A recent study conducted by a Harvard Business School professor revealed the number one reason that businesses failed. Do you know what that was? Well, it wasn’t under-capitalization or poor management or even shoddy manufactured products. Although these can all contribute to a business failing, they aren’t the main reason that companies fold. The primary factor that puts businesses out of business is the same one that will sink you … a lack of sales.
How many times do you ask a prospect to buy before he or she says “yes?” According to statistics, salespeople have to ask for the order five times before they close on the sale.
Since it takes more than five attempts to make a sale, you need to stockpile multiple closing techniques that you have scripted, practiced and memorized.
Look at it this way. If you receive more objections than you have techniques, your prospect will always “one up” you, and you may never close the sale. Therefore, the reason you learn multiple techniques in new home sales training is to have more response methods than they have objections. Use each of their “no’s” to lead them upward to “yes.”
Picture this. Every “no” is a rung on the ladder of sales success. At the very top of the ladder is a new home sale. So, every time a prospect tells you “no,” you step up a notch, hold on and stand firm until you get to the next “no” or, perhaps, a “yes.”
You will find some ladders require many steps; others don’t. What you’re looking for is closure to the sale … whether it’s a “yes” or a “definite no because I’m buying elsewhere.”
One benefit in climbing the ladder one rung at a time is that every step gives you a better view of what lies ahead with your prospects. With each question and each “no,” you learn a little more about what they want and where they stand. It also fortifies you for the next ladder … and the next prospect.
For those of you who are hesitant to ask for fear of appearing like hard-sell, high-pressure salespeople, remind yourself that asking for the order is the fundamental character trait of top sales professionals. You probably are not going to have any prospects walk into your model home and say, “Hey, will you come over here and sell me a new home?” Therefore, if they aren’t going to ask you, then you’re going to have to ask them. If you do not take the initiative, you will eventually be out of business for lack of sales.
So, stop hesitating! Ask! Ask enthusiastically! Ask confidently! And continue to ask until you reach the top of that ladder and grab that new-home sale.
