It Takes More Than Numbers To Make Sales

While sales in many cases is considered to be a matter of numbers – see or talk with enough people and you’ll make sales – there’s more to it than that.

On April 9th, I wrote about “The Fallacy of Playing the Numbers Game” and stressed that it’s a quality issue rather than one of sheer numbers – that the quality of your traffic and the quality of your sales presentation have more to do with your success than just the amount of traffic.

If it was just simply a matter of traffic, we should be able to sell everything we need to for the entire year at a Parade of Homes or Grand Opening when there are dozens – if not hundreds – of people that visit our sales centers.

However, if you talk with enough qualified and interested people, focus on how you can meet their needs, ask for the sale, and make strategic plans for continuing contact with them, then you will make sales.

The same concept applies to your post visit Follow-Through® contact or proactive lead generation activities. Just setting goals and meeting them won’t get the job done unless you're contacting the right people. Making 10 calls a day or even 5, sending out 5 postcards a week or so many emails, setting so many appointments, or calling on 10 Realtors a week will produce little results if the activities aren’t targeted.

Otherwise, this is just a formula for fatigue.

If you send notes or emails to people who have little or no interest in (1) buying a new home at all or (2) buying it from you, what possible impact can your messages and activities have?

Beware of activity without progress! Goals for contact or lead generation are fine if they are based on achieveable results. Just making the requisite number of calls or mailings won’t necessarily do the job.

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com. I also maintain a blog on the real estate network Active Rain, and you can join this site and begin participating in the fun and networking opportunities by clicking here.

40 Tips for A Better Life - Part 1

In this challenging housing market, it's important to stay focused and positive. Here are a few tips to help you do just that.

1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, SMILE. It is the ultimate anti-depressant.
2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
3. Buy a DVR and tape your late night shows and get more sleep.
4. When you wake up in the morning, complete the following statement, 'My purpose is to __________ today.'
5. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.
6. Play more games and read more books than you did last year.
7. Make time to practice meditation, and prayer. They provide us with daily fuel for our busy lives.
8. Spend time with people over the age of 70 and under the age of 6.
9. Dream more while you are awake.
10. Eat more foods that grow ON trees and plants, and eat less food that is manufactured IN plants.

Check back for more tips in Part 2.

Chuck Miller

President - Chuck Miller Construction Inc.

www.chuckmillerconstruction.com

VA Loans Revisited

With all of the changes and restrictions that have been introduced be Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Mortgage Insurance companies, the one type of loan program that has not been affected is VA loans. As a matter of fact, VA loans now, with few exceptions, are THE 100 percent financing option available for purchasing a home.

Over the past few years, the proliferation of loan programs available often negated the value of a VA loan, but the VA loan program has stayed the course with its loan requirements. Let’s review some of them.

First, eligibility is generally limited to active and retired military personnel, as well as those who served in the National Guard or Reserves. There are other differences from traditional loan programs.

The veteran must plan on occupying the home. The types of properties are limited to certain types: one to four family units; condominiums; town houses; and certain manufactured homes. Full documentation is required on all loans. All income must be proven with W-2’s or, if self employed, with tax returns. Employment records must be verified.

Simply put, the VA wants to know that the loan that they are guaranteeing has a higher probability of being repaid. The VA also wants to insure that the loan applicant meets their criteria for being considered for a loan and that the appraisal will fairly reflect its reasonable market value.

There are numerous advantages for a veteran to have a VA loan. With few exceptions, no down payment will be required. In addition, no mortgage insurance premiums will be levied, and the buyer has a right to prepay without penalties or to assume an existing mortgage.

Seller concessions of up to 4 percent are allowed. Loan amounts are allowed up to $417,000 with high cost areas like Alaska, Hawaii, etc. allowed to $625,500. The applicant is only required to prove assets needed for closing.

The VA does not specifically look at an applicants credit score. They do take a hard look at the last two years of payment history. Any judgments and tax liens must be paid as well as any accounts out for collection. Bankruptcies have to be two years out of discharge. The VA does require a “funding fee” of 2 to 3 percent to be charged for VA loans but, this amount may be rolled into the loan.

