Video Mystery Shopping: Diminish Distractions – It can cost you the deal!
I was watching a video mystery shop last week, and the new home sales person was fabulous! She greeted with enthusiasm, asked all the right questions, knew how to effectively overcome objections and incorporate trial closes. She was a real new home sales rock star! However, by the time her shop was over I had a headache the size of Texas! Why did I have a headache? Because her video mystery shop was filled with so many distractions I found it very hard to concentrate on the sales person and what she was saying.
It started upon entering the sales office. DISTRACTION 1: The ‘music’ that was playing in the office was so loud that you could hardly carry on a conversation. Not only was the music loud, it was inappropriate. How can you focus on purchasing a new home when Britney Spears is singing about how she wants your body and wants you to hold it against her?
DISTRACTION 2: When the shopper and new home sales associate finally made their way to the model home they were greeted by another distraction. It seems the construction department had decided to hold a meeting in the living room of the model home. Nothing encourages you to buy a new home quite like a group of 15 men all talking and laughing (loudly) while you are showing the model.
The final straw for me came when the new home sales associate took the prospect to view a home under construction that would have been ideal for the prospect. DISTRACTION 3: Upon entering the home there were several men painting (and talking loudly) in the foyer and on the stairwell. If that wasn’t bad enough, they were also playing Mexican dance music at the highest possible volume attainable from their boom box.
OK, now can you understand the headache??? I know that we are in the construction business, and things can get loud; however, as new home sales professional your job is to provide your prospects with a pleasant experience. This means minimizing the number of outside distractions! If you are going to have music playing in your sales office or model homes, it should be light background music not today’s top 20 dance hits!
As for the construction department’s meeting in the model home, ask your management team to schedule those types of meetings when the models are not open to the public. The information they discuss is usually confidential anyway, why would you want to expose your prospects to it?
Finally, work with your superintendent to come up with a customer policy for contractors and subs. If you are showing a home under construction, the subs and contractors need to be respectful of you and your client. Remember, when you are in new home sales you are faced with distractions and noises all the time, it is easy to become immune to them. Your prospects are NOT used to it. Eliminate the distractions.
