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| Bob Hafer,
MIRM, CSP |
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Control what you can, let go what you cannot
Last week I had a conversation with a salesperson I’m currently mentoring. The topic of conversation was the current state of the home building industry. He wanted advice since I’ve survived five market down-turns. He explained he was doing everything he can think of but nothing seems to be working.
This got me to thinking about a philosophy that guides my personal and professional life. I believe in controlling what I can, letting go what I cannot. I know this is easier said than done. That is why I decided to devote this newsletter to explaining my philosophy.
There are basically three things you can focus on in change situations: (1) the things you can control, (2) the things you can influence, (3) the things you cannot control.
This first article focuses on the things you can control; the second article will highlight areas you can influence and the third article will discuss the things you cannot control and why it's important to let go.
Being successful in a tough market is about a struggle every single day to focus on the right things. You can feel a sense of personal power, regardless of market conditions, if you focus on the things you do control.
Things you do control
There are six physiological rules that govern buying and selling, they are:
- Rapport precedes the sale.
- People do things for their reasons and in their own way.
- People buy outcomes.
- The sale begins when the customer says no.
- Lead people to minor decisions.
- Bring people back to make the sale.
You have control over each of these rules. You get to choose how you act or react to each and every prospect you meet. When you understand and follow these simple rules you separate yourself from every other salesperson a prospect is likely to meet. What follows is a brief explanation of each rule.
Rapport precedes the sale – People will only buy from someone they trust. Rapport must come first. People must trust the salesperson before they decide to buy.
People do things for their reasons and in their own way - Sales training typically focuses on features and benefits. This is a useful approach. A good salesperson needs to show how the product will benefit the customer. But when it comes time to sell, the key is to understand and adapt to what the customer wants. Stephen Covey gives great advice in his book Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. His fifth habit is “Seek first to understand to be understood”.
People buy outcomes - Salespeople sell a result, an outcome. People do not buy “oxygen-free copper wire”; they buy better sound for their home theater system. Salespeople cannot sell engineering because most people won't understand it. Salespeople need to use benefits to help people justify a decision. People want to know “What’s in it for me?”
The sale begins when the customer says no - When people raise objections they’re providing salespeople with useful although negative information about the purchase. Objections generally fall into two categories: misunderstandings and drawbacks.
A misunderstanding is usually the result of a prospect lacking information or being misinformed about a particular feature or benefit.
A drawback is usually the result of either a product failing to provide the benefit a prospect considers important or the customer simply not liking something about the house.
The misunderstandings and drawbacks salespeople encounter become “stumbling blocks” or “stepping stones” depending on how they’re heard, seen or felt by the salesperson.
Lead people to minor decisions - This is the basic truth of selling. When salespeople ask for minor decisions they provide the momentum for a prospect to say “Yes”. To get to “Yes” salespeople must be proficient in asking tie down and trial close questions. Therefore, the first step toward improving closing skills is to enhance the ability to discover and qualify. The more proficient salespeople are in this vital area, the more successful they will be in closing.
Bring people back to make the sale - The follow up, contrary to what the name may seem to imply, is not limited to what salespeople do after they say “Good bye”. More properly, it could be described as what salespeople do after they say “Hello”.
In short, follow up involves taking the necessary steps from the outset of the sales presentation to bring prospects back a second time to review product with fresh-eyes, ask additional discovery and qualifying questions, build value in homes and homesites, thereby moving the prospect steadily toward a full or partial buying decision and, if required, scheduling another appointment.
Builder Radio interviews Bob Hafer
If you want to learn more about the six rules go to www.BuilderRadio.com. I discuss each rule during an exclusive interview with Jerry Rouleau.
I also offer a two-day seminar where I share selling strategies connected to each rule. Contact me at 972-795-5926 or email me at BuildingResults@BobHafer.com.
Choice not chance determines success
Yes, it is your choice. You get to choose how you act or react with each prospect you meet. You get to choose your outcome by the actions you take. If you choose to sit back and wait for the market to come to you, most likely, your result will not be good. But if you choose to follow the rules outlined above, results will improve. Like I said, "It’s your choice". Remember that choice not chance always determines success – choose wisely.
Send to a friend
Before reading the next two articles I have a favor to ask. I want you to send this newsletter to 5 people who you feel will benefit from the ideas included. My goal is to send this newsletter to at least 1000 people monthly. To achieve this goal I need your help. At the bottom of the newsletter you will find a ‘Send to a Friend’ button. Just click and follow the easy introductions. Thank you in advance for helping me and your friend achieve their goals. It is appreciated!
