It's the perfect house for them, they are pre-approved, we've seen 20 other homes and this ones the best...but they want to see some more tomorrow!!!!!
Did I strike a nerve? Good.
In a market that offers historically low interest rates, and an abundance of inventory, why are sales down from last year (Here in Central PA we're off about 1,000 units so far this year). Well as you might expect, I have some thoughts on that question.
If you're having trouble getting Buyers to commit and write an offer, take a minute and ask yourself - "Is there any thing I could be doing better?" YES! Here are three sales skills you might be able to improve on, and they just might make the difference. I'm not saying you're not good at these, but we get stale and complacent now and then and like Stephen Covey says - you've got to 'sharpen the saw.'
Buyer Qualification Interview - dig deep into their reasons for wanting to buy and establish their needs. Don't stop at the superficial features they list as needs. Three Bedrooms and at least 1 and a half baths is not really a need, it's a feature they want their new home to have. Ask why 3 bedrooms and why 1 1/2 baths, and why is a garage important. Keep asking open ended questions like this until there aren't anymore answers. You should get to the feelings and emotional level, they need three bedrooms so that their kids can have their own room - "why is that important to you?" Because they never had that and they want their kids to have it better than they did. This exercise will give you the REAL NEEDS. Now you have a list you can use to help them truly evaluate each home they see.
Assign Benefits to Features- don't just list the features that meet their needs, help them see the benefits. A good exercise to improve your dialog is to take any MLS sheet, say the feature and then say "...so that..." and finish it with a benefit. "In your range a home like this with 3 bedrooms is hard to find, this home has 2 bedrooms on the second floor and one on the first, so that your children can not only have their own rooms to enjoy, they'll have their own floor." "This home has a two car garage so that you can protect your family van and still have room for the woodworking tools you said you want." You must have done the interview step well in order to say this to them. "Oh look, this house has a fireplace and you told me you have always wanted one because your Grandmother's house had one and you had lots of great memories from her home."
Test the sale with a trial close - to find out if this is the house for them you'll need to ask. There are lots of trial closes but one of my favorites is "...let's see what it looks like on paper and we'll take it from there." Another good one is "let me ask you, can you see yourself living here, can you see the kids playing in the backyard?" Again, use what they tell you in the interview to remind them what was important to them. Don't feel like you're pressuring them, they will never buy a home that doesn't meet their true needs, and that's what you are using - no trickery, no smoke and mirrors, just good listening skills and good sales skills. I believe that they are sometimes waiting for a signal from us that they are doing the right thing.
Get to know your Buyer clients, help them find what they are looking for, then help them get it. Isn't that what you told them you would do for them? Ok, then let's go do it!
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