FEATURE STORY
for urgency. You must create it. If you’re waiting for highly motivated customers, you’re missing the boat. Do yourself a favor and see everyone as a buyer—even those who come in saying they just want decorating ideas. Get them talking about their current home and the others they’re “just looking” at. Get them to open up.
Creating Urgency in Your Buyers T
here’s no denying that the new home sales market is tough right now. And that’s exactly why you can’t wait
just facilitating contracts with those who already want to buy.
According to my research, 65 to 70 percent of all prospects are “just looking” and the majority of reported sales come from the remaining 30 to 35 percent—those who were already planning to buy. So sales professionals need to be able to convert the buyers who don’t come in with their pocketbooks open. These are the ones who will eventually buy when the reward of the new home outweighs the consequences of staying put. Commission sales is about creating urgency in buyers and converting just looking buyers, not
People buy new homes to improve their lives. And people are still buying homes because they’re motivated to change whatever they feel is not quite right with their situation. Sales professionals can create urgency in their buyers by leading the process, asking the right questions, understanding the “whys” behind their professed needs, and solving their problems.
If you’re a salesperson, you must lead or you may as well find another career. Independent scholar Joel Barker defines a leader as a person you follow to a place you would not go on your own. If someone gets as far as walking through your sales office door, they are looking for a new home sales professional to help them accomplish their goals. As the leader in the sales relationship, you dictate the flow, pace and direction of
the visit. If your prospects are looking for a new home, then they’re not satisfied with their current situation. And you are the one who can help your clients find something they will be satisfied with. You know the most about the process, the homes and the community. You’re doing your customers a favor by helping them reach their goal, not by sitting back and observing the process. See yourself as a human GPS or a tour guide and lead your customers where they’re trying to go.
Leading doesn’t mean that you do all the talking though. Part of leading is asking the right questions and listening— really listening—to the responses. That’s how you’ll be able to identify the right destination and walk prospects toward it. Generic questions will get generic answers. Instead, ask need-revealing questions such as the following: What would you change about your current
Continued on next page 10 NOVEMBER 2011 | HOUSTON BUILDER | GREATER HOUSTON BUILDERS ASSOCIATION – BUILDING A BETTER FUTURE
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