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Strategic partnership with Charlie Roter
It is with pleasure that I announce a strategic partnership between myself and Charlie Roter. With over 20 years of training experience, Charlie is considered to be one of the best sales trainers in the new home industry.
Charlie brings a very unique style to his teaching; a style that is based on understanding and giving. When you attend a Charlie Roter seminar he will change the way you sell because he changes the way you look at selling.
Charlie will be a monthly contributor to my newsletter. Beginning in October look for 'Charlies Corner'. Each month he will provide insight into how to sell the way people want to buy.
To learn more about Charlie go to www.CharlieRoter.com, or email Charlie at buildingresults@CharlieRoter.com or call 719-205-1385.
Public seminars
Charlie and I will be conducting public seminars starting in October, 2008. Our first seminar is scheduled for Raleigh, North Carolina on October 8, 2008. We will follow this seminar in Denver, Colorado on November 12, 2008. A training calendar is available on our website www.BuildingResults.net.
Do what you do well, even better
ExSell is a one-day innovative seminar that helps salespeople do what they already do well, even better. ExSell is an interactive seminar that combines traditional new home sales training ideas with Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) principles and practices.
During this one-day seminar salespeople learn the six key psychological rules that govern buying and selling. No new home sales training seminar has ever provided such a comprehensive roadmap to new home sales success,
until now. Be on the look-out for how-to register for this powerful seminar on www.BuildingResults.net.
Send to a friend
Thank you for reading my newsletter. Please do me a favor and forward this newsletter to 5 people who you feel will benefit from the ideas and principles included.
My goal is to send this newsletter to at least 1000 people monthly. If you have already forwarded my newsletter, thank you. If you have not, please take the time now to help your friends become more successful.
At the bottom of the newsletter you will find a Send to a Friend button. Just click and follow the easy instructions. Thank you in advance for helping me and your friends 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.com or call 972-795-5926.
Good Luck and Good Selling!
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A ray of sunshine
It’s no secret that the U.S. housing market has taken big hits recently. Rising costs of living, record-high gas prices, the subprime mortgage crisis and foreclosures have the market wondering, what’s next? It is not surprising that many salespeople are ready to throw in the towel and move on to other occupations. Who can blame them – certainly not me? It is hard to remain positive when you open the newspaper, turn on the radio or television and are bombarded with bad news.
However, if you are reading this newsletter you are weathering the storm – congratulations!! I offer you a ‘ray of sunshine’ in this month’s newsletter. The story I’m going to share with you is true. Take your time reading the story – look for ways you can immolate the virtues of Erica Feidner. The story is reprinted with permission from Howard Stevens, author of Achieving Sales Excellence.
Sales success story
It is not unusual to find a salesperson profiled in a business magazine. However, it is rare to find such a profile in The New Yorker, a literary magazine covering contemporary culture. Then, one of its writers, James Stewart, went to Steinway Hall, the piano maker’s flagship showroom in Manhattan, and met Erica Feidner, who in 2001 had been Steinway & Son’s top salesperson for six years running. She sold $4 million worth of pianos in 1999.
Feidner’s success derived from her ability to match potential buyers to pianos. Her New Yorker profile “Matchmaker” (August 20, 2001) opens with a description of how after a discussion with a new customer, Feidner writes a number on a slip of paper. She then leads the customer through the 300-odd pianos on display, the largest inventory of Steinways in the world. The customer plays more than a dozen, but is unable to find one that is exactly right. Feidner mentions that there is a new arrival, which she has played but is not yet on the floor. The piano is brought to the display floor and, while playing it, the customer quickly realizes the piano is perfect. Feidner produces the piece of paper on which she had written the number earlier in the day. The number matches the serial number of the piano the customer has decided to buy.
Magic?
It certainly feels that way to many of the customers who seek out Feidner when they shop for a Steinway. But as Stewart delves into her methods, another picture emerges. For instance, at the beginning of the sale, Feidner habitually spends an hour or more chatting with the customer about the customer’s level of play, playing style, taste in music, where and how often the customer will play the piano, what he or she will play on it, and what kind of response, action, and tone the customer expects.
Although she is trained as a professional pianist, Feidner insists that her customers play. She leaves her customers alone while they play. If she is working with inexperienced piano players or non-players she teaches them how to hear, feel, and describe the differences in pianos, and teaches them simple tunes so that they can play too.
Highest closing ratio?
Interestingly, Erica Feidner does not always have the company’s highest closing ratio with walk-in customers. One of the reasons is that she does not push her customers into buying decisions. Another reason is that she is driven to sell each of her customers the perfect piano. She will often ask a customer to wait until the right piano materializes.
Luckily, Feidner does not need to close sales quickly to maintain her sales volume. Instead, she spends a substantial portion of her time maintaining contact with and providing service to her existing customers. As a result she is able to maintain her flow of sales through referrals.
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. My goal is to send this newsletter to at least 1000 people monthly. To achieve this goal I need your help. If you have already forwarded my newsletter to 5 friends or colleagues, thanks! If not, at the bottom of the newsletter you will find a Send to a Friend button. Just click and follow the easy instructions. 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.com or call 972-795-5926.
