Consider adding one sales person. If that isn’t possible, at least add a hostess or receptionist. At the very least, your visitors should be welcomed by a living human being who can get their name, address and telephone number so that you can contact them and schedule a return visit during a less hectic time when they can be given the attention they deserve.
When you add personnel, you may need to adjust compensation to ensure keeping the good people on your sales staff. But any additional costs should be offset by increased sales. You may need to use your selling skills to convince management that adding personnel is in their best interest. If management does not agree, you should consider paying the person out of your own pocket. This may sound like heresy, but it is a solution that has worked for general real estate brokers around the country.
Examining your sales goal and conversion ratios will provide a good indication of how much traffic you need and how much traffic you can accommodate. When traffic is too heavy, your conversion ratios will fall and you may be unfairly judged on what appears to be inadequate performance.
If it appears that your company should be reducing its advertising expenditures, that recommendation could make you a hero in the eyes of management because it will save money.
Too much traffic is also an indication that the time is ripe for examining your pricing. This could be an opportunity you don’t want to miss. If you decide on price increases, implement them cautiously in small and regular increments. The market will tell you when the price is right; watch your sales and traffic.
Daniel Levitan, MIRM, is president of Levitan & Associates, a Florida-based firm providing marketing and strategic consulting to builders, developers and lenders across the country. He is a past president and multi-term trustee of the Institute of Residential Marketing. He has been a trustee of the National Council on Seniors Housing and has won IRM’s Bill Molster, John P. Hall and Excellence in Education awards. He can be reached by e-mail or phone him at 954-473-4244.
“Ask a MIRM” is a regular feature in Sales & Marketing Ideas magazine.
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