Do sales processes help you close a deal? We take a look into sales processes and how they might help your new homes business.
Many builders are great at understanding a clients’ needs, building a strong relationship and understanding their lifestyle so they can find them a home that ticks all the boxes. But if you can’t close the deal, then all your time and effort is wasted.
What we commonly see is after an hour or so of getting to know the client, the builder will simply let them leave under the assumption that that the client will come back – maybe they’re not ready to buy just yet, or they might be looking for land or needing to sell their current home.
We let them go because we think ‘that was great, the client loves me, we got on really well and they will come back’ or ‘I will call them in a few days with the information they requested from me.’
Unfortunately, this thought process leaves you open to chance – chance of the client seeing an ad from your competitors, walking into another display home, or speaking to others about their own experiences. These situations can make the client forget all about the ‘great conversations’ you had just a few days before.
If you have taken the time to understand your client’s needs, then you have earned the right to close a sale, or at least progress to the next step.
There are a few key moments that indicate it is time to close the sale:
- Identifying serious buying signs – they have finance, land, a move in date, etc.
- You’ve conducted a thorough needs analysis
- You’ve taken the time to build a strong relationship with trust and rapport
Don’t be afraid to ask for a fee or to move to the next step – the worst possible outcome is simply that the client will decline because they are not ready, which means you need to continue building trust.
Do not leave yourself to chance – close the loop. After you have built a relationship, have the client’s trust and determined their wants and needs, close the client – not necessarily for a fee or deposit, but for another appointment.
“Always keep closing” means you should do everything you can to keep the client coming back to you. At some point, the natural progression of the sale is for the client to hand over some money.
Remember, in new home sales there is always another stage of the process – keep on selling the next stage to ensure the client continues coming back. It’s a lot easier if you follow a set process and set expectations early so the client knows what is ahead.
Spectrum Coach has extensive experience in writing tailored sales processes that are proven to be successful. We also recommend the setting of KPI’s around these processes for your sales consultants so they are aware of what’s expected of them, and have thorough processes to follow to help them meet expectations and close the sale.
What’s your selling process?