Published on September 14, 2021
By Leah Turner, Sales Coach & Trainer, Melinda Brody & Company
As the Sales Coach & Trainer for Melinda Brody & Company, I have watched literally THOUSANDS of mystery video shops. I have seen it all….the good, the bad, and the REALLY ugly! I can typically tell within the first 10 minutes of watching a video shop if it is going to be an outstanding success or a colossal failure! In addition to watching these video shops, I’ve had the opportunity to coach and train new home sales associates across the country. Having observed the practices of the nation’s top producers, I will share the 5 critical skills that one must have in order to master their sales presentation.
It is imperative that you develop a relationship with your buyers and build rapport. Remember, people do business with those they know, like, and trust! All too often I see Sales Associate jump right into the ‘salesy’ presentation before their prospects even walk in the door! A few tips to help you build rapport:
This is the most important question you will ask your prospects. Remember, in new home sales you must ‘sell’ the prospect on 4 areas: the home, the home site, the community, and the builder. However, it is impossible to successfully sell these things if you do not know what is important to the prospect. So, be sure to find out what is important to them in their new home, the home site, the community and the builder.
Your builder is your brand, and not all builders are alike. Become a master in telling your builder’s story. What is the builder’s USP (Unique Selling Proposition)? If you are not comfortable jumping right into the builder story, you can start by asking your prospects if they have ever built a new home before. If they say YES, ask them what they liked or disliked about that experience. This will uncover their hot buttons, and allow you to craft your builder’s story specifically to their needs. If they say NO, then you can move forward by explaining the process and sharing with them the attributes that set you apart from the competition.
Objections are inevitable in sales. However, the key is being able to successfully overcome them so they do not blow up in your face and cost you the sale. Most sales associates are trained to immediately try to ‘fix’ the problem without really doing the work to overcome it. There is a 4 step process that we teach sales associates to use when faced with objections.
As you can see by the Benchmark Report graphic, only 51% of all the sales associates who were video shopped in 2020 actually bothered to follow up with the prospect. If you don’t follow up, someone else will. Most people do not purchase a home on their initial visit. It is up to you to continually follow up with information or resources that will make it easy for them to say yes! Make sure your follow up is interesting. There is nothing worse than the canned ‘thank you so much for stopping by’ follow up. Make your follow up personal and customized to your prospects. This is where your FORD questions come in handy. If the prospect mentioned to you that their daughter Susan liked gymnastics, perhaps your follow up could include information about the new YMCA that is opening up near the community.
If you can incorporate these five skills into your sales presentation, you will see positive results and an increase in sales. The top producing sales associates that we work with swear by these techniques. They understand that selling is all about building relationships, working together to provide solutions, and customizing each presentation to meet the specific needs of that buyer.
Want to know if you have mastered the 5 critical sales presentation skills? Melinda Brody & Company is giving away a free video mystery shop, including a one-on-one coaching session with Leah Turner for one reader of this article, randomly selected from all entries. In addition, 10 lucky readers will receive a copy of Melinda’s book, They Said What?!?! Behind the Scenes of 25,000 Undercover Video Mystery Shops. Enter now for your chance to win!
Melinda Brody & Company specializes in the evaluation and training of New Home Sales Associates. In a typical year, we video mystery shop sales associates from over 50 national and regional new home builders. Using the mystery shopping results, we publish a detailed annual Benchmark Report for our new home building clients that shows each company where it ranks nationwide among other home builders in several key areas of the new home sales process including: Approach & Introduction, Builder’s Story, Model demonstration, Home site demonstration, Closing and Follow-Up.