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| Bob Hafer,
MIRM, CSP |
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Understanding the importance of time
Times are changing. I remember when I was a child, my parents did not come to all my little league games, but today's parents are expected not only to attend but get involved. It is not unusual for parents to spend an entire weekend driving their children from one event to another.
Today you can have a fax machine put in your car, positioned next to your cell phone and blackberry, so people can reach you instantaneously with printed or oral messages. All done in the name of convenience and time-saving.
What has all this gained you? Not more time. You already know there isn’t any more. Not more freedom. If you pay someone to clean your home while you stay late at the sales office, you're only trading one chore for another. Not more peace of mind. All around you see exhausted co-workers, frazzled parents juggling multiple hectic schedules. Time, which once seemed plentiful, has grown elusive and tight. As a country we seem to have run out of time.
And how does this ‘run out of time’ impact you as a new home salesperson? The answer is plenty.
Time-wasting salespeople
Today’s new homebuyer doesn’t have adequate time to shop for a new home. According to research conducted by a popular builder magazine, 70% of both spouses are working outside the home. The majority of these jobs are full-time and many require an excess of 40 hours per week.
Your new home customers have a limited amount of time to devote to finding and purchasing a home. This is the reason a prospect wants to control the selling process. Customers understand that if they are not careful, time-wasting salespeople will steal what little time is available. The only way to gain the trust and confidence of your prospect is to demonstrate a respect for time.
This month’s newsletter focuses on the importance of time and how you can turn what limited time you’re given into productive time for you and your prospects. When you respect a prospect’s valuable time something interesting happens – by respecting time you’re given more time.
The Sales Institute of America
The Sales Institute of America has conducted research that provides evidence that for every thirty minutes you spend with a client your chance of closing that client increases by 50%. So the more time you spend with a client the more likely you are to sell to that client.
The next two articles lay out a strategy that not only demonstrates respect for time but it provides you four strategies that will separate you from the competition. My experience is that when you begin using the ideas contained in the next two articles your sales and income will increase.
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 and principles 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 click here, email Bob at Send Emailor call 972-795-5926.
Good Luck and Good Selling!
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A process of elimination
Today’s homebuyer uses a process of elimination to decide on which communities to visit. According to national statistics, compiled by the NAHB, most customers will visit between six and ten model home communities before making a decision.
Community locations are chosen based upon proximity to work, highways, services, schools, shopping, word of mouth and referrals. People also spend time reviewing builder ads and many are now making intensive Internet searches to narrow down their choices. Make no mistake about this, your prospective new homebuyers have a definite strategy for maximizing time.
Develop a time strategy
In order to be successful in new home selling today, you must also have a buying and selling strategy to maximize the time your prospect gives you. Your buying and selling 'time strategy' begins to form shortly after your greeting with the following question:
“How much time do you have to spend with me today?”
This simple question determines what type of sales presentation you can effectively present that day. If the answer is fifteen to twenty minutes (which by the way is the national average for first-time visits) then you know that it is impossible to conduct a full sales presentation. Your selling strategy must be modified to fit the time constraints placed on you by your prospect.
Build a bridge between you and your prospect
You might be concerned about asking a question that seems to allow the prospect to control the selling process. Remember the primary benefit of determining needs (and time is a definite need) is that it allows you to build a bridge between you and your prospect. The result is trust and confidence in you. You are actively demonstrating a respect for your prospect’s time. You are separating yourself from all other salespeople who may be labeled as time-wasters.
Today's homebuyer is an educated consumer. They have been to other model homes and have heard many sales presentations. Unfortunately, most sales presentations sound alike. You have an opportunity to set yourself apart by being different. When you demonstrate a respect for time you are building rapport. And people want to do business with people they like and trust.
Laying the foundation for your sales strategy
When your prospect provides you with an answer to the question, “How much time do you have to spend with me today?” you must follow the response with your reason for asking the question. Your reason lays the foundation for your selling strategy. Here’s an example of how this might work:
Salesperson: “How much time do you have to spend with me today?”
Customer: “Well, I’m not sure. We have several communities we intend to visit today. I guess, fifteen to twenty minutes.”
Salesperson:“I understand, fifteen to twenty minutes. The reason I asked about time is because I want to focus on the things that are important to you. We can discuss our homes, homesites, location, financing, community or builder.
Adding the magic word 'because'
In the 1970’s a researcher conducted a revealing experiment. He asked a group of college students to approach people who were waiting to use a photocopier, and had them say the following:
“Excuse me; I have five pages, may I use the copier because I am in a rush?”
