Video Mystery Shopping: You had me at hello!

Believe it or not, one of the most crucial elements of your new home sales presentation is the approach and introduction. This sets the stage for the ENTIRE presentation. In watching several shops over the past few weeks, I have noticed that many new home sales people do not understand the importance of the approach and introduction. The good news is that this is a pretty simple area to improve upon! It all has to do with your attitude.

When your prospects enter the sales office, they are feeling a bit intimidated and nervous. (Imagine how you feel when you go to the doctor’s office!) They don’t know what to expect. It is your job to put them at ease and make them feel welcome. This allows you to create immediate rapport and build trust.

So, how do you do this? Here are some tips!

Greet each prospect enthusiastically and with a smile! I would suggest having a ‘scripted’ introduction. For example, ‘Hello! Welcome to Best Builder Homes in Crystal Creek. I am Melinda, and you are?’
Offer everyone who walks into your sales office something to drink. This not only quenches their thirst, but it breaks the ice and allows you some bonding time before you jump into your presentation.
Turn the conversation around to be about them. Ask your prospects what has brought them in today and how they heard about the community.
Don’t forget your company website. Statistics show that over 85% of people will go online before they ever venture into a new home community. Ask them if they have been to the website.
Build rapport. Before you dive into your community spiel, get to know a little bit about your prospects. I am not a big ‘small talk’ fan, but I do strongly believe that in order to develop a relationship of trust with your prospective buyers you have to get to know them!
USE YOUR PROSPECT’S NAME. People love to hear their own name! If you are not good at remembering names, write it down and make a point to use their name at least 3 times in the first 10 minutes. This will not only help you remember their name, it will help build rapport. For example, ‘So Sarah, tell me what brought you in to Crystal Creek today?’

Remember, you only get once change to make a first impression. Make it count!