Sales Tip 109: "Help Your Prospects Get their Finances in Shape for 2011"

Please have this money-oriented discussion with your prospects when they consider purchasing a new home. There are 4 basic concepts your prospects need to embrace if they want to get ahead financially:
1. Live within your means - this requires them to honestly and realistically assess how they spend their money. There is a difference between wealth and income. Wealth is what you accumulate, not what you spend. Can they change their habits by not going out to restaurants as often, driving the newest car etc?
2. Pay down their debts - The goal is to pay down and ultimately eliminate as much debt as possible, especially on credit cards. Have your customers compile a list of their debts with interest rates and payment schedules. Show them how to systematically consolidate these debts and pay them off; the highest interest rates ones first. Then develop a plan for keeping these debts in check in the future.
3. Saving money - Its not enough to earn an income and then pay your bills. Savvy prospective homebuyers must also learn how to pay themselves first. Instead of living the high life... they must develop a strategy to acquire assets that will appreciate, income-producing assets, income producing properties, mutual funds, bonds etc.
4. Working hard - The average US worker puts in a 40 hour week. Studies have shown that self-made millionaires work 59.5 hours a week. If your prospects worked harder than others/took on a part time job/worked overtime .... what could they do with the extra money? Help them to see that winning the lottery or earning "X" amount of money is not enough to secure a financially free future, but rather a combination of all 4 concepts discussed above.

Sales Tip 108: "You are the Sale - That's the Bottom Line"

Good Sales People know that before they can sell their product they must first sell themselves. How to do this? Here are a sampling of surefire techniques:
1. Always be your self - people respond to people who are honest
2. Play to the prospect - Its not about making the customer fit your product but rather the other way around
3. Try to learn as much about your prospect before you meet with them - it shows that you care enough about them to have done some homework
4. Ask the right questions - have a good probing plan that will help you to build rapport and find out something about their current situation/motivation, future needs and potential obstacles to overcome
5. Be Positive - your customer does not need to know when you are having a bad day!
6. Don't Hardsell- Customers will feel that they have been slimed/taken advantage of. This does no good as it leads to potential cancellations and no future referrals.
7. Dress the part

Sales Tip 107: "How to Dispose of Current Property in Order to Buy a New One"

One of the biggest challenges facing new home sales reps today is not that buyers don't want to buy a new home, but rather they can't sell their current one in order to move to their new residence. While a Guaranteed Rental is not for everyone, it is worth exploring in the early stages of negotiations with a potential buyer.
1. Mention from the get-go "Have you considered renting your current home if it does not sell?" Many Sales reps are afraid to go there... or rather... introduce this concept too late into the process and the buyers are not enthusiastic about the possibilities...
2. Make sure that when you are qualifying them you get them qualified with 2 mortgages. The lenders will only consider a portion of their rental income... not the entire rental income
3. Have a qualified Real Estate agent on call that you can refer them to to help them set a realistic rental price
4. Remember, that as the housing market slowing improves, so will the prospect of them selling the house in the future while being able living in the house of their dreams now

Sales Tip 106: "How to Use Sense of Urgency to Your Advantage"

When you have buyers "sitting on the fence" there are a number of different tactics you can employ to get them to react. Here are a few:
1. Homesite - this one really is a "one of a kind"
2. Delivery time - "Wouldn't it be great to be in your new home before the holidays?"
3. Tell them outright "You deserve this!"
4. Streetscape - "This is the only one that will have your exterior colors/elevation"
5. Interest Rates are at an all time low... they have not been this low since WWII
6. Incentives - Remind the prospects that those wonderful incentives will not be around forever