The Modern Rules of Selling New Homes

Like technology, new home selling has been evolving and changing more rapidly during the past few years than at any other time in history. It used to be that community sales were relatively easy and a function of traffic. If you just saw enough people and then transferred your concept to prospects, a reasonable number of home sales would occur.

Today, however, we have evolved into a multimarket society. The competition can be just around the corner or anywhere on the World Wide Web. Our potential customers are now bombarded with a sea of new communities and countless opportunities to own a new home. They are overwhelmed with unlimited choices, details, options and upgrades while having to run the gantlet of new home salespeople to gather their information.

Start with your marketplace. How many competing communities and builders are chasing the same consumer in your geographic range? Of course, let's not forget the number of brochures, renderings, price sheets and even covenants that are doled out at each visit. You can easily see that the process of on-site sales is much more complex than it has ever been before for both customers and salespeople.

Acknowledge that new home sales is a sophisticated business and that the consumer's options are unlimited, and it becomes obvious that to compete successfully, you must employ a selling procedure that adapts to current conditions.

Happily, there is such a procedure, and it will be your key to increased income, superior sales and, more important, greater satisfaction in your sales career.

The New Model of Selling

Beginning with your initial contact with a prospect, the majority of the sales process is invested in building trust. Because our prospects are inundated with opportunities to buy countless communities and model homes, and are confronted with an infinite number of competing real estate salespeople, trust must be the cornerstone of the new home selling relationship. Without question or compromise, you must sell yourself before you sell your product.

The level of trust between prospect and salesperson provides the cohesiveness necessary to establish a solid relationship and begin the sales process. And it is your responsibility to produce in your prospect the confidence to buy.

How do you build trust with your prospect? I suggest four ways:

1. Know all about the new homes and the community you are selling. Your primary objective is to assist your prospects in making one of the most important, life-altering decisions of their lives. Don't take this responsibility lightly. The more knowledge you can provide the buyers, the more they will learn to trust you and request your input.

    

2. Speak their language. Charismatic people match their tone, language and speech speed to those with whom they are talking. Doing this will make customers relax and become comfortable dealing with you.

    

3. Be confident. Always assume that a prospect will buy from you; if not now, then later.

    

4. Listen. This is probably the most effective and simplest way to develop trust with a prospect. Listening lets you discover what prospects need and learn why they want a new home. Is it for profit? Security? Status? Pride of ownership? Have they been renting for a while, and are they now looking to become part of a community? Are they moving up in the world or scaling down? What is their passion? At this point in their lives, what motivates them?

Because you are focusing the majority of your attention on the customer by questioning skillfully and listening attentively, you are no longer the typical salesperson but instead are a trusted adviser, partner and personal consultant. Your prospect now thinks you are investing in his or her decision and, although you are not making a financial contribution, you actually join the prospect in the role of assistant buyer.

Your primary aim in this kind of new home selling is to position yourself as an adviser by helping your customers with decisions that will benefit them. Never think that the sales process is something you do to someone. Rather, the new homes sales process is something you do for someone.

Next installment: The Top Considerations for a Customer in Buying a New Home. Do you know what they are?

Myers Barnes writes articles for many of the nation's top sales-related magazines and trade publications. Myers is also the best-selling author of Reach The Top In New Home & Neighborhood Sales and Closing Strong: the Super Sales Handbook. He is a nationally known motivational speaker and a consultant on new home and resort property sales. You may visit Myers' web site, www.myersbarnes.com or reach him at his e-mail address sellmore@myersbarnes.com.