One final point, be careful of a VA loan applicant attempting to purchase a foreclosed (short sale) home owned by a Lender. The VA will not approve any repairs to a home prior to the sale to be paid for by the veteran.

Which is better – being effective or efficient?

We hear both words – effective and efficient as they relate to sales. Which one is better? Which one would you rather be? Why not be both?

These both are similar concepts but slightly different.

Let me illustrate. Killing insects with a hammer or similar means (swatting, etc.) would be effective. It gets the job done, but you have to remain involved for it to work.

However, using an insecticide or trap would get the job done without involving you. You could go do something entirely different, yet the job would get done. This is an example of being both efficient and effective.

Being efficient doesn't always mean being effective, but that what you should strive for - doing the job that's required or desired in the fewest possible steps or actions. Being efficient usually means saving time or money - or both.

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com. I also maintain a blog on the real estate network Active Rain, and you can join this site and begin participating in the fun and networking opportunities by clicking here.

What Would It Take To Make Just One Sale Tomorrow?

What if your spouse, your manager, or your builder came to you today and said that you must make a sale by the close of business tomorrow – or else? Or what if you issued this challenge to yourself?

How would you approach this assignment? What would you do first? What would you focus on? What would you suddenly have no time for that maybe has been occupying a portion of your workday?

There are many places you could begin.

Likely you would start by assessing where you are.

What’s the condition of your product – what do you really have that you can sell? Is it priced competitively? Can you be flexible in the pricing? Where are you going to get your customers? Do you help from anyone to get this done?

By all means approach this challenge with a calm resolve. Don’t panic.

Determine what needs to be done first. Eliminate all distractions. Focus.

Then proceed.

There will be several “no”s along the way. That’s OK. You only need one “yes.” Persevere. Don’t let up.

Start thinking about this one. Actually plan how you make this happen. We’ll visit this again later.

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com. I also maintain a blog on the real estate network Active Rain, and you can join this site and begin participating in the fun and networking opportunities by clicking here.

The 4 Most Dreaded Words

This is entirely a case of perspective, but if you’re the seller or the selling agent or the builder’s representative on a home or piece of property, the 4 most dreaded words you can hear are “back on the market.” If those aren’t the absolute worst 4 words, they’re right up there.

If you’re the one who wants that property – or it wasn’t your original sale and now you’re trying to sell it, then I guess they’re not so bad to hear.

For some salespeople who just don’t understand that order taking days are over, the four words they may not want to hear are “ask for the sale.”

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com. I also maintain a blog on the real estate network Active Rain, and you can join this site and begin participating in the fun and networking opportunities by clicking here.

Using Words Judiciously

As professional salespeople, one of our quintessential traits is the ability to communicate. In case you don’t know the meaning of “quintessential” and feel that I didn’t communicate my own message very well, it means the true essence or very core of something.

In simpler terms, it means that we must be able to have a meaningful conversation with our customers and connect with them – whether it’s learning about or understanding their needs, appreciating their concerns and issues, helping them resolve issues standing in the way of a decision, and helping them to feel comfortable about making the decision that is in their best interests.

To this end, customer service – as well as sales – plays a major role in delivering the message to our customers that they are important and that we care about them.

Many times I have called various companies for help with a billing questions or a software issue and after many frustrating and nonproductive minutes, I have been asked if there was “anything else they could help me with?”

Since they had not helped me resolve the primary issue that I had – because they refused to understand the issue and take ownership of it, because “company policy” didn’t allow them to resolve it, because they didn’t feel like helping me, because they lacked the know-how or expertise to help me, or some other equally insipid response – their offer was on its face disingenuous.

Therefore, when we as salespeople offer to help someone, let’s really mean to do so. When we don’t have an immediate answer or solution for their question, let’s promise to find one – and set a deadline for talking with them again about it.

Oh, one last thing on being sincere. Don’t wish people to “Have a nice day” when it clearly is not appropriate. So many customer service personnel use this as a rote conclusion after aggravating you or providing no help to the issue being discussed.

