How to avoid a goose egg.
When reviewing prospects with your sales team, the most important question to ask is….WHY?
Why is it beneficial for the prospect to buy here and to buy now?
How many times has a sales person told you they’re going to write 2 sales this week, only to end up with a goose egg?
Yes, it happens. Buyers change their minds, get scared, or something unusual comes up.
What I have found, though, is that with thorough coaching, they become more clear as to what they missed and what needs to happen next to move the prospect forward and advance the sale.
When coaching sales people and reviewing prospects with them, our goal is to help them figure out what additional information they may need and help them determine a strategy to move the prospect forward and close the sale.
5 KEY COACHING QUESTIONS to avoid a goose egg and close more sales:
WHY are the prospects in the market for a home? In other words, what is their situation? What triggered them to get off their couch and talk to you about buying a new home today? When we ask these questions, we help them determine if they’ve done a thorough job discovering the prospect’s motivations and pain points which are driving them to make a change.WHAT else and WHY? Now that we understand why they want to move, now we want to understand what they want and why they want it. What are their needs and WHY are those needs important to them? When we ask about the WHY, we help the sales person understand how thoroughly they probed for the emotional reasons the prospect wants what they want. When they understand the emotional impact of their prospect’s decisions, and they know they have what the prospect needs, then they can present more impactful solutions and more easily motivate their prospects to move forward.Based on their needs, WHY is it beneficial for the prospect to buy here and now? This is where the rubber meets the road. If the sales person says that the prospect says they want 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths and a 2 car garage in this location, and we offer that, great! But they don’t know WHY it’s beneficial for them to buy here and buy now. There’s a problem. This is a tell-tale sign that a goose egg is coming. So when we ask our sales person: WHY is our home better for them? Why is this a good location for them? Why is this the right community for them? Why is this the best home site for them? Does this home fit in their budget? Their timeframe? If they can answer these questions and explain the why, and if they have clearly demonstrated how our product/community/builder will satisfy the prospect’s needs with compelling benefits that address the “why,” then they are skillfully managing the process and on their way to helping their prospect buy a new home. If the sales person is unable to articulate why this purchase is the right decision for the prospect and how it will positively impact the prospect, then most likely the prospect doesn’t know either. What concerns did you encounter? How did that impact the prospect? There is no perfect home, so we have to expect there are some needs we’re unable to satisfy. What were they? Were they high priority items, or just “nice to have” items. Have we addressed the objections to their satisfaction?What is the next step, when is it happening, and do you have agreement? If the sales person has done a thorough job above, and has gained agreement on the next step, then they are well on their way to closing the sale. If they don’t know what the next step is, or if there is no agreement and they are just waiting for a call back…well then, WHY? Ultimately, in a prospect review, we’re trying to help the sales person debrief their prospect interaction enough to be able to explain WHY buying from us is the best action for the prospect. We also want to help them determine, if they haven’t already, the best strategy to move them forward. By asking these questions, they see what areas they may have missed. If the sales person can clearly articulate the prospect’s needs, and if he clearly understands the why behind those needs and has satisfied those needs to the prospect’s delight, then he is well on his way to advancing the process and helping the prospect buy a new home.
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For more guidance on how to coach your sales team and develop rockstars,
Kathy Tucker Coaching & Consulting is a boutique sales and leadership training company specializing in helping builders and real estate companies develop top producing sales teams and brilliant sales leaders who foster a healthy, high-performance sales culture.
After over 25 years leading top-producing sales teams with the nation’s leading homebuilders, Kathy saw many sales leaders being under-trained or burning out, or wanting to get to the next level of their career but not knowing how to do it. So she started her coaching business to help sales managers learn the systems and skills to take their performance to the next level and THRIVE in the role of the sales leader.
Kathy offers:
Virtual Sales Training Workshops, 1:1 Coaching for Sales Professionals and Sales Leaders, and her Signature Leadership Program: 9 Steps to Leading a Rock Star Sales Team.
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