So what is our standardized test in sales? Performance evaluations via the mystery shop process. Granted, each mystery shop company provides different measurements and approaches. However, each agent must have some sort of performance review to identify their baseline sales skills. How else can a sales agent grow into skills that will make them true professionals? Everyone must know their strengths as well as those areas where skill reinforcement is necessary. Professional growth means one thing…constant review and improvement. No excuses. No exceptions.

There are certain absolutes in sales presentations. At the risk of being redundant, the essentials of any sales presentation are found in Dave Stone’s Critical Path categories: Greet, Meet, Qualify, Demonstrate, Close, etc. Critical Path is the foundation and framework of the successful sales presentation. You can call these categories different names, but in the end, it comes down to these established basics. What changes in sales, is the execution of these absolutes. How the sales professional delivers product information and obtains buyer information changes with market conditions and buyer profiles. For each agent and for each buyer, the delivery should be modified.

There are many outstanding sales trainers in our field. Each one has their own unique approach to a successful sales presentation. That doesn’t make one right and the other wrong. Just different. I have always felt that sales professionals should absorb as much as possible from every support tool possible and then blend what works for them.

That doesn’t mean tossing out effective sales strategies because they require more work. It just means some strategies are not a good fit for every agent’s personality. If you are a naturally reserved person, it is difficult to become a cheerleader. However, that does not mean that agent gets a pass on showing excitement and enthusiasm about their community and product. They still must find a way to breathe life into their sales presentation.

I often get asked how to use the evaluation reports we generate from either our Audio or Video Profile series. While each manager has their own way of using a shopping report, I have always felt that the most effective way is to initially have management and agent view the agent’s video or listen to the audio recording separately. The agent should not get the company report until after they have self evaluated. (LeBlanc & Associates does provide a Self Critique form for this purpose.) Once the agent has self evaluated, then they need to sit down with their manager and compare notes. Kudos should flow for their strong areas. And then discuss how they need to improve in other areas. Have a plan in mind how to improve and then assess and evaluate again. The agent must be involved in this process. Managers should encourage their agents to use a small audio recorder and shop themselves. Listen to the audio recording of any sales presentation and then self critique. Agents can also work with their partner or other team member to exchange ideas and suggestions.

Like sales management, agents need to be held accountable for their performance. They are charged with moving product. While it is difficult in today’s selling market, it doesn’t mean sales are not happening. So while company budget’s might not afford the ‘shop till you drop’ policy, they must still look to their front line. Budgets must allow for at least one series of sales agent evaluations. Provide your agents with all the tools and support necessary to allow them to succeed. Will the agents be excited about being shopped? No. But they need to accept it and incorporate those necessary skills that will insure success. Success is one standard everyone needs to embrace and achieve. No excuses. No exceptions.

DesigNerds…the backroom of every outstanding marketing and advertising firm.

Smaller communities, or individual new home listings, never have enough money to market like the big boys, so cleverness must be the key. One exciting tool moxie new construction marketeers use is ‘social marketing’ or ‘social media.’ By this I am referring to the Blogosphere world and social networking sites such as FaceBook, MySpace, YouTube, and the thousands of others. Influencing customers and getting leads through just a little effort on the Web is doable! It takes some time as well as the ability to string a few sentences together.

Check out some more information on blogging at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blogosphere.

#3. Watch out for Jargon.

Just because you know what you’re talking about doesn’t mean that a homebuyer will. Avoid using terms that that might be unfamiliar to visitors to your website.

For example, you might be proud of your ICF foundations or SIPs walls, but if your customer doesn’t know what these terms mean they certainly can’t appreciate their value. “They might not admit that they don’t know,” says Yudkin, “so you’ll go on explaining how great these are, and they just don’t get it. You can’t assume that your website visitors are highly educated about your product and understand what you do.”

#4. Showing old, out-of-date information.

Have your heard this before from your sales or marketing department? Whose fault is it, that sales are slow now? Is it the economy, the marketing department, your PR firm or sales? Who should you blame? If you are like most people, you want to pass the buck to someone else. Take your pick, throw your dart at one of the other departments and build your case. Here is my take.

The Economy?

Read all the articles you want, listen to the newscasts, look for all the “For Sale” signs and you’ll most likely say, that’s it! If the market were better, like it used to be, we would be making all kinds of sales. While that may be a great call, it’s not the right answer. There are still buyers out there. Don’t look at the 20 or 40% drop in sales in your market, but focus on the 60% to 80% that is still out there. If you focus on the negative, that’s what you’ll get. Now, more than ever, you have to create more activities and do more follow-ups with them, then you’ve ever done. Guess it’s time to get back to work and stop being an order taker!

The Marketing Department?

If the marketing department would just get their act together and create more leads, we would make more sales. The only way this might be true is, if you cut back your marketing budget or shut them down to adjust to the market. Then, you have fulfilled a self-fulfilling prophecy. This is probably the worst thing a company can do. There are still buyers out there and we need to be more creative than ever, in developing marketing campaigns that will create a call-to-action, for a call or a visit. Target marketing and working your referral base and Internet, are where you can make a difference, without spending a ton of money. It’s not the marketing department’s job to make sales. Their job is to create the awareness and activity.

Your PR Firm?