Good Luck and Good Selling!
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How does Erica’s success relate to new home sales?
How does Feidner’s highly successful selling strategy relate to your sales situation? Let’s review its major elements:
- The salesperson has expert knowledge of the product.
- The sales process is intensely focused on the customer’s needs and the intended use of the product being purchased.
- The process includes the education and guidance that the customer requires to make the best buying decision.
- The salesperson refuses to sell a product that will not fulfill the customer’s needs.
- The salesperson treats the sale itself as the first step in an ongoing process designed to ensure that the customer receives all the benefits of the purchase.
I have several questions for you
How is your knowledge of your homes, homesites, community, location, financing and builder? Be honest – are you prepared to give people the quality of service that only comes through preparation? If not, commit to study the benefits of your homes, homesites, community, location, financing and builder. Go slow, be methodical, and before you know it your presentations will take on an air of confidence and enthusiasm. Remember people want to do business with professionals – professionalism begins with preparation.
Are you taking enough time to understand your prospects and more importantly how they intend to use the home? Stephan Covey says it best with his 5th habit of highly effective people, “Seek first to understand to be understood”. Follow Mr. Covey’s advice and understand your prospects needs and then show them what they described. Everyone wins – your customer wins because you demonstrate listening and then you win because your presentation is on target by meeting the needs of each individual prospect.
Are you building value in your homes by educating prospects on the benefits of your homes, homesites, community, location, financing and builder? Demonstrating is educating. If you are looking for a way to differentiate yourself from the competition start demonstrating and educating today! Be like Erica – let your prospects experience the home by trying and touching. Confucius said, “What people hear they forget, what they see they believe, what they do, they remember”. Get people participating and sales will increase.
Are you trying to sell prospects homes that don’t meet their needs? Many popular new home sales books teach salespeople to ignore obvious buyer resistance and push forward anyhow. My advice is to follow Erica’s lead and admit when you don’t have the right product. Remember you are not for everyone. There will be times when your homes, homesite, community and location do not meet your prospects specific needs. Relax and admit it. Your customer will appreciate it and will thank you for being professional.
Are you following through after the closing to ensure your new homeowner is happy and satisfied? If not, begin today to develop a follow through strategy that keeps you connected. The benefit is referrals! If you don’t believe me ask your Realtor friends. Referrals are the lifeblood of a Realtor’s business.
Building Results
The Ultimate How-To Guide for New Home Sales
I told you the story of Eric Feidner because she represents professionalism. Our industry is undergoing significant changes. In order for you to succeed with today’s home buyer you must be a professional.
Gone are the days when you could just show up at the model home and write a sale. Gone are the days when prospects will wait until you have time to meet with them? Gone are the days when you could wonder haphazardly through a sales presentation and still write a sale. To succeed in today’s challenging market you must understand today’s challenging ‘new’ home buyer.
To sell today you must be willing to do things ‘for and with’ your home buyers not just ‘to’ your home buyers. That is exactly the strategy that Erica Feidner demonstrates with each prospect. She is there ‘for’ them. I believe in her strategy.
In my book, Building Results – The Ultimate How-To Guide for New Home Sales, I take the reader step by step through a surprisingly uncomplicated program, teaching readers how to create an environment in which they psychologically embrace the buyer and develop a profound understanding of customers' needs and desires. My book includes what may be the most important information you can learn and use:
- New home selling is intelligent conversation between two parties who have a similar goal in mind – the purchase and sale of a new home.
- This goal is accomplished only when a salesperson and prospect discover common points of interest that brings about alignment and agreement.
- These two critical issues require a simple formula: In order to lead, a salesperson first must be willing to follow.li>
To learn more about my book go to my website www.BobHafer.com. There you can download the first three sections for free. If you buy my book and don’t feel it advances your sales career, return it and I will return your money.
If you want to sell like Erica, buy my book. I believe Building Results-The Ultimate How-To Guide for New Home Sales will positively revolutionize the sales process for sales professionals throughout the nation. If you want more information about my book email me at buildingresults@BobHafer.com or call 972-795-5926.
If you want information about my many workshops go to www.BobHafer.com. Click on Seminars and you can secure information about all my seminars. I look forward to hearing from you and serving you in the near future.
Send to a friend
Thank you for reading my newsletter. You now have a choice to make - choose Erica’s direction or continue to do what you’ve always done. Once you adopt Erica’s selling strategy you will begin seeing, feeling and hearing results immediately. The choice is yours to make – remember that choice not chance always determines success.
Make the right choice and begin today to meet the challenge of today’s ‘new’ home buyer. Additional sales and income will be the result.
Forward this newsletter
Please do me a favor, forward this newsletter to 5 people who you feel will benefit from the ideas and principles included. My goal is to send this newsletter to at least 1000 people monthly. If you have already forwarded my newsletter, thank you. If you have not, please take the time now to help your friends become more successful.
At the bottom of the newsletter you will find a Send to a Friend button. Just click and follow the easy instructions. Thank you in advance for helping me and your friends 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 me at buildingresults@BobHafer.com or call 972-795-5926.
Good Luck and Good Selling!
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