More than ninety per cent of the time, the person they asked let them go in front. He did another experiment saying the following:
“Excuse me; I have five pages, may I use the copier?”
This time only sixty per cent of the people they asked allowed them to go ahead. At first, the researcher thought that it was the “because I’m in a rush” that made the difference. But then they experimented with other ‘reasons’ and they still were allowed to go in front more than ninety percent of the time.
Just by adding the magic word ‘because’ to their request, they increased the chance of it being granted by over fifty percent. And why is it like that? Because people love to have reasons for things.
People love to have reasons for things because it makes them feel secure. You live in hurry-up world, and part of the magic of the human nervous system is that it superimposes a gird of certainty and security on your chaotic world. When you give a customer a reason for something, their brain goes “Oh good, as long as there’s a reason”.
Six home-buying decisions
And the reason is you want to focus ‘only’ on what is important to them. When people buy a new home they will make six decisions: home, homesite, community, location, financing and builder. Until you get someone to say 'yes' to all six of these decisions, you won’t earn the right to ask for the order.
Too often salespeople forget that people will only purchase four or five homes in a lifetime. Salespeople take for granted that a new customer knows what type decisions need to be made. This is a big mistake. By telling people what decisions have to be made, you lay the groundwork for how you will sell, and how your customer will buy. People want to know what has to done to buy a house and when you tell them you are appreciated.
Be sure to read the next article because it completes the buying and selling 'time strategy'.
Send to a friend
Before reading the next 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 sent it to 5 people, thank you. If not. you will find a 'Send to a friend' button at the bottom of the newsletter, 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 click here, email Bob at Send Emailor call 972-795-5926.
Good Luck and Good Selling!
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What do you want to accomplish today?
Once you ask the question about time, and provide the reason you asked, you must complete the strategy by asking your customer the final question:
What do you want to accomplish today?
Remember your customer must make six decisions: they must decide on community, location, homes, homesite, builder and financing. If you spend fifteen to twenty minutes with the prospect and only cover homes and financing, you’re left with four areas to cover either during a follow up phone call or the next visit. Therefore, the goal of the time strategy is to spend more time with your prospect, not less.
A sale occurs over an extended period of time
In the second article, I discussed the results of research conducted by the Sales Institute of America. The research provided evidence that for every thirty minutes you spend with a client, your chance of closing that client increases by 50%. Understanding this valuable research is critical to your success. Too many salespeople take for granted the time they are given. Each minute you are given moves you closer to a sale. How you use each minute is important.
When you examine the actual time spent with a customer prior to a sale you learn the following: the number of customer visits to a model home before purchasing is three to four; the actual amount of time spent with a customer before purchasing is four to six hours. These are national averages and will vary dependent on whether you are selling first-time or move-up customers. But the point is that a sale occurs over an extended period of time. How you set-up the time you spend with your prospect is critical to your success.
When you explain to a prospect that there are six decisions that have to made, you are setting-up reasons for additional meetings, or a reason to spend more valuable time with you now.
As you spend time with your prospect and explain the value of your location, community, homes, homesites, builder and financing you are able to gain minor agreements that earn you the right to ask for the sale.
Four sales objectives
You must remain constantly aware that a sale takes time. And that each visit to a sales office sets up an opportunity for moving closer to a sale. Each sales encounter provides an opportunity for reaching additional sales objectives. You need to ask yourself the following question after each prospect visit, “What did I accomplish today?” The answer sets up your next actions and will determine what your next step might be.
Overall, you have four objectives to focus on during each sales presentation: contract, deposit, appointment or phone meeting. Keep these objectives the focus of your time strategy. The amount of time available will determine what can be accomplished. Time can work for you or against you. It is up to you to utilize time successfully. The whole process of managing time successfully begins when you ask the question
“How much time do you have to spend with me, today?”
The ideas contained in these three articles can make a major difference in your success. Never take for granted the time people give you, respect it and the result will be a foundation of trust on which you can build a sale.
I hope you enjoyed this months newsletter and will send it along to friends who you believe will benefit from my many years of experience. Until next month, continue to make it GREAT!
Send to a friend
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 sent it to 5 people, thank you. If not. you will find a 'Send to a friend' button at the bottom of the newsletter, 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 click here, email Bob at Send Emailor call 972-795-5926.
Good Luck and Good Selling!
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