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* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com. I also maintain a blog on the real estate network Active Rain, and you can join this site and begin participating in the fun and networking opportunities by clicking here.

There Are No Shortcuts To Learning

I see seminars and webinars and other online study programs advertised that offer training programs and suggest to people they are being “trained” by participating in that event. Nothing against those events for what they do – and there are some great ones out there to take advantage of.

Oh, people will acquire knowledge and skills at any worthwhile program that they attend or participate in, but “training” is not something that is accomplished all at once or even over a short period of time. There are no shortcuts to learning.

Education – “training,” if you want – is a process. It requires a considerable amount of time and dedication. The development and mastery of selling and communication skills is a constant pursuit.

Reading, studying, attending seminars, and practicing don’t go out of style for the serious professional – and education is never really completed.

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* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com. I also maintain a blog on the real estate network Active Rain, and you can join this site and begin participating in the fun and networking opportunities by clicking here.

If You Want To Succeed at Sales, You Must Be Great at Asking Questions

There are many qualities that a successful salesperson might possess. These include a good work ethic, an entrepreneurial spirit, good sales skills, great communication abilities, people oriented, and product knowledge.

You can add your ideas to the list, such as organizational abilities, self-motivated, energetic, enthusiastic, persistent, and dedicated.

However, I believe that the most important innate skill that a salesperson can have is the ability to ask questions. This is partly taught and partly natural ability.

Give me any person who is people oriented that knows how to ask questions – and likes doing so – and I can teach them to sell. They are related. A love of people causes you to want to learn about them, their needs, and how you can help them.

However, give me someone with great product knowledge that isn’t comfortable asking questions or isn’t able to develop a natural rhythm of asking questions, and that person will be more challenged to become a successful salesperson.

Asking questions is nothing more than having a conversation with someone. Take someone you hardly know or are meeting for the first time at a social event. You ask what they do, about their family, where they live, where they’re from, what they like to do, and so forth.

Before long, you have an idea of their background and areas that you have in common. It’s not all one-sided either. It’s give-and-take. You learn about them, and they learn about you.

Sales is quite similar. There are certain types of questions you can’t ask until the foundation has been established, but it’s very similar.

Asking questions because you want to know the answers, because you are curious, because you need an explanation, and because you want a clarification will guide you toward successful a sales presentation.

Along the way, you’ll learn what you need to focus on and the answers that your customers need to have in order to make an informed decision on your product.

Not very good at asking questions but want to be better? Practice talking with people everywhere you go. Enjoy asking questions but need to use more effective ones? Relax and concentrate on really getting to know your customers. The questions will begin coming to you.

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com. I also maintain a blog on the real estate network Active Rain, and you can join this site and begin participating in the fun and networking opportunities by clicking here.

Are Your Customers Just Wasting Your Time?

Before you start being concerned about why you don’t have more sales, begin with looking at the motivations of those looking at your homes or asking you to show them properties.

Why do people look for a new home: (a) for something to do, (b) because they might someday be interested in moving or having a different home, (3) for decorating ideas, (4) they really need a new home.

If someone isn’t actually interested in getting a new home, it’s quite unlikely that they will. If you aren’t talking with people in the 4th category, you won’t be making sales.

If that's the case you need different customers, not just more of them.

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com. I also maintain a blog on the real estate network Active Rain, and you can join this site and begin participating in the fun and networking opportunities by clicking here.

Are You Intentional?

Are you intentional? Do you do things on purpose or by accident?

When you do something is it because you mean to do it and you plan for it to have the desired outcome?

When you deliver a sales presentation, are you ready? Have you done your homework? Do you mean to say what you say? Do you know what you’re going to say and why you’re saying it?

Being intentional is such a great concept.

It’s not relying on wishful thinking. Not hoping for a certain outcome. Not just trying or hoping something will work or that it will happen. It’s not “when I get around to it.”

The “be-back” philosophy is the opposite of being intentional. Here, you deliver a presentation and you hope that the people you’ve been talking with like you well enough to come back – like they say they will.

