The first class in the MetLife New Home Sales Training Series, Converting Browsers To Buyers: Proven Strategies for Selling Homes Online! With Speaker Mike Lyon was a smash success with over 250 registrants from 90 different builders and sales companies in 23 states. The demand for the program is growing daily.

Join Myers Barnes and MetLife for the next big training event on November 15th

On-Line Sales Management Summit: MAXIMUM SALES!

November 15, 2011, 9:00-10:00am PDT
Speaker: Myers Barnes, MIRM

Description: This is your invitation to achieve unprecedented success in new home
sales management. Savvy sales managers know profitable sales and an inspired sales
force are the keys to success. Guaranteed: You’ll learn you how to race past your
goals, multiply the number of new homes sold, and increase your bottom line with
profitable sales. It’s a practical, yet powerful approach to sales management,
you can’t afford to miss.

Relevance To Attendees: Today’s company owner and sales manager must be a
leader, a coach, a confidant, a counselor and an efficient business executive—all at
the same time. The Pro-Active Sales Manager is a person who can mold a variety of
different personalities into an effective sales team that can deliver predictable results
month after month. Persistent application of the principles taught in this program will
enable such a sales manager to achieve better sales results-starting immediately.

Learning Outcomes:
• Develop the iron-clad confidence that top managers have at their command.
• Discover the proven way to devise sales strategies that create a profit.
• Raise expectations of all your staff and walk them through increased sales
• Lead, motivate and inspire a sales team to peak performance standards.
• How to vaccinate your sales team against “de-motivators” and ensure
continual success
• Overcome real world objections-with real world solutions
• Defeat and diffuse your competitors discounting and incentives

Register now Register early, limited to 200.

UPCOMING EVENTS!
January 10, 2012: “Owners Into Referral Generators!”
Speaker: Bob Mirman, CEO, Eliant, Inc.

Questions: Please contact Anthony Grasst at agrasst@metlife.com or 425-576-2272

This event is being hosted by MetLife Home Loans A Division of MetLife Bank, N.A.

Posted In: New Home Sales, new home sales management, New Home Sales Training, Real estate courses

Tags: Bob Mirman, Maximum sales, MetLife, Mike Lyon, myers barnes, New Home Sales Training

There is a brand new resource being made available for FREE (you will need a special code at the end of this blog post) that can change the way you release new communities – and get you more sales. It’s called Presale Without Fail: The Secret to Launching New Communities & Phases with Maximum Results a new eBook written by my friend Kevin Oakley the Director of Marketing & Sales Training for Heartland Homes in Pittsburgh, PA. He shares how to sell multiple homes on the day one without the need for a model home – or even paved streets! It’s step-by-step and proven to work.

I asked him to tell us a little bit about how it all works, and to answer some common questions he receives from others in the industry.

_________________________________________________________________________

Thanks Myers! I really can’t wait to see how this eBook will impact builders across the country – and I do hope you all will share your successes with me. Here are the answers to the most common questions I am asked about Presale Without Fail:

Q: My builder already creates a VIP list of people who are interested, how is this different?
A: It’s true that most builders today have VIP lists or waiting lists. That isn’t the challenge. Where most builders fail is that they don’t know what to do with that list to turn it into sales. What I outline is not just how to get more people on your list, but what to do with them at every step. The most common mistake I see is that they try to hold private VIP meetings with each prospect where the give them all the information up front and then people disappear… never to be heard from again.

Q: Isn’t your success going to be directly related to how much demand there is for your location?
A: The short answer is no. When I really knew that I had something that worked is when we had a new phase of an existing community about to open. The previous year we had only sold eight homes, and the new phase was the same product, at the same price point, and on the same size home sites. Using the Presale Without Fail process we sold eight homes on the first day the phase released.

Q: Do I have to be a large home builder to make this process work?
A: Not at all. Of course, a larger builder may have an easier time of the initial awareness of the project, but as a smaller builder you’ll be able to be more personal with every prospect. This book really levels the playing field and puts you back in control of your success, and not the current state of the market.

Q: Why are you giving this away for free if it is so valuable?
A: There are several reasons. The first is that I love to network with others in the industry and to learn from them what is working, and what isn’t. My hope is that this eBook opens new doors and new conversations that can lead to a true sharing of insights. I am not selling anything, and I am not looking to sell consulting and speaking services. The second reason is that it is my way of giving back to an industry that I love, and that has done so much for me and my family.

Presale Without Fail won’t be released until September 29th, but as a friend of Myers I’d like to offer you the opportunity to download it now. Just go to www.PreSaleWithoutFail.com and enter presale-myers as your pre-release code. By doing so, you will also be entered into a random drawing for one hour of Skype time with me to answer any questions you have about how to implement this with your builder!

