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.