Oct 14 2008 8:12AM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (1) |
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I talked with a friend in Houston today. His name is Wayne Green and he had some interesting things to say. Things that caused me to revisit the current situation in our industry and how we do business. Mostly our thoughts about selling and making sales.

First, let’s start with attitude. Wayne insists it’s more than having best discount … it’s having the right attitude. In other words, it’s ignoring the sales associates that are “crying the blues”. You know what I mean.

How many times have you heard other sales people talking about how bad things are? And about how hard it is to get someone to buy … how hard it is to get them qualified … or what a problem it is to get them closed? This “buzz” not only gets you to a “place’ where it’s hard to sell … it affects your customer too!

Your customers sense your attitude. The attitude you have about your community … your product … and your confidence in the market. And there are only four choices or levels of emotion that you can project:

• Mad
• Glad
• Sad
• Scared

And as the saying goes: “Where you go … your customer will follow”. So if you’re somewhere other than in the “glad” … or “happy” mode, you’re seriously hurting your possible sales. The moral of the story:

Quit listening to the people that aren’t selling. Your attitude matters! Come to work with the idea that everything’s great … and now is the time to buy!

Wayne’s second tip is to never quit building value. And a feature and benefit demonstration isn’t what he means. He’s talking about causing your home to “stand out”.

I can’t tell you how many associates we’ve shopped in the last year … only to find that a sales person hasn’t made it to the model and to the true “interview” stage of selling. Today’s customer isn’t going to buy just because you mentioned what a great deal you have. Everyone has a great deal. Now it takes more.

There’s only one low price leader in every market, so you’re going to have to go beyond the “old style” of selling. And that means that if you don’t have the lowest price … or best incentives … today’s customer must have a reason to spend the extra money.

All of this brings us to the next part of the story:

Value isn’t a quick overview of features and benefits … it’s how you compare to what’s available and what makes you different.