I live in an area where people earn a living by fishing and crabbing. When co-workers try to change professions or improve themselves, they want to avoid the “crab in a bucket syndrome.”

When crabs are caught, they are usually placed in a container and piled on top of each other. If one crab tries to escape by climbing toward the top, the other crabs latch on with their claws and pull it down. People do the same thing, only their claws aren’t as noticeable.

If you’re trying to change, to break bad habits, to improve your job performance and your life, there will be those around you who try to pull you down. For whatever reason, they don’t want you to escape the confines of your current existence. They want to keep you on their level. Don’t let them.  Even better: Avoid them.

To quote Mark Twain, “Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.”

Posted In: New Home Sales Management, New Home Sales Management Training, New Home Sales Training

Tags: New Home Sales Management, New Home Sales Training

BIG THINGS COMING!

BIG THINGS COMING!

1) New, FREE eBook

2) HUGE Sales Management Conference

3) FREE YouTube Series of NEGOTIATION Videos.

Posted In: New Home Sales Management Training, New Home Sales Training

Tags: New Home Sales Management, New Home Sales Training

I know an inventory of new homes may look like an asset on the balance sheet, but they can clog your cash flow. It’s time to do something different to move them, and that doesn’t mean implementing a low-price selling strategy. Let other builders focus on price. You focus on profit.

Think sales and marketing; not building and selling. Follow this six-step process:

• Offer greater or unusual incentives to move more inventory. Some incentives I’ve hard builders offer are a sunporch, outdoor shed, full-house water filtration system, move-in package (laundry appliances, blinds, refrigerator, security system), lawn care for a year, credit at a garden center or home interior store, irrigation system, a bonus to veterans/active military, cash toward upgrades, closing-cost rebates, donation to the buyer’s charity of choice in their name, a second-honeymoon trip or cruise. In offering an incentive, don’t raise the home’s price to pay for it. Buyers are savvy enough to know that being taken for a ride is no incentive.

• Research your competition so you know what they offer and what’s selling.

• Don’t underestimate your buyer pool. Even though your community may be located in Short Pump, Virginia, you are selling to an international market.

• Write a marketing plan and goals. Set a budget. Stick to it.

• Have a professional-looking web site that’s staffed with an online sales counselor.

• Make certain your salespeople are selling the home’s value; not it’s price.

• Be enthusiastic about your homes. It’s contagious.

Posted In: New Home Sales Management Training, New Home Sales Marketing, New Home Sales Training

Tags: incentives, inventory, New Home Sales Management, new homes, new homes sales training, online sales counselor, sales and marketing

Reporting live with breaking news: The Pity Train has just derailed at the intersection of Suck-It-Up-and-Move-On and We-All-Have-Problems-So-Get-Over-It. After much screeching, it finally came to a stop in front of Shake-It-Off Dump, the regional garbage transfer station.

That’s an e-mail someone sent me last week. I smiled as I read it, recalling a few of my own poor-me parties. In the housing industry today, it’s easy to climb aboard the Pity Train and settle in for the long haul…like a cartoon I saw recently in which an employee was telling his boss, “I’m not ready to improve my life. I’m still in the complaining stage.”

When you’re stuck aboard the Pity Train, here are some suggestions for getting off and moving on:

• Resist the temptation to blow life out of proportion and make permanent mountains out of temporary molehills.

• Don’t dwell on circumstances. The more you think about them, the more discouraged you can become.

• Keep a current “to do” list and, each day, do the toughest thing first. It will give you a sense of accomplishment and you’ll feel better.

• Use the down time to fortify your skills and add some muscle to your market. The new-home industry will bounce back and so will you. Until then, work harder on improving your salesmanship, honing your closing skills and learning how to be a strong negotiator. Replace the Pity Train with profitable training.

Posted In: New Home Sales Management Training, New Home Sales Training, Personal Development

Tags: closing skills, housing industry, learn, new home, New Home Sales Management, new homes sales training, pity train, salesmanship, to do list

Are you a new home salesperson or an order taker? Do you want to spend your time relaying half-hearted offers from a prospective buyer who is just feeling out the negotiating room?

When a prospective buyer suggests, “Let’s just pass this verbal offer by the builder and see what he says”, don’t even hesitate. If a buyer is interested enough to negotiate on a new home, he should be prepared to write a deposit check and sign an offer. Anything less is just conversation, a game of “What If…?”

Rather than waste your time—and the builder’s—indulging in such fruitless efforts, continue probing your new homebuyer to determine exactly what he is hoping to achieve. What does he really want in his new home? What concerns are holding him back? Then address them, one at a time, until he is comfortable enough to pursue the negotiation and commit to a written offer.

It’s fair and reasonable to communicate to a buyer that an offer has no value if it is not properly presented. Without a written agreement and deposit check, there is nothing to present. A verbal agreement doesn’t protect the buyer or the builder.

The next time you encounter this situation, simply respond to your buyer, “I understand that buying a new home is an important step. But if you truly want to move forward, we need to show the builder that you are serious enough to make a formal offer. Without the paperwork, there really is no offer to be considered. We do this to protect and respect everyone involved, including you. So, if you’re seriously interested in this home, let’s proceed with the paperwork.”