I hope you enjoy the book, and I’d love to hear your experiences putting it into action!

- Kevin Oakley

Posted In: New Home Sales, new home sales management, New home sales marketing, New Home Sales Training

Tags: builders, ebook, Heartland Homes, Kevin Oakley, Marketing, myers barnes, sales

My newest book, “Secrets of New Home Sales Negotiation, How to Achieve ‘Yes!’ Every Time,” is to be released in the next 3 weeks. This groundbreaking field manual will become the new best friend to any home-builder, sales manager, or new home salesperson who is weary of losing sales to the deals, discounts and incentives offered by their competitors.

Secrets Of New Home Sales Negotiation will help you transform your approach to negotiating and slice through every obstacle – from price phobias to extreme bargain hunters. Apply the tactics and you’ll overcome your need to concede your position by applying field-tested strategies, proven to deliver success with even the toughest home-buyer.

Guaranteed you’ll learn how to:
• Power past Price Resistance
• Overcome your pesky competitors’ deals, discounts, and incentives
• Negotiate global, selling homes to anyone from any culture
• Vaccinate yourself against every known objection
• Apply killer persuasion strategies that close sales like clockwork
• Discover – and AVOID – the biggest negotiation mistake that even hardcore, new home salespeople make in their presentations
• Tap into today’s sales strategies that expand the bottom line

Secrets Of New Home Sales Negotiation will unleash your potential to dramatically increase your income, expand the profitability of each sale, and build a following of satisfied customers. Pick up a copy and watch your sales SOAR!

Posted In: New Home Sales, new home sales management, New home sales marketing, New Home Sales Training, Real estate courses

Tags: Homebuilders, myers barnes, negotiation, New Book, New Home Sales, new home sales manager

New home salespeople need responsible leadership and consequential management. They should be trained by those who have experience in the trenches and then shepherded into success with consequences attached to their performance. For example, if salespeople aren’t meeting their goals, sales managers should have a heart-to-heart with them to find out if they are really cut out for new home sales or if they need additional training.

There must always be a consequence attached to a goal so salespeople know that if they do or don’t do something that’s expected by management, then a particular consequence will follow. No exceptions.

If you’re a sales manager who finds it too difficult to enforce consequential management, then consider this: Why keep you around? If you aren’t there to provide leadership and accountability, then why not eliminate your position and allow the sales team to succeed according to their own initiatives?

Management is not a popularity contest. If your desire is for your salespeople to like you, then have no accountability or consequences. Just let everyone do what they want; but, if your desire is for them to succeed, then you must provide what they need.

If you’re a new home salesperson, you have a responsibility to continually improve your skills whether you have management looking over your shoulder or not. As the old saying goes: Good. Better. Best. Never let it rest until your “good” is “better” and your “better” is “best.”

Posted In: new home sales management

Tags: leadership, New Home Sales, new home sales management, sales goals

Jack, a young builder who lived with his widowed mother, was struggling financially. Someone told him that, if he built 50 homes and offered loads of incentives, he could make lots of money. So, he built a street of model homes and brought in salespeople to handle all the buyers they would attract. He sold ranch-style homes. He sold two stories. He sold split-levels. He built and sold so many homes that he climbed to the number-one position on the list of top ten builders in America.

He had prestige. He had an outstanding reputation. He had accolades from buyers who loved his homes. What he didn’t have, however, was money. His unpaid subcontractors were talking about getting liens against his homes. His salespeople did nothing but harp all day long about needing more incentives … more discounts … more advertising so they could attract more buyers. If only he could find some magical beans (or perhaps a carton of solid gold Egg-land’s Best), he could relieve the financial pressure.

Jack didn’t know what to do until he read a blog post that said, “It doesn’t do you any good to sell homes if you aren’t making a profit. Stop thinking like a salesperson and think like a business owner.”

“So that’s what I’m doing wrong,” Jack said thoughtfully. ”Well, I can’t go back and start a new beginning, but I can start today and change the ending.”

And that’s exactly what he did. Jack stopped thinking like a builder and began thinking like a businessman. He realized the bottom line had not been his top priority. After restructuring his pricing, evaluating his homes and refusing to allow his salespeople to discount, Jack saw his profits increase.

He became a successful builder with a healthy profit margin and a solid investment portfolio. He no longer had to live with his widowed mother. His accountant married her and they moved into a nice condo on the water that Jack built.