There’s certainly nothing intentional about this. You didn’t set an appointment. You didn’t confirm that they wanted to come back. You didn’t provide a specific reason why they should come back. You didn’t make it seem important. In a word, you weren’t intentional.

In sales – as in life – how often are we indecisive? Uncommitted? We’d like to do something but we’re not sure we should or that we want to.

Become more purposeful. Do things because you mean to do them. Be intentional.

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com. I also maintain a blog on the real estate network Active Rain, and you can join this site and begin participating in the fun and networking opportunities by clicking here.

Remember the Minutemen!

Today is a very important day in American history. In a sense, it’s when we began as a nation. There was talk of it before this date, but this is when there was formal action – at the Battle of Lexington.

Today, April 19, in 1775, the “shot heard around the world” started America’s battle for independence and lead to the freedoms we have today.

Those of us who enjoy being in business, owning property, and making it possible for others to own property should remember this day.

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com. I also maintain a blog on the real estate network Active Rain, and you can join this site and begin participating in the fun and networking opportunities by clicking here.

Batter Up! Play Ball!

With professional baseball now in full swing, I thought it be fun to look at many baseball expressions that have found their way into business applications.

“Getting to first base” means making the initial sale or being liked well enough to have a second chance at going after the initial order

“Came out of left field” for something unexpected – similar to “being thrown a curve.”

“Pinch-hit” means replacing one salesperson for another to strengthen the company’s position.

“Warming up in the bullpen” signifies getting ready for a presentation.

“On deck” is the next person or presentation scheduled.

“It’s the bottom of the ninth” means that it’s a crucial moment in a presentation or project.

“The bases are loaded” means that there is a tremendous opportunity or potential – if you can capitalize on it.

“Whiffed” is the same as “struck out” and neither is good when making a presentation.

“Step up to the plate” means to take a chance, give it a shot, try your hand at it.

“Hit it out of the park” or “hit a home-run” means you have a winner.

“A grand slam” is an even bigger winner!

“Slid into that” is a happenstance that you’re not particularly proud of or didn’t plan – but you’ll take.

“Hit for the fences” is to give it your all.

“Squeeze play” is operating under a deadline or performing under pressure.

A “rundown” or “pickle” is being caught is a no-win situation.

I’m sure there are others. A little help?

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com. I also maintain a blog on the real estate network Active Rain, and you can join this site and begin participating in the fun and networking opportunities by clicking here.

Condos - Do Your Homework

In today’s real estate market it is imperative for all parties in a real estate transaction to understand which types of properties are easier to obtain mortgage financing. One type of property that has come under increased scrutiny from lenders is condominiums.

Fannie Mae is not only tightening lending standards but they are also taking a harder look at which condominium projects pose a higher risk.

There is a glut of condominiums on the market, most of them vacant. Many condominiums are in foreclosure and plenty of real estate professionals are looking to find deals for prospective buyers. Before taking a listing or showing that buyer a particular condominium, I recommend you look at the links below.

Both Fannie Mae and FHA have a list of approved condominiums they will finance. This does not mean if a particular condominium is not on the list it will not get financing, it just means finding a lender might prove more difficult.

https://www.efanniemae.com/syndicated/documents/dps/condopud/FL.pdf


https://entp.hud.gov/idapp/html/condlook.cfm

Have You Considered Becoming a Remodeler?

Not every builder can turn to remodeling, but for those who want to be remodelers, it can mean two very important things. First, there is extra cash flow as you help people renovate their existing homes to make them more comfortable for their current needs. Second, there is a new market share to be garnered.

In times when new construction slows and people aren’t buying new homes as rapidly as they once were, remodeling takes on a new importance. People look to improve what they already have. They may want a new bedroom or bath. They may want a larger kitchen or family room. Maybe they need more storage. Perhaps they want to convert some exiting “bonus” or “flex” space in actual living areas.

Remodeling can run from being a handyman all the way to a custom home builder. It can involve changing out a few fixtures or replacing a door to tearing down or gutting an existence home and rebuilding it.