Talk is cheap. Stick to the rule of not accepting or conveying verbal offers. When you allow your buyer to change the rules of negotiation, you yield control of the negotiation.

Posted In: New Home Sales, New Home Sales Management Training, New Home Sales Training

Tags: negotiation, New Home Sales Management, New Home Sales Training, prospective buyer, rules of negotiation, salesperson, verbal agreement, verbal offer, written agreement

If you use facebook as your preferred social media tool for networking, gathering news, and keeping up with the continually changing real estate industry, then you need to know where you can find the official new home sales training page that keeps you up to date, up to the minute.  Our fan page is the official resource for new home sales training.

You can click on http://www.facebook.com/NewHomeSalesTraining and find all the resources you’d ever need in order to bring you to the top of your industry and keep you at the top of your game.

If you haven’t guessed yet, I am passionate about my work. After decades of innovation in this industry our name, Myers Barnes Associates, is synonymous with the most comprehensive, groundbreaking, sales training information available in the new home sales industry.  As a tactical thinker, engaging speaker, worldwide best-selling author, tried and true entrepreneur, and forward thinker, I deliver profitable solutions directly on my facebook fan page, the official resource for new home sales training.

With over 1000 followers you can interact with some of the best and brightest in the industry and become part of our facebook community.  Here at the official new home sales training page on facebook you’ll be able to get the latest on new book releases, tips and tricks of the trade, and so much more related to new home sales training.

By checking in on our official site for new home sales training, you will know when we are giving public seminars. You will learn when new books like my most recent hit, Secrets of New Home Sales Negotiation, are available.  If you’d like more information on the consulting services we offer you can find that with in the pages of our website.  Or keep informed on what’s new in new home sales training by receiving our monthly newsletter chocked full of articles, videos, and more resources to help you reach the top of your industry.

We keep it new, we keep it fresh, we give you all the information you’ll ever need to know and practice in order to become a success. Just keep following us, and you can’t help but be inspired.

Posted In: New Home Sales Training

Tags: facebook fan page, myers barnes, New Home Sales Training, new home sales training books, new home sales training video, official new home sales training, real estate industry, social media

Kindle Book: Secrets of New Home Sales Negotiation

For those of you who are reaping the rewards of digital reading, Secrets of New Home Sales Negotiation is NOW available as a Kindle version, too!

Knowledge is power. You owe it to yourself to power up your new home sales training!

Posted In: New Home Sales, New Home Sales Management, New Home Sales Marketing, New Home Sales Training

Tags: Kindle, negotiation, New Home Sales, New Home Sales Management, New Home Sales Marketing, New Home Sales Training

I read a 2011 study predicting that in 50 years all human communication will be through electronically-controlled images. This process is called “viewing.” The study concluded that seeing each other in face-to-face communication will be awkward.

That’s a disheartening thought. Being social creatures, we need interaction with other people to stay balanced. Nevertheless, it does illustrate the importance of sharpening your technological and communication skills.

Stay current on technology so you can use it to reach an ever-expanding audience of potential buyers. One of the side benefits of using sites such as Facebook and Twitter is that it teaches you how to say what you want in the least amount of words.

Ernest Hemingway is famous for his economical use of words. He explained, “I am trying to make, before I get through, a picture of the world–or as much of it as I have seen. Boiling it down always, rather than spreading it out thin.”

When your communication is boiled down to its essence instead of being rambling and wordy, buyers and clients will understand you better.

When they ask you what time it is, they don’t want you to tell them how to build a clock. So do you when you take your car to the mechanic because its brakes are squealing. You don’t want to sit through a long-winded explanation: “Well, when brakes start squealing, it could be caused by the brake pads, the rotors, or a combination of both. Or it could be moisture or brake dust that’s settled on them. You see, the way the car works is…”

Enough already.

Reach buyers using the latest technology. Teach buyers with concise, clear, cut-to-the-chase communication.

Posted In: New Home Sales Training

Tags: communications skills, Ernest Hemingway, facebook, myers barnes, New Home Sales Training, technology, Twitter

What’s on your agenda this week? A little rejection perhaps? Maybe one or two closing remarks? Some high anxiety?

One of the common traits I’ve found among new home salespeople is that they worry about closing the sale. In fact, it bothers them so much that, according to statistics, 87% of them do not even do a simple close when a buyer walks into a model home. We also know that nearly 90% of salespeople don’t even get a registration card completed with an address, both buyers’ names, e-mail and phone number. Without that information, there is no follow-up opportunity.

Closing makes salespeople nervous. They fear rejection and feel overwhelmed at the thought of asking the buyer for a commitment.

So, here’s a thought. Forget the nervous breakdown. Have a breakthrough instead. Stop assuming new-home shoppers aren’t going to buy today. Start seeing them as half-way committed to owning one of your new homes. Then use one of my favorite simple closes:

You: “I sense you love this home. Am I correct?”

