New home sales can be like a roller coaster - sudden drops, unanticipated turns, slow climbs to the top, and breakneck speed. At all times, you must stay prepared and sustain your motivation and drive. Whether you are a new salesperson or an experienced salesperson, you will experiences slumps or down periods. When you are in a down period, there is a risk that you will allow negative thoughts to creep in and will lose your motivation. When you lose your motivation and drive, you become less efficient and less effective, ultimately resulting in missed opportunities, lost sales, and a decline in commissions.
There are three periods where you will need to be vigilant and stay prepared, focused, and motivated.
Step 1 - Walk before you Run: The first critical period is likely to come before you get your first few contracts or sales. Other more experienced salespersons may tell you that the good habits you are developing aren't necessary to sell homes. You may hear someone express the attitude that "all it takes to sell is a good market." To produce sales and prevent a slump, it is important that you ignore how other real estate agent's work. You must do the things that you have been taught: use a daily work plan, continue to learn your projects and market, hone your active listening skills and sales techniques, maintain a prospect list and follow up on every lead, and manage your time and work a full day at the display unit. When there is a slow period, it is an opportunity to develop your sales technique, to develop leads, and to brainstorm as to how to jumpstart sales.
Step 2 - Don't Make Assumptions: The second critical period is likely to come after you get your first few contracts. After a period of initial success, you may start to make assumptions and poor or hasty decisions such as "they aren't buyers" or "no one will come to an open house on a rainy day" or "the purchaser or developer won't accept this offer." Just as you can't judge a book by its cover, you can't know which prospects will purchase, when the prospects will visit, or what offers will or won't be accepted. When you start making assumptions, you miss sales opportunities. You may also become less motivated and express an attitude that you can wait to show the prospect the units "until tomorrow." This attitude will only result in lost sales. Every person viewing the developments is a prospect or potential purchaser. There are curiosity seekers who decide to purchase based on what they see; there are committed purchasers who will pass on the development. The reality is that you don't know who your next purchaser will be and, therefore, must approach each prospect as a potential purchaser. There will always be sales made to people you never anticipated making a purchase, and there will be sales lost from people you thought were the sure thing.
Step 3 - Focus on the Positive: The third critical period is likely to come in a period where market conditions are perceived as unfavorable. In the recent downturn, there was an attitude that sales were down because of the market. There was some truth to this position. However, successful sales associates will focus on the positive factors. First, interest rates in 2008 were still lower than 22 of the 25 preceding years. Second, it was a buying opportunity for purchasers - especially first time homebuyers - in terms of sales incentives, closing flexibility and other factors. When you're dealt lemons, make lemonade. The real estate market never shuts down. Rather, the opportunities simply change. To be successful, you must be aware of market conditions and adopt sales techniques and strategies to take advantage of the perception of the market.
If a sales associate believes that good sales techniques and preparation aren't necessary, makes negative assumptions and hasty decisions regarding prospects, or simply believes that the market is down and the purchasers aren't out there, these beliefs can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. A successful sales associate must always approach the business of selling by viewing the glass as "half full," not "half empty."
Note: The opinions and statements contained herein represent my personal opinions and observations. These blog entries are not reviewed, endorsed or approved for publication by Gilded Age, L.L.C., Gilded Age Sales, L.L.C. or Preservation Real Estate Advisors, L.L.C
Credits: Photo 1 - Roller Coaster - provided courtesy of www.publicdomainpictures.net / Photo 2 - Runner - provided courtesy of www.freedigitalphotos.net. / Photo 3 - Wine Glass - provided courtesy of www.public-domain-photos.com.
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