There’s always going to be a demand for remodeling because people are going to want to make modifications to their homes – and not everyone is capable of or even interested in making those changes themselves. Many people like the home they have – especially after a few modifications are completed – and they’re not interested in moving.

Another big factor driving the remodeling business today is the concept of aging in place. People are much more interested in remaining in their current homes long-term, and now they need modifications and other improvements to accommodate various physical limitations and restrictions.

Also, people are having adult children or elderly parents move in with them - or both (the so called "Oreo" family) so they need modified or extra living space - especially bedroom and bathroom areas.

Some people are trying to sell their current home in order to buy another, and a home inspector has pointed out various deficiencies or inadequacies that they need to eliminate - or they want to modernize a kitchen or bath to make the home more salable.

Remodeling can be a very good business decision for a builder, but it takes a different focus and commitment than new construction.

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com. I also maintain a blog on the real estate network Active Rain, and you can join this site and begin participating in the fun and networking opportunities by clicking here.

Do You Want Activity or Results?

Do you like to stay busy? Probably, but there’s a difference between being busy when it’s mostly just activity and when there is progress involved.

Here’s what I mean. Say you wanted to contact 10 of your customers. Would you want to call them when the chance of getting them was good or not so good?

Since the reason for calling someone is to actually speak with them rather than get no answer or their voice mail, why not be productive and call them when you have a reasonable assurance that they’ll be available?

For best results, have an appointment or agreed upon “best time” to call people. For the next best results, call when they’re the most likely to be available. For almost no results, call during the day when people are working.

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com. I also maintain a blog on the real estate network Active Rain, and you can join this site and begin participating in the fun and networking opportunities by clicking here.

Salespeople Don't Really Need Training

Whenever I hear the term “sales training,” I get this reaction like fingernails across the blackboard. It really bothers me because “training” is such a poor term for what is really at the heart of the process.

The first thing that comes to mind when I hear “sales training” is that someone (the trainer) is locked in a steel cage with a bunch of wild “would-be” salespeople to fend them off and get them to do rudimentary tricks while holding a wooden chair and a whip – with a tranquilizer gun ever at the ready.

Of course, I also think of house-breaking dogs, toilet-training toddlers, obedience training for dogs, and training wheels for bicycles. Does training only involve animals and small children?

OK, so salespeople need to learn their craft and develop their skills. No argument. Training is not the answer. Selling is not some rote process that is learned and mastered by repetition. Selling is relational, it’s adaptive. How do you train for this? Answer: you don’t.

Forget training. Instead, educate, teach, and coach. Mentor.

I never think of myself as a trainer – although that tag is sometimes applied or I have no choice but to select it from a pull-down menu as the closest to what I really do. Nevertheless, I don’t train – I coach, teach, evaluate, strategize, encourage, motivate.

There is a lot to learn to be a good salesperson. In fact, I doubt that one can ever learn all there is to know. That’s one of the aspects about sales that I love – that you can keep learning and becoming even better and more effective.

Training, no! Learning, absolutely!

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com. I also maintain a blog on the real estate network Active Rain, and you can join this site and begin participating in the fun and networking opportunities by clicking here.

Timing Is Everything

Here’s a funny to get your week started. I don’t know where I originally saw or heard it.

It seems a boy from northern Minnesota was approaching his 21st birthday and he was looking forward to maintaining a family tradition he’d heard so much about as he was growing up. He had kept hearing how his father, his grandfather and his great grandfather had all been able to walk on water on their 21st birthdays to the boat club across the lake for their first legal drink.

So when the big day came, he and his pal took a boat out to the middle of the lake. He stepped out of the boat and nearly drowned. His friend managed to pull him to safety.

Furious and confused, he went to see his grandmother to find out why he couldn’t maintain the family tradition and walk across the lake on his 21st birthday like his father, his father’s father, and his father before him had done.

There really was a simple explanation. His father, grandfather and great-grandfather were all born in January. He was born in July.

Timing is everything.

