Video Mystery Shopping Tip: It’s OK to ask for the close! Really!
One thing I have noticed in watching countless video shops is that most new home sales people don’t like to ask for the close. Why is that? It is no secret that as new home sales consultants, our objective is to sell our prospects a new home, right? But, for some reason this seems to be the most difficult part of the entire selling process. Just this morning I watched a shop, and the sales person scored far above average in every area of her shop but scored a ZERO on her closing techniques!
I’ve had client’s tell me that they are ‘uncomfortable asking for the close’ or that they don’t want to ‘act like a used car salesperson’ or ‘be too pushy’, I understand all of that, but the bottom line is: if we don’t ask for the close, we don’t get the sale.’
So, I would challenge you to think about this a little differently. You see, you aren’t really ‘asking’ for the close, you are actually creating a closing foundation during your entire sales presentation. So when it does become time to ‘ask for the close’, it is a natural progression of your sales presentation!
I’ve come up a few tips to help you create this ‘closing’ foundation that promise you will make it MUCH easier and more comfortable to close the deal!
- Practice with your trial closes – If you use enough trial closes during your sales presentation; it will make asking for the final close a piece of cake! Start getting comfortable asking for a trial close on the builder, the community, the home site and the home. This way, you are getting your prospects buy in along the way! So, when you get to the close, you are actually just reaffirming to them what they’ve already told you.
- Use objections to your advantage – Most of the time when a new home sales person is met with an objection from a prospect, their first reaction is to immediately solve or explain away the objection. I encourage you to not be so quick in responding to objections, but instead take this time to probe. Start by acknowledging the objection and then ask them explain WHY this is an objection. Once you have that information, you can provide your solution or your explanation to overcome the objection. And, finally (and this is THE MOST IMPORTANT PART), confirm with your prospect that they are completely satisfied with your response and that the issue is no longer an objection.
- Remain in control of the process – Your prospects are relying on you to be the new home expert. You are the one with the knowledge! You’ve given them information about your builder, your community, your homesites, your floorplans, your prices, your upgrades, and your preferred lender! You’ve answered all their questions and you’ve given them your valuable time. So, why is it that at the most important and critical part of the process, you hand over your power to them and make them in charge? You are the one in the driver’s seat and you owe it to them to let them know what the next step is in the process of purchasing their new home!
Remember, if you don’t ask – the answer is always NO!