Robert E. Hafer Seminars
To learn more about Robert E. Hafer seminars and workshops and purchase Building Results – The Ultimate How-To Guide For New Homes Sales, visit www.BobHafer.com, email Bob at BuildingResults@BobHafer.comor call 972-795-5926.
Good Luck and Good Selling!
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Things you can influence
Before going further I want you to stop and think about influence. What is influence and how do you know when you have it?
The Oxford dictionary defines influence as the effect a person or thing has on another. Understanding this definition is important because success in selling is dependent upon the effect you have on another. If the person you are attempting to influence does not trust you, you will have no effect on that person. Therefore, identifying the things you can influence is a sure-way to gain customer trust.
The person with the most knowledge will have the most influence
You probably have the heard the adage ‘knowledge is power’. What you may not know is that with knowledge you earn influence. And Influence is the foundation on which a new home sale is built.
The Building Results’ sales process teaches how to establish common ground with prospects. Once you identify with prospects, the next step is to ask questions to discover and understand what is important. When you understand what is important, a prospect will allow you to influence them.
It may sound simple, but it’s not. It takes a great deal of preparation on your part to obtain the knowledge necessary to earn a customer’s trust and confidence. The important thing to understand is that knowledge is the key to influence. Remember this vital point - The person with the most knowledge will have the most influence.
Preparation
Several years ago I was listening to talk radio; the announcer was talking about 600 high school seniors that were not going to graduate because they had failed a 8th grade reading competency test nine times. He explained that these individuals had failed the reading test once in their 8th grade year and two times a year from their freshman through senior year. This story has stayed with me for many years because I know that those 600 students may be doomed to mediocrity because they lack the basic knowledge to read. And without being able to read they limit their chance for personal success.
While this is a sad story it can serve as a catalyst to do everything possible to gather the knowledge needed to communicate effectively with every new home prospect. Be assured it will be knowledge that causes prospects to trust the words you speak. Knowledge gives you credibility. Knowledge is the pathway to influence, and influence leads to new home sales success.
The following information outlines the basic knowledge required to influence prospects. Gathering this information is not easy. It will take you time and effort but the knowledge gathered will differentiate you from the other salespeople your prospects are likely to meet.
Builder – Critical areas of knowledge include length of time in business, financial strength, number of homes built annually, warranty and service policy and procedures, local or national management, and awards builder has received for outstanding customer service or unique style and design.
Builder policies and procedures – Critical areas of knowledge include sales agreements, earnest money, lot holds, and conduct of employees, drugs and alcohol, performance appraisals, standards of business conduct, contract addenda, deposits, construction starts, customer relations, fair housing and contingencies.
Community – Critical community information includes unique selling propositions per homesite, probable streetscapes, use of adjacent parcels, closest service businesses, community covenants and restrictions, homesite availability, local amenities, owner or developer, site premiums and options per site.
Area – Essential school and community information includes location, national test scores, PTA president, principals, class size, phone numbers, facilities, shopping, fire and police departments, major traffic accesses, public transportation, recreation areas, tax information, service businesses, travel times to key locations and utility services.
Homes and options – Critical information includes square footage of each house, square footage of the living space, square footage of each room, options available per home and per home and homesite combination, product features and benefits, prices, unique selling propositions per floor plan and itemized cost of home ownership per plan.
Homesites – Important homesite information includes the size of each homesite, acceptable homes and options per site, location of the building envelope, compass directions for sun orientation, driveway location, community map, unique selling propositions per homesite, premiums, precise corners, tree inventory, and possible walkout availability from basements.
Financing – When you fail to understand the critical elements of new home financing you are leaving success up to chance. Make the right choice – learn all you can about new home financing including these subjects: available program types and rates, qualifying criteria, appropriate ratios, approval times and credit repair.
Handling resistance – Possible areas of resistance include: homes, homesites, community, location, financing and builder.
Competition – The minimum data that you should keep current includes the following: community, products and floor plans, prices and price per square foot, standard features and options, quality of home sites, delivery times, incentives to purchase, financing and sales staff.
Send to a friend
Before reading the last article I have a favor to ask. I want you to send this newsletter to 5 people who you feel will benefit from the ideas and principles included. If you've already done so, thank you. My goal is to send this newsletter to at least 1000 people monthly. To achieve this goal I need your help. At the bottom of the newsletter you will find a ‘Send to a Friend’ button. Just click and follow the easy introductions. Thank you in advance for helping me and your friend achieve their goals. It is appreciated!
