HOW TO RUN YOUR NEW HOME SALES FRANCHISE - PART 2

THIS CUP CAKE HELPED MAKE SALES - LEARN HOW

The topic of running your own new home sales franchise is so detailed, that I had to break it into two parts for you. (We'll get to the cup cake in a moment, I promise!) Here is part two.

FINANCING
In most value ranges the total investment in the home is somewhat arbitrary to the customer, what they care more about is their monthly investment. Make sure that you have at least a basic knowledge of financing, or a simple system, to be able to show your customers what their home, on their homesite with all of their luxury goodies will be; with a highly affordable monthly investment, and watch your sales increase!

KNOWLEDGE OF THE COMPETITION
“Know thy competition as well as thy know thyself.” Visit in person at least once a month and on line, and create a binder with updated info. Sir Francis Bacon famously said, “Knowledge itself is power”. I am saying, “The lack of knowledge, causes unnecessary stress and lost sales!”

With this updated information, you can positively compare your builder against the competition, and you will be able prevent your buyers from using this as an excuse for delaying action, and compromising your prices. Most importantly you can make the sale now, not perhaps some time in the future.
OBJECTIONS
Prepare ahead of time with all the objections you may hear. Pick the top ten, then use our NHS 6 step formula for managing objections, and again keep them in a binder in your sales office. This way you will be prepared to answer any objection that in the past could have given the customer a reason for delay. You can now be proactive as apposed to reactive, and make more sales.
For more info on the 6 step formula you can either go back to previous blogs or watch this little video of me at one of the International Builders Show, discussing customers buts! When I say buts, I mean their objections of course, what were you thinking?

Click on the photo to see part 1, and then be sure to watch parts 2 and 3 as well on You Tube.
FOLLOW THROUGH
Dedicate at least an hour a day to follow through with your customers. Rank your customers as Bob Schultz says; “By what you know about them, not just what you feel”. Use a CRM system and create a daily follow through regimen. We even have a follow through System called CAP with Builder 1440.
If you are interested please email me at roland@newhomespecialist.com
and I will give you the contact info you need.

PROSPECTING
Also dedicate at last an hour a day to the various prospecting targets. The rule is that at least two thirds of your qualified traffic should be self generated. First identify the targets then create a daily prospecting regimen. This is topic is so important, that we will discuss it in more detail in another blog. By the way, this is where the cup cake will come in handy!
EXPERIENCE
Lets take a leaf out Starbucks Corporation playbook, as they were one of the first companies to realize that people would pay more (way more!!!) for their product if they created an inviting environment in which to enjoy it. Prior to their arrival on the national scene we were used to paying less than a dollar for a basic cup of Joe. They created a memorable experience with comfy sofas, cool music, even cooler people writing the next great American novel on their lab tops, enjoying trendy lighting, and over 77,000 (actual number) choices of beverages. Best of all, they even write your name on your unique double mocha, extra skinny, no foam, triple shot, extra hot, Grande latte!

Ask yourself are you creating anywhere close to such a positive experience for your customers. The Ritz Carlton, one of the most luxurious hotel chains in the World, has the company motto:

"Ladies and Gentleman, Serving Ladies and gentleman.”

We should feel and act the same way. When people walk into your model have you created a “Welcome Home Atmosphere” ? Lights on, cheerful breezy music in the background (no radio ads, or politics ruining the moment!), pleasant aroma, and yes refreshments please.

We human beings love free food. When I go to the car dealership to have my car serviced, they have a coffee machine and free cake and cookies. I could be on the biggest diet, but I am like a kid in a candy shop, and never have the willpower to resist free food. Please adopt a service mentality and spoil your customers, so that they’ll keep you on their inclusion list.

The same concept applies with Realtors, make sure that they understand that you are "Realtor Friendly" destination where they and their clients will receive bottled water or coffee, cookies, and a space for them to make their future appointments, as well as great service from the new home sales professional, and both Realtor showings and sales will increase.

Now that we understand what it takes to run a New Home Sales Franchise, are you ready to commit? It is up to you to implement, to attain excellence. Aristotle said;

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a habit.”

So now is the perfect time to dedicate yourself to start turning your actions into skills that will then become the habits that will sustain you for a life time of transformative success.
*For a copy of our patented New Home Specialist “Franchise Checklist” form, "The Features and Benefits" form, or simply to ask any questions please free to email me at: roland@newhomespecialist.com.

