The Path to Success in New Home Sales: A Step by Step Guide o Becoming a TOP Producer

By Tom Daddario

This is a step by step guide to selling new homes. The sales model is referred to as a criteria driven sales model. This book is a must for anyone in the new home industry that endeavors to reach their highest potential in new home sales.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Oct 1, 2012
• ISBN: 9780615644844

Book preview

Bibliography

INTRODUCTION

I knew I was in trouble when one of the owners of the real estate company that had just hired me finished his motivational speech with the statement, Selling is an art. I have never considered myself very artistically gifted and prior to getting into real estate sales my working life revolved around an extremely mechanical industry. I was one of the hundreds of thousands of aspiring souls who obtain a license to sell real estate with little or no selling experience in hope of making a six figure income.

Because this was a new career for me, I realized very quickly that if I was going to become successful I had better learn everything I could about selling. I went to work for a couple of guys who owned a real estate company that represented ten new-home builders in a huge master-planned community. My new bosses provided some basic sales training, but really believed that selling was an art form and you had to be somewhat of an actor in order to become a success. This was an important lesson for me to learn. However, as I found out later, their outlook only represented half the formula for success.

One afternoon when I was taking a customer through one of the model homes, the Division President of that particular company observed my presentation and approached me the following week and offered me a position with that company. Little did I know that this was to be the start of a very long journey towards my education in mastering the selling of real estate. Their training program filled in the missing half, the science of selling. This is where I learned that selling was both an art and a science. Over the next four years I continued to learn, practice, and teach myself, as well as my co-workers, new and exciting sales techniques, which allowed all of us to become top producers wherever we went.

When I became a sales manager, I implemented these new techniques with tremendous results. This sales model is referred to as, A Criteria Driven Sales Model. The best way I can define this is that you need to identify the buyer’s criteria that is necessary for them to make a buying decision. Then, you use that information to drive the sales presentation in a step-by-step format that will be referred to as the Criteria Driven Sales Path (CDSP or Path). The CDSP mirrors the natural hierarchy of questions customers must have answered before they can make an intelligent buying decision. Bear in mind that your customers may not realize all the information that is necessary to purchase a home when they first start their home-buying journey. However, when it comes time for them to make a buying decision that they can stick to with-out the chance of canceling; they will have successfully garnered answers to all of these required questions. This is an important principle for you to remember. Let me give you one example of what I am talking about. What is the first decision most customers make before they start looking for a new home? The answer is, the location where they want to live. Wouldn’t you agree it makes sense to find out if your location fits the customers’ criteria before you start discussing the floor plans?

I will also spend a great deal of time discussing the buying process. This is an area that most trainers neglect in their teachings. Once I understood what emotions the buyer experienced, as well as when they normally appeared in the presentation, I was better prepared to handle both the positive and negative emotions a buyer goes through during the home buying process. For example, have you ever wondered why a customer seems so excited during the first half of your presentation and all of sudden they go cold on you? This is just one example of being prepared by understanding the buying process.

I will also discuss various questioning and listening techniques, a model to handle objections, tie-downs and trial closes, and final closes. If you will make a commitment to learn these techniques and put them into practice every day, I promise you will substantially increase your income and your enjoyment in the selling of real estate.

In the first edition of this book I spoke a lot about the importance of being in control of the sales presentation. As pointed out in Robert Hafer’s book, Building Results most people don’t like to be controlled but do appreciate authentic service. I believe Hafer is accurate in his assessment and with that in mind I have transitioned this book to reflect a posture of offering service rather than of taking control.

Chapter 1

The Buying Process

As I stated earlier knowing the steps to sell is only half the formula you need to master in order to be successful. Understanding the buying process is the missing half that so many trainers fail to teach. When I talk about the buying process, I am referring to the emotions and logical sequences buyers go through on their quest to home ownership. Below are some foundational truths common to this industry that are often overlooked but are important to understand.

Truth 1: What do you think are the reasons people do not buy from you? If you think it is because they do not like your homes, you are partially right and also partially wrong. Studies have shown the reasons people do not buy are as follows:

1% die before they can make a buying decision.

3% move away and buy somewhere else.

8% get involved in other relationships, i.e., get married, change jobs, get divorced, etc.

14% do not like what you have to sell. (Imagine that, only 14%; bet you thought it was more!)

16% buy from your competition.

58% do not like or trust you!

Look at the list again and ask yourself this question, Which of the reasons listed above can I change? Obviously the answer is #6 You have little or no control of the other five reasons listed above, and, therefore, if you want to sell more homes, you have to make people like you. Remember, if someone likes you, that person will also trust you and will be more inclined to buy from you. Building rapport is essential to your success; I have included techniques on how to build rapport quickly.

Truth 2: Is there a relationship between the time you spend with a customer and the number of homes you sell? The answer is categorically yes, but what is the relationship? Studies indicate that every 30 minutes you spend with a customer you increase your chances of selling them a home by 30%. Let’s do the math:

30 minutes = 30% chance of selling a home.

60 minutes = 60% chance of selling a home.

90 minutes = 90% chance of selling a home.

When I first started selling homes I fell into the common