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com. I also maintain a blog on the real estate network Active Rain, and you can join this site and begin participating in the fun and networking opportunities by clicking here.

Charging Your “Batteries”

This weekend marks an oddity for the American sports fan – particularly the male. This is the first time since last Labor Day that there are no college basketball or football games to watch on TV or in-person – not counting reruns or games that have been taped. Of course, there’s collegiate baseball – but for many people that’s just not the same.

So this weekend is a perfect opportunity for many families to get out and start their home search in earnest without fear of missing an important game – or even agreeing to go in the first place because there is no “must-see” game on TV to keep them at home.

Speaking of baseball, were you aware that the pitcher and catcher are called the “battery”? This likely is because they are the heart of the defense. They provide the spark. Try taking them out of the line-up and see what remains.

By the way, did you know that baseball is the only sport where the defense controls the ball? (Feel free to use this at your next cocktail party or family gathering.)

On the subject of batteries, there are 2 ways to recharge your emotional and physical “batteries.” You can rest and let your body’s natural abilities help to renourish and revitalize you – much the same as a dry cell or storage battery tends to renew itself at rest. Or, you can re-energize yourself with books, articles, coaching, audio recordings, seminars, motivation, and quiet reflective time.

First, use this weekend to meet and talk with all of the people who are finally out of the house because there are no games to watch, and then, why not use this time to get started on replenishing yourself to take on the rest of the spring selling season?

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com. I also maintain a blog on the real estate network Active Rain, and you can join this site and begin participating in the fun and networking opportunities by clicking here.

Don’t Make Promises for Other People

We can control our own actions. We can’t control those of others. Therefore be careful what you commit to or promise.

When I call to speak with someone and they’re not available, don’t promise that you’ll have them call me as soon as they’re out of their meeting or by 5:00 or sometime tonight or first thing in the morning. While you may want this to happen for me – and for your company – you can’t control the ultimate outcome of your promise. What if I don’t get called back? Who promised that I would? See the problem?

You can take the message, you can see that the person I’m calling gets it, and you can even politely nudge or even insist that I be called back – but that’s all you can do. You can’t call me for the other person – that’s entirely up to them.

Don’t promise that something will be shipped or emailed or sent unless you’re the one doing it and you know that you can accomplish what you say. Now there are times when you get delayed or what you need to ship isn’t available as planned. You can then apologize for your own actions and reschedule.

How can you apologize for someone else not honoring the commitment you made for them?

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com. I also maintain a blog on the real estate network Active Rain, and you can join this site and begin participating in the fun and networking opportunities by clicking here.

History Repeats Itself

During the 1920’s and 1930’s, mortgage brokers and bankers were pushing some pretty sketchy home financing deals: 50% LTV, 3 – 5 year maturities – semi-annual payments, little or no amortization of principal, and second mortgages with brutal repayment terms and massive prepayment penalties or renewal fees.

Renewal fees were especially treacherous. Each year (or two or three), the mortgage had to be “renewed” (renegotiated) and homeowners often ended up in foreclosure after their “renewal.”

This was the typical scenario: $3000 Home / 50% LTV = $1500 Mortgage / 6% for 5 years / No amortization / Semi-Annual Payments / Payment = $300.81 = $50.14 per month (3.34% of the mortgage amount).

Then Sears entered the housing market and offered a wide variety of mortgages and terms with annual interest rates ranging from 6% - 7% and up to 15 year amortizations (15 year only an option if your home was built over a basement.)

There was a 75% LTV, with 25% including the lot and sweat-equity, There was a 2½% down payment due with order, and monthly payments began four months after the house shipped.

The loan application contained three financial questions: How much cash do you have to put in the deal? How much can you pay each month? What is your vocation?

This was a typical scenario: $3000 Home / 75% LTV = $2,250 Mortgage / 6% for 15 years / Full amortization / Monthly Payment = $18.99 (0.8% of the mortgage amount).

The Depression triggered the greatest deflation ever experienced in this country. It caused new home starts to fall by 90 percent from 1925 to 1933. Funds available for mortgage loans began to disappear as unemployed people started drawing on their saving accounts to replace lost income. Banks and S&Ls tried to generate cash by refusing to refinance mortgage loans coming due. Home values plummeted as desperate borrowers tried to salvage something to sell out.

