman isn’t satisfied with her current living situation it stems from problems.

Do you understand her problems better than anyone else?

The consistent mistake I see builders and remodelers making is jumping to solutions before identifying problems. As a man, I know my problems are DRAMATICALLY different than those of my wife.

Stage II- Research
Now that she’s decided to make a housing change, who do you think does the research?

According to the National Association of Realtors, she’s turning online 87% of the time to begin her home search.

And when she is looking at your website she’s looking to ELIMINATE you, not include you. She’s also checking out blogs, social networking and “CROPing”….

“Before women go shopping, they go CROPing, looking for CRedible OPinions,” maintains Kelley Skoloda Partner and Director of Global Brand Marketing Practice of Ketchum public relations.

Do you the best way to leverage the opinions of your current & past female customers?

Do you know what kind of website appeals to a woman?

Are you interactive in social media? Do you know which types of social media will give you the biggest return?

Do you understand what type of knowledge your female prospects are looking for online?

The bottom line is the housing industry has an incredible disconnect with our primary target market….women.

Our male egos lead us to believe we understand women and how to market and sell to them just because we have in the past.

The FACT is the majority of our previous sales were propelled by an unsustainable seller’s market- the same market that is not returning anytime soon.

Like anything, a process can be learned. And for those that do learn a sales system that appeals to women, the results are dramatic!

Use this link to get the ONLY new home and remodeling sales system designed to appeal to a woman>>

Next week I’ll talk about the Purchase and Ownership Stages. Until then…

Happy Selling!

Hi guys!

Here’s Rob Fritz of Custom One Homes talking about how he has sold…

• 2 models
• 5 to-be-builts
• Over 4.5 million in volume
• And he has another 4 plan deposits

…in 7 months-  during a recession.

Rob has some great insight into his sales process and what he is doing different in 2009 than he did in years before.

To find out the specific strategies Rob uses click here>>

Here’s a little Q&A with Rob that we didn’t put on the video…

Question: Rob, what would you say to any home builder or remodeler (or their sales people) that feel like every prospect they talk to is only interested in price, or doesn’t want to do anything, wait for the market to get better, etc.

Rob: “If your company’s niche is to be the low price leader you have to expect people will focus on price. My builder’s position is not a low price leader. I focus on creating a perceived value that is DIFFERENT than the other guy- both as a salesperson and in the model home presentation (home design & the model shopping experience).

If I get asked about price right away in the relationship I shelve that and ask them, ‘first let’s talk about your goals and see if we have what you’re interested in.’ Then I go back into my needs analysis and find out what their hot buttons are. Only when they become emotionally involved do I talk about price.

If people are telling me they want to wait or not do anything I try to find out why they are at the model in the first place? I ask them what they will gain by waiting or what will be different a year from now. If people are out looking there is something that is not right with their current home lifestyle. I try to figure what that is and then help them see the advantages of moving up in today’s market.

I also like to share stories of other people in similar circumstances and how I’ve been able to help them. This usually encourages them when they realize they aren’t the ONLY people wanting to make a housing change.”

Question: You started your new home sales career “self-trained” or really without training. What impact has a proven new home sales process had on you over the last 3 years?

Rob: “It’s given me the confidence to be the guide and leader with my customers and take them down the right path. They (customers) take me off course a lot. With my training I can get them back on course and move the sale forward.

I’ve gotten a lot of discipline from my training. It’s not always fun to study and train but I do what I have to when I have to do it. For instance, closing is not at the end, it’s all along the way. My training allows me to do all the pre-close initiatives I need to in order to improve my odds of closing the sale at the end.”

Question: What would you tell anyone in new home or remodeling sales that has never had any formal training and is intimidated about changing their selling style?

Rob:  “If you’re intimidated to invest in yourself, learn a new sales process and change your selling style you’ll really be intimidated when you have to change into a new industry. I can’t sell the way I used to either. Buyers are constantly gaining knowledge and the market is always changing. I have to change faster than they do and the only way to do that is to constantly grow and improve through training.”

If you want to hear more from Rob and get your hands on the same techniques and strategies he uses…

Click here for the information>>

Happy Selling!

Rick

P.S. If you’re thinking Rob’s working in a really good market or has a distinct price advantage over his competitors- think again. He deals with foreclosures, short sales and desperate builders slashing prices JUST LIKE YOU.

These techniques work! Check them out for yourself>>

Minnesota Builders Know What Women Want

From BUILDER Online — By: Alison Rice — A fresh approach to marketing, customer service, and home design brings business to small firms during a incredibly difficult market.

When a handful of small Minneapolis-St. Paul builders decided in 2008 to join forces on a woman-centered marketing campaign, they had no idea how timely a decision that would be. “What started out as a marketing strategy turned into a survival strategy,” Rick Storlie of New Home Sales Coach told attendees at the International Builders Show in Las Vegas Tuesday.

Read the entire post –

http://www.builderonline.com/sales-and-marketing/minnesota-builders-know-what-women-want.aspx

What’s Working in Today’s Market…

Are you a member of the Builders Association of Minnesota (BAM)?

Would you like some help in your marketing and sales efforts?

How about finding out how to double or triple your sales?

If you are an associate, home builder or remodeler, you have a once-in-a-lifetime (no B.S.!) chance to discover a system that is selling today.

I’ll be traveling the state of Minnesota the week of May 19^th – 22^nd with three other speakers to show you how builders and remodelers are transforming their websites into lead generating machines using the Woman-Centric philosophy.

Some of these builders have doubled and even quadrupled their sales!

Check out this case study and download a FREE e-guide to see how it’s being done>>

BAM has put together a first rate event “Tune Up & Jump Start: Best New Ideas For Reinventing Your Business” which delivers five of the most interesting speakers on four different days around the state giving you helpful information on topics to help you reinvent your business for the new economy.

All events will be held from 8AM – 12PM (Paul Foresman and me will be speaking from 8:00 – 9:30) , and the dates and locations are listed below. I think most of the sessions will be Free but you need to call your local home builder association to find out. The numbers are below…

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Prior Lake

To register call 651-697-1954

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

St. Cloud

To register call 320-251-4382

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Brainerd

To register call 218-829-4982

Friday, May 22, 2009

Duluth

To register call 218-722-5707

**Also, a FREE ENERGY CODE CLASS “Major Changes to the New Residential Energy Code: Overview and Open Q & A Session” will be held in the afternoon from 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm for all members, building code officials, licensed residential contractors, HVAC contractors and insulation contractors.