That’s it. It’s the PR firm’s fault! You’ve been spending money every month and they have been getting you publicity, articles printed and story lines, but no one has called and bought one of your homes. If they just did a better job, we wouldn’t be so far behind. Wrong answer again. It’s not your PR firm’s job to make sales. Their job is to create public awareness. Always keep in mind, that the effectiveness of PR is how you use the information as a marketing tool, to help enhance the sale and give you creditability. It’s great third party testimonial. PR articles, and stories have a five-year shelf life. It’s not as important as who sees them initially; it’s how you use them to make a sale.

But buyers still ask, “Why buy now?”

Well, here is why:

As we all know, housing prices are controlled by the basic law of supply and demand.

In 2006, the sub-prime lending market began to implode. As a result, buyers could no longer afford to purchase homes that were now made unaffordable as a result of the lack of loans available to the average Buyer. Demand for new homes plummeted while supply was high as a result of the large number of already built unsold homes. We entered a Buyers’ market. As the market changed, builders have come under intense pressure to sell the homes they have on hand. Unlike a homeowner that can wait to sell their existing home until the market improves, builders need their unsold homes off of their books today. This is why we are seeing the prices of new homes at a lower level then the prices for used re-sale homes. In fact, today’s buyers are often purchasing new homes for less then it costs to build them. But Buyers’ markets (as we have recently learned with Sellers’ markets) do not go on forever. California’s last Buyers’ market occurred in the early 1990’s. People who bought homes in that Buyers’ market were told by friends, family and work associates that they were making a huge mistake. They were told that the “sky was falling” and that home prices would continue to drop.

However, those that bought in the early 1990’s are known today as savvy and sophisticated buyers. Today, those buyers have huge amounts of equity in their homes. That same thing will be said about the buyers taking advantage of today’s Buyers’ market… that they were savvy investors that took advantage of a very temporary market condition.

Smart buyers know that at some point home prices always stop dropping. The savvy buyer knows that long term population growth will always cause increased demand for new homes. California’s population is forecasted to expand from 34 million in year 2000 to 43 million by 2020 (per U.S. Census reports). California population growth caused by new births alone is very significant. This is a huge 25% increase in population in California. These new California residents will need to buy homes to live in. As supply decreases, demand will increase.

We can all see what is happening on the supply side. Builders are no longer building, and construction lenders have stopped making loans to builders. Therefore, supply is now shrinking, not growing.

In the not to distant future, we will be reading headlines that proclaim that home sales are up, supply is down, and guess what… builders and banks are no longer selling homes at a loss as they are back in the business of building homes to make a profit.

In addition, interest rates for the past five years have held at 25-year lows. However, we cannot expect interest rates to stay low forever as there is ever increasing pressure for the rates to rise significantly. Buyers that procrastinate may find themselves shut out of the market with such an increase.

Also, buyers should keep in mind that the next generation of new homes will be built to the affordability of each local market, and not for investors or speculators. As a result, the next generation of new homes will probably not be built with all of the extra features which we have become accustomed to, such as beautiful granite countertops, upgraded cabinets, moldings, and stainless steel kitchens. The buyers of those next generation homes will have to pay for those extras.

Remember, California housing cycles come and go. But even with the up and down of the cycles, over the last 34 years, median home values have appreciated 7% per year. On a compound interest basis, this equates to homes almost doubling in value every 10 years.

Smart home buying is about taking advantage of the convergence of supply, demand, financing and interest rates. Right now, supply of new homes is quickly diminishing, demand is still sluggish, new home prices are at their lowest point in years and financing is again becoming available. At the same time, interest rates continue at 25 year lows!

We’ve been in this Buyers’ market for over two years. The signs are clear that the pendulum is swinging. Now is the time for savvy buyers to take advantage of this “perfect storm,” and purchase a beautiful new home which provides them with the life style that they desire and their families deserve.

Steve Kaller is CEO of Ultimate New Home Sales and Marketing Inc., California’s leading new home sales specialists (www.unhs.com). Steve has personally sold the entire menu of new home types from land lease condominiums to custom homes and custom home lots. Ultimate has been a leader in the new home sales industry for over twenty years, and is headquartered in Anaheim, CA. Steve can be reached at srk@unhs.com or (714) 632-7444 x-15.

Copyright © 2008 - I'm happy to share this information with others at no cost, provided that copies are not distributed for profit or direct commercial advantage. Permission to reprint is given freely, subject to the following provisions: Please leave in credit and bio information, and please send a copy to Steve Kaller at 1205 N. Tustin Ave. Anaheim, CA 92807 or e-mail to srk@unhs.com.

TRAINING. Using a Video Profile from LeBlanc & Associates of you best agent(s) demonstrates what you expect from the rest of the sales team. What better way can an agent learn than from the best of their peers? The training aspect is then reinforced with our self-evaluation guide.

TECHNICALLY SPEAKING. To maintain the highest quality of final product, all our work is done in-house. Our clients receive two DVDs of each sales encounter and have the option of either a fully processed or non-processed format.

QUALITY. LeBlanc & Associates is established as the premiere company for sales agent evaluations. Our business is your business . . . new home sales. Our high level of training for our field techs provides the best capture rate of your agents. We know you are paying to see your agents – not the walls and windows of your sales office.

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