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Selling Homes Is a Learned Skill

What measures can you take to gain the buyer's confidence?

Start by learning every detail about the product that you are selling.

Salespersons think often that they only need to know the purpose of the product they are selling. But if that’s all they know, their sales results will not be as strong as those of a salesperson who takes time to learn everything about the home and what it will mean to buyers, especially how they will use it.

Selling homes is a learned skill. To effectively sell homes you have to understand:

• Construction techniques and product specifications
• Financing
• Demographics
• Human nature

Construction Techniques and Product Specifications

Every aspect of building technology has improved — from aesthetics to energy conservation to water conservation and everything in between. Today’s homes are far superior to the homes built five and 10 years ago, primarily because construction techniques have changed and improved and new materials are being developed and used. Tell home buyers about the construction techniques and products used in their homes. They are fascinated by these types of details.

To become familiar with the techniques and specifications that will interest your prospects:

• Make time in your weekly schedule to meet with manufacturer sales representatives to learn about their products.
• Learn why your builder has chosen products over the competition.
• Obtain specification sheets and study them so that you’ll be able to answer your buyers’ general questions.
• Use the specification sheets as handouts to your buyers. They will appreciate having more information to study. They also will have greater confidence in you as a knowledgeable salesperson.
• Most importantly, you should meet with your construction superintendent regularly to learn about:
  • Construction techniques so that you can speak knowledgeably about the quality of your homes
  • How your homes are built so that you know if a home can be changed to suit a buyer’s request
  • Product changes
  • Delivery schedules

Always keep in mind that a home is built with care and precision, that it contains more than 200,000 parts and that as many as 50 different subcontractors are involved in its construction.

Financing

Financing is an integral part of any business, especially the home building industry. In Colorado, for example, there are more than 60 mortgage instruments being used to finance homes. As a salesperson you have to be knowledgeable about all of the different financing methods to best suit your buyers’ needs.

How do you keep abreast of all of the new financing tools? The answer is simple:

• Meet with mortgage representatives on a regular basis to learn about their programs.
• Attend financing seminars.
• Role-play sales “pitches” with your fellow sales associates.
• Review financing programs with Realtors® from other offices to obtain their feedback and support for the programs you have chosen to use.

Don’t review mortgage programs with potential buyers until after they’ve become enamored with a home. Mortgage programs can be complicated and premature discussions potentially could scare buyers away.

However, after a buyer selects a home style, you should feel confident enough to begin the formal introduction of a financing program. Remember to apply the “KISS Formula” in your discussions — Keep It Simple, Salesperson.

Make sure that you explain everything about the financing package to the purchaser. Don’t leave anything to the unknown. Too often, I’ve heard stories from purchasers who have said that their salesperson referred them to other salespeople or mortgage representatives and, “We really don’t understand the explanation from one person to the next. We lost confidence in the salesperson and the home building company and decided to look elsewhere for our home.”

Don’t let this happen. Simplify your financing program by having forms prepared in advance and then tailor them with information about your buyer so that everyone is aware of which items are being reviewed.

• Review the information several times and explain the principal, interest, taxes, insurance and the monthly payment and amortization schedule. Emphasize the monthly payment. This is the most important factor for the buyer. Buyers want and need to know if they can afford your home so that it can become their home.
  
  
• Review qualification ratios per the lender’s requirements. Take time to review your customers’ financial status:
  • Salary
  • Bonuses
  • Commissions
  • Scheduled raises
  • Pension plans
  • Stock option plans
  • Equity in present real estate holdings
  • Securities
  • Savings and checking deposits
  • Art
  • Jewelry
  • Personal property
  • Other investments
    
    
• Explain the closing costs so that all parties — the buyer and seller — are aware of their responsibilities.
  
  
• Prepare your buyers for the mortgage application with a list of items similar to the above list and, in addition, account numbers and names of previous and present credit holders that will be necessary for the mortgage company to verify through a standard credit check. The more prepared you and the buyers are for the mortgage company, the faster a permanent mortgage will be approved — and the faster you will all get to the “closing table.”
  
  
• Be the liaison between the mortgage company and your buyers. Be in control. Fewer problems will occur if you are directly involved.
  
  
• Attend your home buyer's mortgage application meeting. You will be able to help them with their questions. Your presence will also reinforce the “sale” and fortify their confidence in you.
  
  
• Arrange the closing so that it is convenient to your buyers.
  
  
• Attend the closing and collect the money.

Demographics

Personally collect demographic information about the area in which you are selling. Knowing your product is not enough. You have to take the initiative to meet the community in order to understand it and sell the lifestyle.

• Meet the superintendent of schools. Visit the elementary, junior and senior high schools. Just reading about the school system is not enough. Walk through the schools and learn about the academic, athletic and extracurricular activities. You will have more credibility with your prospective buyers.
  
  
• Learn all about nearby shopping. Meet the merchants. You can refer business to one another. You will also learn about the products and services offered so that you can better “sell” your neighborhood.
  
  
• Medical facilities are important to everyone, but especially to the elderly and parents of young children. Tour these facilities and meet the personnel. Keep in mind that they also buy homes and can be an excellent referral source for you.
  
  
• Learn about the area highways and local roadways. Don’t just know where they are, drive them. Also, find out about local bus routes and their schedules (school bus schedules, too). The more you know about public transportation, the more sales you can make.
  
  
• Learn about the recreational and exercise opportunities available. Buyers want to know not only about the amenities offered in your community, they want to know about what’s available in the neighborhood, city or county, too. Obtain lists of activities, schedules, fees and times of operation for both the public and private facilities. Also, keep abreast of activities and amenities within driving distance from your community such as lakes, parks and hiking and biking trails.

You also need to keep up with the businesses in your area. There may be job opportunities for your residents. Or, a new company may be moving into your area and bringing with it employees and prospective buyers.

To keep abreast of the business community, join and be active in your local chamber of commerce.

Finally, be aware of your competition and make lists of their strengths and weaknesses, including sales personnel, product, location, financing and inventory.

Read your local newspapers and make a scrapbook of items that interest you and your buyers. You never know when a piece of information will help you create another sale.

Human Nature

The bottom line is people buy people first, then they buy product. Essentially, you have to sell yourself if you want to sell a home. When prospects are working with you, they are seeking interest, loyalty, consideration, honesty, courtesy, kindness, respect, product knowledge and empathy.

Above all, sell your buyers what they want — not what you want to sell — and sell them what they can afford. By selling yourself as well as your product, you not only have a better chance of making the sale, you’ll increase your referrals.

As the salesperson, you are the advertiser, the public relations consultant and the promoter. Remember, your positive disposition, knowledge and enthusiasm are the real keys to the success of marketing and selling your homes. Be well-prepared and you will create more sales.

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