Video Mystery Shopping – The 5 most common mistakes new home sales people make during the sales presentation

Melinda’s Top 5

Having conducted and reviewed over 20,000 video mystery shops in the past 25 years, I feel qualified to call myself somewhat of an expert in the area of new home sales tactics and techniques. Each week, through the power of video mystery shopping, I get the opportunity to witness first-hand what is really going on in new home sales offices. I see what works, and I also see what doesn’t work in the sales presentation.

Every now and again I will watch a shop and the sales person will do or say something so outrageous my jaw will literally drop to the floor, but most of the time new home sales associates make the same common mistakes over and over again which causes them to not make a sale. New homes sales isn’t brain surgery or rocket science, but it can be difficult if you don’t have the proper TRAINING and KNOWLEDGE to be able to make the sale.

In true David Letterman mode, I have come up with my Top 5 list of the most common mistakes that new home sales people make in their sales presentations. I don’t care if the video mystery shop occurred in Peoria, IL or Little Rock, AR…..these five occurrences know NO geographic boundaries! I promise you that if you overcome these common mishaps your sales presentation will improve and as a result, you will see an increase in your sales and your bottom line!

Not using the prospect’s name during the presentation – It has been proven time and time again…people LOVE hearing the sound of their own name. Not only that, but when you use the prospect’s name you are building immediate rapport and trust with them as well. Make it a point to use their name several times throughout the presentation.
Forgetting to ask if the prospect has been to the builder’s website – In today’s world more than 90% of people conduct company research online BEFORE they ever do business with that company. In other words, they are pre-qualifying YOU! In new home sales, your prospects use the builder’s website to determine whether or not to make a trip to the sales office. So, chances are pretty high that the prospect walking into your sales office HAS been to your website. It is your job to find out!
Not determining how much time the prospect has to spend with you – I have seen beautiful sales presentations go awry because the sales associate neglected to ask the prospect how much time they had to spend with them. Don’t assume your prospect has all day. There is nothing worse than having your sales presentation cut short! I advise sales people to have a ‘cliff note’ version of their presentation in case the prospects can’t stay for the full version.
Lack of a strong builder’s story – Remember, in most cases your prospects are going to be visiting multiple builders. It is critical that at the end of the day they KNOW what sets you apart from the herd. One suggestion is to ASK your prospects what is important to them in a builder….this will open the door for dialogue that is specific to THEIR needs.
Too much ‘Telling’, Not enough ’Selling’ – Make sure you engage the prospect in every aspect of your sales presentation. Don’t just ‘feature dump’ on them, find out what is important to them. Remember, this is not about you….it is about your prospects and what they want. You have to identify what is truly important to your prospects and then showcase that to them throughout your sales presentation.