The Best Way to Prioritize Your Time in a Busy Sales Office

According to The University of Michigan, consumer confidence is at a 10 year high.

That means people are feeling better about making larger purchases.

Hence the uptick in traffic and home sales.

If you have ever worked in a busy new home sales office, you know that it can be overwhelming.

And is it me or do people seem to congregate in the parking lot at 1:15 on Saturday afternoons and develop a plan to ambush you all at the same time?

Seriously, a busy sales office is great as it gives potential home buyers a high sense of urgency.

The challenge sales professionals face is figuring out who the real home buyers are. (Will the real Slim Shady please step forward?)

So how do you know who the “real” home buyers are?

Training from days past would tell you to spend time with those that seemed the most interested and had the most questions.

Other training tells you to follow the money.

The problem with both of these approaches is neither assesses the level of the customer’s motivation.

Is it possible that you could have someone who is a Chatty Kathy with low motivation? How about an extremely qualified person with low motivation? Of course!

The key to where to spend your time in a busy sales office is determined by the level of the customer’s motivation.

Take a look at the diagram below.

The left side of the diagram represents the amount of time you spend with customers and the bottom represents their level of motivation.

Ryan Blog

In a high-traffic selling environment, you want to move between two of the four quadrants shown in this model.

Two of these quadrants represent The Danger Zone.

The other two quadrants are the ones you want to move between.

In which of the two quadrants do you want to operate?

If you said, High Time with High Motivation and Low Time with Low Motivation, you are right!

How to Identify and Measure Motivation

Achieve ‘Coffee-Worthy’ Status Fast – You don’t have a ton of time to chit chat in a busy office.

To create relationship fast, acknowledge how busy it is and stress that in spite of that, you are there to help.

“As you can see, we have a lot of people coming through today. I want to help you as best I can. To do that, may I ask you a couple of quick questions to help point you in the right direction?”

Ask a Well Crafted Motivation Question – You may only have time to ask one question so it better be a good one.

I can’t think of a better question than one that determines the true motivation behind a move.

Something caused this customer to come look at homes and it most likely isn’t your incentive or today’s interest rates.

Customers come look at homes to improve their lives.

That means something isn’t working where they currently live.

The motivation question will help you flush out the ‘why’ behind the ‘what’.

“So, what in the world got you thinking about making a move in the first place? … Great, tell me more about that…”

Rank Their Level of Motivation – Think of it on a 1-10 scale. A “one” represents extremely low motivation while a “10” would mean, “I have to move immediately!”

Give Homework Assignments and Direct Traffic – As you encounter folks with lower motivation, you don’t want to get too tied up and miss the real buyers.

That being said you will need to take on the role of a traffic cop.

“Okay, let’s agree to do this: If you will go spend 10 minutes getting some first impressions of our Suprema Model, then I’m going to meet you over there to see how you like it and answer any questions you might have. Sound like a plan?”

You will want to set appointments with those that are mid-level on the motivation scale while moving on to number five…

Get Back to The High-Motivation Buyer – Now that you have cleared the runway, you can spend time progressing the sale with the person that has the highest motivation!

When you learn how to prioritize your time based on customers’ motivation, you not only spend your time more wisely, you change the world of those that need it most!


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About the Author: Ryan Taft

As the former National Sales Training Manager for a Top 5 homebuilder and a licensed Realtor® in Arizona, Ryan Taft is consumed with a passion for helping others achieve breakthrough results in sales, business and life.