The Moral: It isn’t how much money you make, it’s how much you keep that counts. Business people think long-term. They don’t just plan for the next sale; they plan for how much profit they will make on the next sale.

Posted In: new home sales management, Personal Development

Tags: advertising, builder, incentives, model homes, profit

Come to the edge, he said.
We might fall, the people cried.
Come to the edge!
It’s too high!
COME TO THE EDGE!
They came.
He pushed,
And they flew.

I beckon all builders to come to the edge. Stop worrying about discounting, incentives, sales events, competition. Leave all that behind and come to the edge … to the place where you draw the line and say, “I’ll go this far and no further.”

I won’t continue competing against builders with sharper pencils than mine. I won’t keep justifying the prices of my homes instead of selling buyers on their value. I won’t keep making excuses for why I’m not turning a profit. I am the producer of my circumstances; not the product of them.

I won’t allow others to define my business. I will write that definition myself. It won’t be easy, but I will take a stand on the edge … and I will fly.

Posted In: new home sales management

Tags: builder, competition, discounts, home value, incentives

Taking control of your sales can be like trying to round up a pack of stray dogs. Without a strong leader, they will head in any direction. Dogs need to be controlled by someone with a calm, focused mind, who is steadfast and has a strong sense of determination.

When your sales run wild, your salespeople can become frustrated and overwhelmed trying to figure out what to do next. Should they offer incentives? Should they negotiate more? Should they discount the home? How will the buyers find your model homes? Is there an online marketing strategy to attract potential buyers?

They need a clearly defined set of expectations … a plan of action. Understanding what breed you are as a builder is the first step towards giving them that. The question for you is: Are you a dying breed or a breed apart? Are you old-school, relying on yesterday’s outdated methods to attract home buyers, or have you developed your own brand? Step out from the pack and say, “Enough! Enough discounting. Enough incentives. Enough justifying my prices!”

It’s time to take charge and acknowledge that you’re in business to make a profit … not just sell homes. Be the new generation builder who works within a system and can make a profit regardless of what the market is doing, which way the economy is heading, and how many builders are throwing in the kitchen sink.

Posted In: Leadership, new home sales management

Tags: builders, Deals, discounts, economy, incentives, leadership

Home building is two businesses under one umbrella. It’s manufacturing … the area responsible for making houses … and it’s marketing … the area responsible for making money.

You can be a great builder, but if you aren’t great in marketing and sales, you’ll go out of business. The builder with superior sales and marketing will always beat the builder with a superior product. Why? It’s the principle of the chicken and the egg.

While you need the egg to house the chicken, it’s the chicken that’s walking around making noise and getting things done.

In home building, the chicken is the marketing end of your company. It’s the “meat,” the crucial part of the organization that brings in buyers for your “eggs.” You need both components to be successful.

Too many builders forget that. They build spec homes with the mindset that they will sell them at whatever cost. They think that their reputation … web site … or word-of-mouth advertising … will bring in enough buyers. It won’t.

Instead of beefing up their sales and marketing and holding the line on pricing, they end up with a community full of unsold houses. Or they sell the homes, but don’t generate a profit. What good is that?

Building and selling a lot of homes doesn’t make some builders more successful than others. It just means they hammered more nails…nails that could be holding down profitability.

Keep your focus. Remember, you have two sides to your business. Neglect the chicken, and you could end up laying an egg.

Posted In: new home sales management

Tags: builder, home building, Marketing, myers barnes, New Home Sales, New home sales marketing

Here they come. Those pesky competitors. And right beside them are your coveted buyers. Tightly clasped in their hands are sharpened pencils, poised and ready to start marking down prices.

So, what do you do? You get the lead out. You reach for your own pencil in preparation for scratching through the list price of your models. You convince yourself that it’s a strategic move if you want to sell more homes.

Problem is that their pencils are sharper than yours. Buyers can always counter with a lower offer and other builders can continue reducing prices ad nauseum.

Harvard’s Michael Porter says, “Cutting prices is insanity if your competition can go as low as you can.”

You can’t win the price war if that’s your only strategy for selling homes. So what should you do?

Get the lead out. It’s an expression that originated in William Jenkyn’s “Reformations Remora” published in 1646. He wrote, “Shall our reformation have a heel of lead?”

Stop being weighed down by heels of lead and take action. Move it! Justify your home’s value instead of defending its price. Walk buyers through the model and demonstrate what makes your homes different from your competition. The fancy name is “differential differentiation;” but it’s simply you saying to your buyer, “Look. This is what separates us from whomever you’re comparing us to. This is why my homes are a better value.”

You see, value isn’t about price. It about perception. And that has nothing to do with who has the sharpest pencil.