New home sales professionals are coming off a tidal wave of eager buyers. Now that the market is correcting, some pros are finding it difficult to adjust, revert, or simply reignite the old sales spark. Pay attention to these 7 must-have sales skills you might overlook.
#1. Getting out of your negative mindset.
I hear new home sales professionals claim that no one is buying a home these days. Yes, the interest rates have gone up. They’re back to the level they were at before the COVID chaos. And, yes, home prices have increased. But homebuying still makes sense right now.
There ARE buyers out there who are qualified to buy a new home. Whether they walk into your model or call your OSC, they’re motivated. The rest is up to you. But if you’ve got a negative mindset, you are certain to have a negative outcome.
Before you can convince a customer that a new home is the right investment, convince yourself. Make a list of all the reasons it’s a good time to buy. Shake off the negative mindset and prepare yourself for making sales.
#2. Asking more. Talking less. In a good selling situation, your customer does more talking than you do. Your customer wants to talk about themselves! They’re excited to buy a new home and will open up when they feel comfortable that you’re genuinely interested. Be ready with the right questions to ask in order to get a handle on the buyer’s likes and dislikes.
And while your buyer is talking, don’t allow yourself to get distracted while you’re framing up your next statement. Actively listen to what they’re saying. Focus on the words and the body language, which can often be quite revealing.
For every question you ask, plan to follow up. “Why IS that exactly?” “Could you explain more about what you’re referring to?” “Why is that important to you?” “How would this impact your decision?”
#3. Preparing for objections. Every objection to the sale or the next step in the sale is predictable. They’re not ready to move forward. So you ask what they need in order to do that. They think the price is too high, which is a clear sign they simply aren’t convinced of the home’s value. You have more selling to do. They need certainty. What are they uncertain about? Your job is to be the pillar of certainty for a buyer.
Make a list of every objection you can think of and prepare your response. Practice that comeback so it becomes natural and seemingly unrehearsed. A predictable objection deserves a predictable response.
#4. Organizing for success. Okay, you’ve heard this ad nauseum, but do you apply effective organizational skills to your daily routine? For example, have you mastered the CRM? Many new home sales professionals choose to ignore the CRM. Meanwhile, the Online Sales Counselors live, breathe, and manage leads with the system to present qualified buyers to the onsite salespeople.
If you’re not using the CRM to its fullest, you’re sacrificing important organizational benefits. If you’re not setting a schedule, which includes goals, and monitoring your progress, you’re leaving opportunities on the table.
You have a wealth of productivity tools to help you organize your life and work. Use them.
#5. Motivating yourself.
What does it take to get you energized and excited about selling a new home? You need to know your “why”. Why do you love selling? What is your motivation? When you are ignited by a powerful “why”, you don’t rely on incentives. Sure, those rewards are welcomed, and maybe financial reward is the right motivator for you. Dig deep and be clear because this match will keep your flame burning.
#6. Pursuing improvement endlessly.
A great new home sales professional recognizes that learning never ends. The pursuit of excellence is achieved through reading, education, sales training, and practice, practice, practice. Seek knowledge every day by reading articles, blogs, ebooks, and books. Listen to audiobooks when you’re driving or doing dreary chores that don’t occupy brain space. Look for training opportunities. Find a mentor or coach. Connect on LinkedIn with influential leaders and pay attention to their posts. Apply suggestions, knowledge, and ideas into practice. And never stop!
#7. Staying hungry.
You’ve had a steady diet of new home sales for the past two years. Did you forget what it was like to cultivate a lead and close the deal? The housing market shift should have whet your appetite by now. We’re not going back to the hottest homebuying market in recorded history, so you’d better get hungry again.
How did you channel your drive into action before the feeding frenzy of eager homebuyers? Stop and think carefully. What actions did you take to work with leads? How did you communicate with them? What did you do when you had to work at making a sale, dealing with objections, competition, and buyer hesitation?
Put in the work.
The crowd of buyers has thinned, but they’re out there. Those who are still looking want to buy but they need help from an energized, empathetic, communicative, and knowledgeable new home sales professional. Will that be you? If you need help polishing your must-have sales skills, let’s get working on that together.