Buyers: “Well, yeah.”

You: “Then shall we make this one yours?”

That’s it. Nothing involved. This close puts buyers in the position of committing to purchase or telling you why they aren’t ready right now. Some will buy. Some won’t. So what? Either way, you’ve brought them to a point of decision.

This is a skills-based housing market today. To excel, you must overcome your fear of rejection. Ask those closing questions. Get follow-up information on everyone who enters your model home. Do it enough and it will become second nature.

To quote Aristotle, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act; but a habit.”

Posted In: New Home Sales Training

Tags: Aristotle, closing techniques, email, fear of rejection, follow-up, housing market, New Home Sales

The International Builders’ Show is right around the corner. If you haven’t signed up for the 2012 Sales Management Summit:  MAXIMUM SALES! seminar yet there’s still time. Sign up here.

Date: Thursday, February 9

Time: 1:30 – 3:00 pm

Location: West 312

Description: This is your chance to prepare yourself to achieve unprecedented success in new home sales management. Savvy sales managers know that the keys to success are profitable sales and an inspired sales force. In this session, you’re guaranteed to learn 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 that you can’t afford to miss!

Learning Outcomes:

1. Develop the iron-clad confidence that top sales managers have at their command.
2. Discover proven sales strategies and tactics that consistently generate profits.
3. Learn how to raise expectations of all your sales staff and walk them through a process to increase sales.
4. Get expert advice on how to lead, motivate and inspire your sales team to achieve peak performance.

Fee: IBS education sessions are available on a first-come, first served basis to Full Registrants and those who purchase a One- or Two-Day Education with Expo Pass Registration

Tracks: Sales, Marketing & Customer Focus

Speakers: Andy Brethour, Myers Barnes, MIRM, Van Rose

Andy Brethour

Company: PMA Brethour Group

Andrew Brethour is President of PMA Brethour Realty Group, Canada’s premier new home brokerage and research firm. In 2009 PMA from offices in Toronto, Ottawa and Boca Raton was responsible for over 3500 new home sales on behalf of 48 builder clients, on 96 projects, providing the services of nearly 150 professional new home sales representatives. Andrew was recipient of the prestigious “Hall of Fame Award” from GTHBA in 2004. Governor and President of Builder Marketing Society in the United States; Founder of Canada and Toronto “SAM” Awards, Director RealNet Canada; Member of the International Lambda Alpha Society of Land Economists. The acronym PMA stands for “Positive Mental Attitude”. The measurement of any service company’s success and value is often based upon two important factors – the talent and skill of its personnel and their track record over time. But the intangible and most vital measurement is ATTITUDE! THINK POSITIVE – IT SETS YOU APART!

Posted In: New Home Sales Training, Real Estate Courses

Tags: Andy Brethour, home builders seminars, IBS, International Builders Show, Maximum sales, myers barnes, NAHB, Van Rose

Here’s the ultimate question. Can you make sales 100% of the time to 100% of the people? The answer yes. You do this by selling by objective. What do we mean by objectives? It’s not to make a sale 100% of the time on the first visit but to work towards objectives that will eventually make you that sale.

We all know selling is a mindset. Set your mind to making that sale 100% of the time. It is not impossible to make a sale on the first visit. In fact with the trend in new home sales to online shopping and online sales agents, numerous encounters  happen online and over the phone before the first visit ever happens in person.  There are many people who are comfortable and willing to make their decisions on the very first in-person visit after having built rapport with your product, your online sales people and your brand.

A professional sales agent needs to set their goals toward making that sale, but in the event that you don’t make that sale right away keep in mind your selling objectives.

Watch my video and take a look at these 4 objectives or fall back strategies to keep in mind to make sell 100% of the people 100% of the time. Also learn about the 8 deadly words a sales person says to prospects.

If you have trouble viewing the video click here to go directly to Youtube.
View Video>>>>

Posted In: New Home Sales Training, New Home Sales Training Video

Tags: myers barnes, New Home Sales, sales objectives, sales stratedgy, video, youtube

Ancient sages believed that making mistakes was a blessing. They taught: The great virtue of man lies in his ability to correct his mistakes and continually make a new man of himself.

It’s natural to make mistakes when you undertake something unfamiliar, such as trying a different sale’s technique or a new marketing approach.

What you want to avoid, however, is giving your mistakes the power to disrupt your life and career. If you repeatedly replay them in your head and beat yourself up, they will keep you down and doubting.

Call it what you will — a mistake, blunder, slip-up, oversight, error in judgment or faux pas — when you make one, ask yourself three questions: What can I learn from this? How did I benefit from it? What’s the best way to move forward from this point?

Maybe you’ll have a chance to correct the mistake; maybe you won’t. Perhaps you can try again in a different way. Regardless, you are wiser than you were before the experience and can consider yourself “blessed” because you are improving.

So, give it a shot, even at the risk of messing up. It’s by pushing yourself too far that you find out how far you really can go.

Posted In: New Home Sales Training, Personal Development

Tags: learn, marketing approach, mistakes, New Home Sales, sales techniques