Dan Kauffman

Dan Kauffman averaged more than two-and-a-half sales a month at the Breakwater single-family home community near the Delaware seashore last year, a sales pace that helped him earn the 2011 Sales Person of the Year during The Nationals sales and marketing awards program earlier this year.

“When August hit I had 20 sales and I thought I could get to 30 if I put my mind to it,” Kauffman said. He finished the year with 31 sales.

Schell Brothers hired Kauffman to be the community’s sales manager in February 2009. A Washington, D.C.-area native, Kauffman moved to the Delaware beaches — a popular seaside retreat for Washington residents — after serving a deployment in Iraq with the U.S. Army Reserve.

Time to Assess His Market

He began selling the community during what was one of the slower months during the housing recession — “when selling one or two homes per month would have made any builder jump for joy,” he said.

Undaunted, Kauffman used his downtime to gain a better understanding of the type of community Breakwater could become and “to recognize the people who want to buy here.”  

“I was able to see the community developing from an imagination standpoint,” Kauffman said, and hone a strategy to reel in the sales.

Breakwater, which features single-family homes with between three and six bedrooms, is only minutes from the Delaware beaches and has such amenities as walking trails, two outdoor pools (one, a kiddy pool), a clubhouse and fitness center, and an outdoor kitchen.

Washington area baby boomers who want a second home near the ocean where they can eventually retire are the community’s primary target market. The amenities and bedrooms offer plenty of room and activities for visiting children and grandchildren.

To sell the homes, Kauffman often asked the president and vice president of the development firm to meet with his prospects to explain the benefits of a Schell home, which enabled Kauffman “to step out of his ‘salesy’ role and be more of an educator. It worked.

“Schell Brothers is a smaller company. Our president and vice president are very hands-on and it’s easy to share their vision. It’s a very big help,” he said.

Not surprisingly, they also encouraged Kauffman to apply for The Nationals Sales Person of the Year Award.   

Candidates who apply for the award must answer a series of self-assessment questions on their sales approach, company culture, targeted market and other factors that influence the sales process.

“Salespeople are really superstitious, and we don’t like to toot our own horn,” said Kauffman. Filling out the application “required me to assess the job I did in a different way. I had to really look at it from a different perspective, a humbling perspective.”

“My accomplishments were a result of my training and a really good sales environment,” he said. “I never would have entered The Nationals on my own, I had never even thought about it before. But the process made me look at my job differently, tap into some resources I hadn’t used.”

“Thirty-one sales is a pretty darn good year, and I wouldn’t have gotten there if I didn’t think anyone who wants to be salesman of the year should do more than 24,” Kauffman said.

Apply for 2012 Nationals

Entry forms for the 2012 Nationals awards will soon be available. For more information about The Nationals, email Lisa Parrish, or call her at 800-658-2751.

Find Out What 45+ Housing Buyers Want

“Right House, Right Place, Right Time: Community and Lifestyle Preferences of the 45+ Housing Market,” available through NAHB BuilderBooks, will help determine the right design, home features and amenities to attract boomer home buyers in your market.

Author Margaret A. Wylde guides readers through the latest survey results on this important consumer group and explains what their responses mean for today’s and tomorrow’s home building industry.

To view or purchase this publication online, click here, or call 800-223-2665.

Option Selling Can Boost Sales, Make Lasting Impression

In “Option Selling for Profit: The Builder’s Guide to Generating Design Center Revenue and Profit,” authors Gina Gullo and Angela Rinaldi share their hands-on understanding of high-powered selling in the ever-expanding market of options for new homes.

By offering a range of options and upgrades, the design phase provides the best opportunity to make a lasting impression and ensure that buyers will favorably remember the entire buying experience.

To view or purchase this publication online through NAHB BuilderBooks, click here, or call 800-223-2665.

In Today’s Market, 'Think Sold!' With Help From NAHB BuilderBooks

“Think Sold! Creating Home Sales in Any Market,” available at NAHB BuilderBooks, is a practical, how-to guide for developing the self-awareness, knowledge and skills needed to succeed in the competitive field of new home sales.

The book covers everything from the home buying process and new home financing to strategies for making better sales presentations and sizing up the competition. It teaches readers how to overcome customers’ concerns and provides specific examples of how to explain the benefits of new home features in customer-friendly language.

“Think Sold” provides insights on how to approach sales and life from a position of optimism that will create successful outcomes; how to improve upon potential customer prospecting and follow-up skills; and how to communicate effectively with various types of buyers and learn how to adjust communication strategies to increase rapport and alignment with buyers’ motives.

To view or purchase this publication online, click here, or call 800-223-2665.

Subscribe to Sales + Marketing Ideas Magazine for Cutting-Edge Information

For additional cutting-edge sales and marketing information, subscribe to NAHB’s Sales + Marketing Ideas magazine (www.smimagazine.com).

Click here to learn about membership benefits of the National Sales and Marketing Council and the Institute of Residential Marketing.