SOUTH EAST BUILDERS CONFERENCE 2010

Bob and I had the distinct pleasure at the end of July of speaking with Kimberly Mackey at the Sales Summit at SEBC. It was a great program packed with important information on Myth Busting and how to both prospect and sell homes in this market. The large audience was eager and enthusiastic. A big thank you to Kimberly and all of the organizers for a great event, that we were honored to be part of.

SALES HEROES

We have been working with the incredible team at Shea Homes in Charlotte for quite a while. Recently we have been working on Prospecting and teaching the sales team to generate their own qualified traffic.
One of the specific target areas (out of over 20) of course is Realtors, and with the help of John Shea and Director of Sales & Marketing Michelle Scott, we have created an in depth Realtor outreach program. This is something near and dear to my heart, for as a new home salesperson, I was diligent in my relationship building with Realtors and developed a strategy for dropping off food on a regular basis, and then hosting Broker Breakfasts at Brokers sales offices at least once a month; which I sustained for over ten years. Needless to say my Realtor referrals were incredible, which helped greatly increase my personal sales.
At Shea Homes each Sales person created their own Realtor Farm list and then set about implementing our multi stepped outreach program. Like a lot of cities, In Charlotte there were challenges as many of the Real Estate offices didn't want to hear from new home salespeople, especially if they didn't have the listings from that builder.
I truly admire Merdyth's creativity and persistence. Let's read what she said in a recent email to me.
From: Meredyth Holdenrid
Sent: Tuesday, August 24, 2010 1:29 PM
To: Roland Nairnsey
Cc: Michele Scott
Subject: Realtor Outreach Success Story!

Hi Roland!

I wanted to let you know about a resent success story that happened to me since kicking off our Realtor Outreach Program.

At Shea Homes we have implemented an escalating commission program for our local Realtors. To let the Realtors know about the program we have been delivering Shea Blue cupcakes to each office. Every cupcake has a flag on it that says “Ask about Shea Homes Escalating Commission program!” It also contains the Builder Representative’s name and cell phone number.

I delivered the first batch of cupcakes to a local Real Estate office on a Monday, not knowing that the office was closed for a holiday. An agent was leaving so she kindly let me in where I proceeded to set up the cupcakes in their break room.

Two weeks later I visited the same office and was turned away by the receptionist because Shea Homes was not a “preferred vendor”. Two days later, three agents from the same office showed up to my model home asking about the escalating commission program. They had seen the cupcakes in their break room and were excited enough to come out and visit in person. All three agents were very impressed with our community and our extra services to them (allowing them to use an office if they are in the area, snacks and water just for them, etc.).

I am currently working on getting more of their agents out to my community. In the meantime I’m still visiting my other offices regularly because it’s proven that Realtor Outreach will only lead to future sales!

Have a wonderful week!

Meredyth Holdenrid

Builder Representative

Shea Homes At Riviera

This is what her boss, Michelle Scott said about Meredyth, also in an email to me.

Meredyth has been one of the most aggressive Agents on our team with regards to our new Realtor program. Many Agents may have avoided the offices that they didn’t think they could get in, but Meredyth chose to try anyway. That’s one of the qualities that I love about her.

Me too!!! Research shows that a customer bought in by a Realtor is far more likely to be qualified to buy than a customer that walks in by themselves (in most cases). And that the conversion ratio with customers bought in by Realtors, is typically on average three to four Realtor visits to lead to a sale, as opposed to many more visits with non- Realtor generated traffic. So as long as our builders are in agreement that it is OK for us to reach out to more Realtors, then it makes sense to make that part of our daily routine. With these statistics in mind, Merdyths 3 cup cakes probably led to a sale. What a return on investment and again congratulations to Meredyth for your passion and persistence.
Again as I promised on my very first blog, there will always be a photo of my young toddler Max. Let face it, we all work so hard, so that we can have the reward of coming home and spending quality time with our loved ones.













I believe here he is channeling a little James Dean!





Thanks again for the opportunity to share these ideas with you.
Please feel free to write with questions, comments and to get your free forms at: newhomespecialist.com or follow the prompts and leave your message on this blog; and also please share YOUR success stories.


Have a terrific month of selling homes.


Bob Schultz and The New Home Specialists
2300 Glades Road
Boca Raton, FL 33431
Tel: 561-368-1151

Newhomespecialist.com