Robert E. Hafer Seminars
To learn more about Robert E. Hafer seminars and workshops and purchase Building Results – The Ultimate How-To Guide For New Homes Sales, visit www.BobHafer.com, email Bob at BuildingResults@BobHafer.comor call 972-795-5926.
Good Luck and Good Selling!
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Things you cannot control
In his book, Raving Fans, Ken Blanchard uses a simple story to teach readers how to turn distrustful customers into Raving Fans. I know you meet people everyday that see you as an obstacle rather than someone to be trusted. The question is can you control how someone else feels? The answer is no. What you do control is ‘letting go’ when the time is right.
My first two articles included ideas on controlling what you can and how to influence people through knowledge. This article teaches you how-to ‘let go’ of things you cannot control.
You may find this hard to believe but when you ‘let go’ you begin to relax and become more effective. The more you allow yourself to get comfortable with the possibility of customers not doing what you want them to do, the more your body will relax. When you are in a state of relaxed alertness, you have more of your resources available for you to act.
As it happens, a key attribute of successful salespeople is that they put people at ease. And the quickest way to help someone relax is to be relaxed yourself. As you do this, you’ll stop telegraphing your own need. And the best way to do this is by following the first magic secret of creating a Raving Fan.
Decide what you want
The first secret to creating Raving Fans is to decide what you want. Once you know what you want it becomes easy to recognize when it’s time to ‘let go’. The problem is most salespeople do not know what they want. Do you know what you want?
Several years ago I was traveling almost every week to meet with builders and salespeople. I like to stay as organized as possible, so having my shirts laundered saves time. I want three things from a dry cleaner (1) sleeves creased (2) light starch (3) each shirt placed in separate bag. I don’t feel these are unreasonable requests.
I noticed a new dry cleaner had opened close to my home. I observed that shirts were washed on the premises and were hand-ironed. I was encouraged by what I saw and decided to stop and talk to the owner about laundering my shirts. I explained that I travel 50 weeks a year and will drop off laundry every Friday or Saturday. I also verbalized my wants.
The owner said yes to my first two requests (sleeves creased and light starch) but said no to my third request (separate bags). His answer surprised me. But after I thought about it I realized he was right to say "No". This dry cleaner had decided what he wanted. He knew that if he said ‘Yes’ to me and then did not deliver my shirts in separate bags, I would be dissatisfied. By deciding what he wanted he was assuring me of good customer service. He knew his business was not for everybody. He would rather say "No" to me in the beginning rather than disappoint me later. He knew when to ‘let go’.
You are not for everybody
The simple truth is you are not for everybody. There will be times when you will not be able to meet a prospect's demands. There will times when the community next door will offer better incentives. There is nothing you can do about what you don’t control.
Decide now what you want from each encounter you have with a prospect. Make a decision to do your best to build rapport; to discover what is important; to demonstrate every home and homesite; to handle resistance; to ask for the order, and to follow-up every prospect. If you do all these things and still can’t satisfy a prospects' needs then ‘let go’.
The one thing I know for sure is that ‘sales are like buses, miss one, wait a few minutes and here comes another one’. I know in this difficult market it is a hard thing to do but you must recognize when it’s time to ‘let go’. Everyone wins. You win because you’re able to move-on to the next customer and customer’s win because they can move-on to a builder willing to meet their need.
Nothing begins until you begin
Nothing magical will happen with the strategies discussed in this newsletter until you initiate, implement and integrate the ideas into your personal selling style and habit patterns. This month think about the idea of controlling what you can control, letting go what you cannot. I assure you if you have done everything you can to satisfy your customer's needs and it’s still not enough, it’s time to ‘let go’.
Send to a friend
Before reading the last article I have a favor to ask. I want you to send this newsletter to 5 people who you feel will benefit from the ideas and principles included. If you have already done so, thank you. My goal is to send this newsletter to at least 1000 people monthly. To achieve this goal I need your help. At the bottom of the newsletter you will find a ‘Send to a Friend button. Just click and follow the easy introductions. Thank you in advance for helping me and your friend achieve their goals. It is appreciated!
Robert E. Hafer Seminars
To learn more about Robert E. Hafer seminars and workshops and purchase Building Results – The Ultimate How-To Guide For New Homes Sales, visit www.BobHafer.com, email Bob at BuildingResults@BobHafer.comor call 972-795-5926.
Good Luck and Good Selling!
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