Archive for the ‘sales education' tag
How to Sell 4.5 million in New Home Sales in 7 Months During a Recession
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>>
My Memorial Weekend Fun Run
Here’s my 8 mile fun run this weekend. I’m running with a friend that is training for a 1/2 marathon. Exercise is a lot like selling and business. If you don’t constantly challenge yourself (mind and body) to try new things you reach a plateau.
I haven’t run 8 miles for quite a while so I’ll be sore for a couple of days from the experience. But, once I’ve achieved this I know I’ll be in better shape and able to see the results of my training with increased energy and stamina.
Marketing, sales and business education are the same. You push yourself to learn new strategies, implement them and measure the results. Most of the time, just like exercise, it may take weeks and months to begin to see the effects. Six months, 1 year and more later you look back and say, ‘look how far I’ve come. They’re still so much more to accomplish but I’m so far ahead of where I was.’
Happy Selling!
Success Stories
The greatest thrill I get as a trainer, manager and coach is to see one of the salespeople I work with see some success by applying the sales techniques I teach. There is nothing better as an educator to take someone who is more or less raw, shape them through education and watch them come into their own.
Before I share these stories with you I should give you a little background on these folks. They did not come to me with a lot of experience (in fact, I have never been able to train anyone with a lot of experience because they suffer from that terrible disease know-it-all-itus!). They don’t have their masters or PhD’s. These people are pretty much just like me and you.
Some of the qualities they do have in common are the following: They are unassuming and have great attitudes. Despite all the hard work, they know how to have fun. They are persistent and love to get constructive direction and give their own feedback. They are team players. All of them have worked in other industries and bring some of that knowledge with them. Most importantly, they are disciplined and do what they need to do to get a sale.
Sell that model!
We will call our first salesperson Roy (I’ve changed the real names to protect the innocent!). Roy was working with one of our builder clients in a temporary model home this year. The reason we call it temporary was due to the fact that we put it up outside of a new area we were going into. The new area was under construction and we used the model to sell into it. Well as we all know, we have a bit of an inventory challenge today. This particular model was no different in that it had plenty of other competition, both new and used.
Our policy is to always attend showings by outside Realtors and Roy had one on this particular day. He attended the showing and found out this particular couple was a transfer buyer and along with their Realtor had seen 70 homes this past week. When they first walked into Roy’s model that home was nothing more than showing #71.
At the first visit, Roy disarmed the Realtor but sincerely complementing him in front of the buyers. He then dug into just what the buyers were looking for. When he found out the hot buttons from the buyers, he went to work. In the next 10 minutes he demonstrated how his location, neighborhood and home could satisfy their hot buttons.
Before the showing ended, Roy asked a minor close question, “How do you think our location and home would work for you?” The buyers gave him two objections to which he carefully wrote down. Before they left, he created some urgency by explaining the amount of market research he had done in the area and how this home was a great value. He also let the buyers and agent know of other upcoming showings (he may have embellished a bit).
After the showing Roy followed up with the agent and found out the buyers wanted to come back and take another look at the home when they were back in town. Roy set up the showing date and time right then and there. At our next strategy meeting we discussed the two objections and how we could minimize them.
Objection #1: The buyers were concerned about a nearby power plant and if the emissions could have a negative impact on their children.
Solution: Roy called the power plant directly and spoke to a representative. The representative sent him some information documented by outside sources on the emissions. It turns out there were no issues. He also contact the National Weather Service to find out what the prevailing winds were in the area to see if the emissions would come towards their home.
Objection #2: The buyers were confused by how the lower level would finish out and if they could finish the rooms they wanted.
Solution: Roy met with the builder’s designer and reviewed their wish list. She drew out a potential layout to show to the buyers.
At the next showing Roy was excited with the information he had discovered. He brought copies of his research for the buyer and Realtor and showed how the emissions were safe. He also showed the data from the weather service that showed the prevailing winds would also blow the emissions away, not towards the home.
Next he tackled the lower level. Prior to the buyers arriving, Roy had scaled the plan and put tape down on the floor of the lower level and demonstrated the lower level with the customers as if it was already finished. He made sure to involve the Realtor in the demonstration to get him excited about the possibilities.
Before the buyers left, they told Roy his home was in their top 3 and they would be making a decision before they left town again. Sure enough, Sunday night we received a purchase agreement that was nearly full price!
Asking for the sale
With all of our builder clients, we mystery shop our salespeople to check if they are using the techniques they have been taught. We will call our next salesperson John. On John’s mystery shop, he did a pretty good job up until the asking for the sales where he fell flat on his face.
We worked with John on his closing techniques by role playing on how he could work some of these techniques into his presentation. John immediately took the information and training and incorporated it into his scripts. He now has several minor close techniques that he uses with customers to take their temperature during the presentation so he can flush objections and continue with major closes.
Almost immediately after working with John on these issues, we saw some results. It started with homesite reservations, then it moved to plan deposits and now we are seeing the purchase agreements. He sold both his model home and inventory home and several pre-sold homes. The builder was so impressed by John he is building two other homes and John continues to work with customers on pre-sold homes.
In the last 6 months, since we had John mystery shopped, he has made at least one sale a month and today, in December, has more prospects that he has had all year. It hasn’t been always been a smooth road. John has had several cancellations of reservations, plan deposits and one sale in the same time period. I have to constantly remind him that the more sales and opportunities you have, the higher the cancellation rate. A good salesperson will have a 20-25% cancellation rate because they are making the sales that others can’t or won’t.
Every salesperson and builder I work with, we focus on one thing, the sales process. We know that we can’t rely on the market to sell our homes so we rely on ourselves. Roy and John or any of the other salespeople I work with are by no means mistake free. We still work every week to improve our sales process and strategize on how to get that next sale. We can say this much; we are beginning to take market share away from other salespeople and builders. Yes times are tough but they are much harder for those waiting for something to happen.
Things don’t change, we change. Things don’t get better, we get better.
