In his bestselling book, “To Sell is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others”, author Daniel Pink says that the process of selling has changed more in the past 10 years than in the previous hundred. That book was published in 2012, so I’d like to add an update. The selling (and buying) process has changed more in the past 30 days than the previous hundred years. Better keep up!
Go back to 2012. We were rebounding from the biggest financial downturn in this country since the Great Depression that began in 1929. Pink was right then. And I’m sure he would agree that right now, the “Truth About Moving Others” requires that we change our process.
In-person sales isn’t happening the way it was just 45 days ago. We’re hunkered down to prevent the spread of COVID-19 contamination. But virtual new home sales ARE happening—for those who embrace the new process.
Success is virtual
We should have seen it coming. We’ve been doing virtual tours for years, encouraging buyers to wander through our homes without leaving theirs. We have Online Sales Counselors to cultivate prospects into leads. There’s Docusign, to get digital signatures. And now we have services like NterNow!, which provides 24/7 self-service access to buyers who want to tour a home at their convenience, without a sales agent there to open the door.
We’ve been steadily taking human contact out of the selling equation. Now, we’ve gone all the way down the path to homeownership with the possibility of never meeting the buyer in person prior to handing over the keys.
More than ever, your sales skills matter. By removing yourself physically from the new home sales process, you also remove that element of influence. You’ve become a face on the screen, so you must be more relatable than the faces they watch on television.
You need to hone your video presentation. Get comfortable being on-screen. Practice. Keep practicing until you’re as natural in a video as you are in person.
Invest in your technology; i.e., don’t rely on your computer’s camera and microphone.
Minimize distractions—both visual and audio. You want your buyer to be focused on you, not the dog wandering back and forth behind you or the sound of your kids arguing in the next room.
Remember, your customer is not just buying a home. They’re buying the experience. Make it a great one.
