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I regularly hear salespeople say something like, “I’m not a high-pressure salesperson – I just want to help people purchase.” Conversely, I rarely hear a salesperson say, “I’m a very high-pressure salesperson – I just want to manipulate people into buying a home they don’t really want.” If you ask most salespeople they will suggest that there are just two classifications: high-pressure and low-pressure. We’re missing an entire group: “no-pressure salespeople”. The fact is that many who would otherwise call themselves “low-pressure” are in fact reticent to apply pressure of any kind. They are information providers and polite helpers, but there is no evidence of pressure of any sort. In my opinion, the very word “pressure” can tend to make people uncomfortable. It is generally perceived as negative, and understandably so. Pressure can mean pushing, or at least nudging. The … Read More…
Thank you for faithfully reading The Shore Thing. Everywhere I go people tell me how much they enjoy receiving our newsletter. And as long as you are enjoying it, we will continue to produce it! Produce it – and improve it! We want the newsletter (and our website!) to be fresh and timely, so with the help of the uber-talented Dennis O’Neil and the team at O’Neil Interactive we bring you a new look to The Shore Thing. Hope you enjoy – we’d love your comments, below! And speaking of a new look, perhaps it’s a good time to challenge yourself while we’re still early in the year. Is a new look for your sales presentation in order? A new skill to conquer? A new book to read? A new technique to add to your toolbox? Top performers are constantly … Read More…
By Jason Forrest You know the highly hesitant prospects who come in thinking they just can’t afford to buy a home, and yet have solid incomes, little risk of losing their jobs, large down payments, and nearly perfect credit scores? Their consumer confidence (perceived ability to afford a home) is lacking. Consumer confidence levels contribute to overall economic health. When optimism is high, consumers are more likely to engage in the market (i.e. buy homes). But when pessimism abounds, consumers tend to retreat and engage more in their savings accounts. Bob Doll, of BlackRock Investments, made a list of ten predictions for 2011. Check out the first three below: US growth accelerates as US real GDP reaches a new all-time high. The US economy creates two to three million jobs in 2011 as the unemployment rate falls to 9%. US stocks … Read More…
Steven Palmer of Ivory Homes in Salt Lake City sent me a great quote from C.S. Lewis. I is one of those quotes that makes you stop and taste it for a while. It is also powerfully convicting: you’ve been warned! “All of us have the valiancy within us to rise to the moment. Few of us are willing to tackle the mundane.” Let me tell you why that struck me so thoroughly. I specialize in helping sales professionals to maximize their performance, and that means a large part of my calling is related to skill development. Skill. Proficiency. Aptitude. All of these descriptions speak to the idea of perfecting a craft. Like an expert carpenter or a virtuoso pianist, great sales performance is about mastering skill. And like the carpenter or the pianist, it means hours upon countless hours … Read More…
It never ceases to amaze me how many salespeople (not just in new home sales but in all industries) continue to ask questions that bring them poor results. For example, if someone asks, “May I help you?”, your response is almost certain to be “I’m just looking”. That is, of course, an undesirable response. So why do salespeople continue to ask the question? The above example might be too obvious, and to be fair I rarely hear the question in new home sales offices (although I am almost guaranteed to hear it every time I visit the mall!). But there are undoubtedly questions in your standard repertoire that you routinely ask but that give you an undesirable response. Here’s where you can train yourself. When a customer says something that you would rather not hear (“I’m just looking”, for example), … Read More…
I always love stories, tips and techniques from sales professionals who go out of their way to do a thousand little things right. Want an example? I had posted the tip of having the customer place their own sold button on the topo table after they purchased. Bob Bekins took that one step further… Read More…
Next month I’ll be presenting at the International Builder’s Show with two of the best in the business: Brian Flook and Meredith Oliver. I’ll be discussing how we convert the Internet shopper once they visit the sales office. I could use your help in the research. (Hey – don’t tune out now! Every week I bring you fresh content. Just this one week I need you to talk to me!) Can you jot down some notes about your own company’s website by answering the questions below? If you prefer, you can e-mail me your input. Thanks in advance!!!! ___________________________________ * What percentage of your sales office visitors saw your Internet page before visiting? * What is the best attribute of your website? * What is the most common complaint about your company’s website that you hear from prospects? Note all that apply. … Read More…
I don’t know about you, but I am happier around the holidays. I love this season and it makes me feel better. The people around me tend to be the benefactors of that more pleasant demeanor. Part of that feeling is that I just expect that the people I talk to this time of year will also be happier. You can call that irrational if you like, but it really does lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy. I expect them to be nicer, so I treat them as nicer people are treated…that is, nicely! They appreciate the pleasant conversation and it makes them nicer. I am validated that being nice to them was the right thing to do, so I feel better still. See how that works? Of course, the converse of that is also true. If I expect the worst … Read More…
One thing I hear a lot from sales professionals: “the customer is really difficult these days.” That might be true, but I for one am not convinced that today’s buying behavior is different than normal. I’ll grant that customers do not come through the door displaying urgency, but when would that buying behavior ever have been considered to be “normal” ? I’ll tell you when that was normal – 2005, that’s when. I believe this is a discussion in contrast. 2005 showed us completely unnatural buyer behavior, as people urgent to buy asked permission to do so. Please understand – there is nothing “normal” about such behavior from a buyer! A normal approach would be for a prospect to be reserved, standoffish, nervous, and “hard-to-get”. That’s normal! We need to get back to a sense of reality here, my friends. The … Read More…
I’m working with a client and I wanted to get the sales team diligently working on their practice skills. In other words, I wanted them to practice how to practice, and to strengthen the practicing habit. To encourage that discipline I had the salespeople spend a little time on how to get a registration card, to re-think their technique. I encouraged them to focus on the strategy and quality of the request. I asked them to suspend their traditional approach and just try something different. Again, the purpose was just to practice how to practice. The results were surprising…and powerful. The majority of sales professionals immediately noticed that they were in reg card ruts, and that trying something new breathed new life into the sales conversation. They stated that they had more energy and a more meaningful customer conversation. The lesson … Read More…
Recent Posts
- Look who made Sacramento Business Journal's People on the Move - Our very own Amy O'Connor at Shore Consulting.... http://t.co/SvyNpb53
- To all my entrepreneur friends - my business coach, Ruth Schwartz, is leading a phenomenal mastermind program... http://t.co/Eo8OpMpm
- My interview with best selling author, Mark Sanborn, will be in The Shore Thing this Saturday. Be sure you are... http://t.co/C6bhpUxD
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