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situation? What changed in your life that your current house is not working for you? Of the homes that you’ve seen so far, what’s missing that would help you accomplish what you’re looking for?
My wife Shelly and I recently went shopping for a new refrigerator at Best Buy. By asking the right questions, the sales professional led the process. First, we couldn’t decide between two refrigerators. We liked one with French doors and large drawers, but it was a little small on the inside. The other was larger inside but lacked the kind of drawers we liked. Mike, our sales professional, asked a few questions about our kitchen and entertaining habits. He uncovered that Shelly uses large platters that wouldn’t fit well in the first option, so we decided on the second. Because he asked the right questions, we decided that the large inside space was preferable for our needs. By asking questions, you give yourself the opportunity to provide solutions.
Understanding the “whys” behind your buyers’ needs is a key to providing solutions. Since a person’s desire to improve their life drives their home buying decision, make it your goal to ask questions that go deeper. Top producers seek the truth and get inside the customer’s head to find out what each buyer wants to change. Who doesn’t want someone who can anticipate and address their needs?
For example, a sales professional in Florida may encounter a retired snowbird from Michigan who says they want to get away from the cold and snow. That’s good information to have, but don’t stop at that answer. Snow and cold weather may be the catalyst that starts the conversation, but that’s not really the driving factor behind their desire to move. Go three whys deep. Maybe they’re uninterested or unable to shovel their driveways or maybe they just don’t want to go outside in the cold. Or maybe they just want to be able to get out and enjoy life. Again, the motivation is to improve their lives and it’s not always the obvious one. If you go three whys deep and find that
Understanding the “whys” behind your buyers’ needs is a key to providing solutions. Since a person’s desire to improve their life drives their home buying decision, make it your goal to ask questions that go deeper. Do they need a home office? A bigger backyard? A kitchen for entertaining? Once you uncover their problems, use the floor plan and community as a blank canvas to help solve them.
they’re motivated to get out and enjoy life, then you’d want to sell the lifestyle of your community, or the amenities (like golf, restaurants and classes) that are applicable to their needs.
Once you get down to their true motivation, sell to that. Sales professionals are problem solvers. They know their community, product and process better than anybody else. Even though I’m in the industry, I needed a sales professional to help solve one of my major issues in my home search. My sales professional provided a solution I hadn’t even thought of. I work from home and since the kids are there during the day, I need something that’s quiet and separated from the main living area. My wife and I thought that in order to accomplish that, we had to buy a home that was over 5,000 square feet (much bigger than we wanted).
Eventually, someone asked those need- revealing questions and we found that we didn’t have to compromise on our desires; we could have less square footage and still have a separate space for my home office.
The majority of your prospect’s desires are hidden like ours were. Clients are unlikely to volunteer the problems and say, “Solve these and I’ll buy from you.” Once you uncover their problems, use the floor plan and community as a blank canvas to help solve them.
There’s a lot you can’t control, but what you can do is focus on mastering the sales process. Be the best at finding out the customer’s problems and at selling the solution. If you’re not the best, then invest in the training that will get you there. This is what separates the average salespeople from the sales professionals.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: As a sales professional, author, professional speaker and consultant, Jason Forrest helps homebuilders increase closings and profits through leadership sales training. His books include Creating Urgency in a Non-Urgent Housing Market and 40 Day Sales Dare for New Home Sales. He can be reached at
jason@jforrestgroup.com and
www.jforrestgroup.com.
12 NOVEMBER 2011 | HOUSTON BUILDER | GREATER HOUSTON BUILDERS ASSOCIATION – BUILDING A BETTER FUTURE
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