Before the internet, new home sales consultants often had all the information, most of the knowledge, and some of the wisdom. Today, however, the role has reversed.
Our customers are incredibly well informed. Buyers can now gain information and knowledge about new home sites by talking with experts, reading reviews and walking through homes under construction. They probably know your website better than you do! However, they lack the wisdom and market awareness on how it all comes together.
The Website Challenge
Customers want to associate with people who are clearly experts in their field – a trusted guide to help them navigate a very complicated process. They want to have confidence in your actions and decisions, so how can we support them in what we say? Here at ellare, we encourage salespeople to take the website challenge. Check your website daily to be sure that the information your customer reads is accurate and always strive to be 1% better than your website.
No doubt your potential buyer will have uncertainties, fears and worries during the sales process – it’s natural – but it’s your responsibility to transfer the confidence you have in your offer over to them so that they believe in your confidence more than they believe in their doubts. A buyer’s confidence is what will allow him or her to complete a purchase.
Confidence leads to Conversion
A lack of confidence can be a real conversion killer. Confidence must be established and reconfirmed through the entire selling process and the faster it is done, the easier it will be to move on to the next sale phase. Therefore, gain commitment from your customer little and often. Try to think of your sales experience as though it were written down. You would not be able to easily understand what you were reading without punctuation. So where there’s a comma, ask a question to gain commitment to a decision.
Salespeople need to develop the skill of asking more questions so they can understand more about their buyers; and reduce the vast amount of information their customer has gathered. They need to hone into what is truly meaningful to guide positive buying decisions. As a salesperson, you have the ability to organise your customer’s information and use your best facilitation skills to constantly affirm your understanding. This is a really great way of building your customer’s confidence in you as an expert and thus moving them towards a Reservation.
We know that as soon as you start selling, you need to be adding value throughout the presentation and particularly in the demonstration. This is the optimum time to maximise the customer’s emotional engagement in the product and their perception of the price for the value they will get by buying. Today’s customers need you to:
- Help them to find a home that adds value to their lifestyle
- Inspire those with affordability to make positive buying decisions
- Manage them and nurture their confidence
- Gain their commitment; little and often as you work with them
- Maximise the use of your visual aids to gain understanding and commitment
- Create and facilitate their dream
- Build trust by proving that you know what you are talking about
Customers need to be confident of their ability to make a great buying decision. You owe it to the customer to make it easy for them to buy by inspiring them with your enthusiasm. If you don’t ask, you won’t get it! As a consequence, remember your customer needs you to ask so that they can say yes!