The federal government eventually stepped in to save the home building industry and created the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) System (1932), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) (1933), the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation (FSLIC) (1934), the Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) System (1934), the Federal Housing Administrations (FHA) (1934), the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) (1938), and the Veterans Administration Home Loan Guarantee Program (1944).

Does any of the above historical data sound familiar – interest only loans with 5 year terms, low doc loans?

Of course, we are not facing a worldwide depression, but it shows that we have been through this before and we will get through it again. That crisis changed the home building and lending industry. It led to the formation of the Urban Land Institute, the National Association of Home Builders, and the National Association of Realtors.

I’m excited to see what new programs and safeguards result from the current situation (notice I didn’t use the word “crisis”). This time we have the NAHB and the NAR working for us.

Chuck Miller GMB CGB MIRM CMP MCSP CSP
President / Builder – Chuck Miller Construction Inc. (208) 229-2553
www.chuckmillerconstruction.com

The Fallacy of Playing the Numbers Game

It’s often said that selling is a numbers game – get enough people through the door, make enough presentations, and you’ll get sales. That’s only partially true, and if you rely on it as a strategy, you’ll be disappointed and misled.

If you had 100 (or more) people through your model center who came because of some great promotion but they really weren’t qualified to live in one of your homes or weren’t serious about getting a new home, you’d certainly have plenty of numbers – but you’d have no sales to show for it.

It’s a numbers game in this sense – drive enough qualified and interested people to your site, make enough effective presentations where you showcase what you offer and focus on how you can meet the needs of your customers, ask for the sale, and make strategic plans for continuing contact with them. Then, yes, you will make sales.

But more than anything else, it’s a quality issue rather than one of sheer numbers – the quality of your traffic and the quality of your sales presentation.

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com. I also maintain a blog on the real estate network Active Rain, and you can join this site and begin participating in the fun and networking opportunities by clicking here.

Taking Notes Is Quite Helpful – and Professional

I stress the importance of salespeople taking notes about what they discuss with their customers – whether that discussion is on the telephone, in-person, or by email.

There are three main benefits for taking notes – and these really are benefits, not features. First, when you write down what you discussed or talked about with your customers, you can refer to your notes and refresh your memory. This also helps you strategize what you want to accomplish on that contact as well as the next one with that customer.

The second benefit is one you probably haven’t thought that much about. At some point, you are going to need help from your builder, manager, assistant, or associate. I’m not talking about every customer or any specific customer, but at some point, you’re going to need help.

You may decide to take a vacation day – or even several days or a cruise. You may get sick. You might have family emergencies to tend to. You might be out of the office showing property, or you might just be busy trying to work with more than one person at the same time.

Regardless of the reason why you might need help working with a returning customer, the point is that whoever pitches in to help you – even if it’s just for a short time until you become available – can easily review your notes and determine what you have discussed with your customer and what they might need to do to assist them in your absence or unavailability.

The third benefit is related to the second one. No one likes to repeat their story so when someone needs to assist you – or it’s been a while since you’ve talked with this customer or you’ve seen and talked with many customers since last speaking with them – a quick review of the notes will bring you right up to speed on where you are with this customer. Why ask them to repeat what they’ve already told you, unless you just want to strategically confirm some of their information to make sure it’s current?

Taking notes is not a clerical function – it’s a sales function. Unless you’re real good at keeping track in your head of everyone who has come through your front door or otherwise contacted you by phone or email, you’d better be relying on notes instead of your memory. It truly is the mark of a professional salesperson.

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com. I also maintain a blog on the real estate network Active Rain, and you can join this site and begin participating in the fun and networking opportunities by clicking here.

Who Wants It More?

Tonight’s NCAA men’s basketball final to crown the champion for the 2007-2008 season is featuring 2 top-ranked teams – no Cinderella stories this year.

In fact the teams in this year’s Final Four marked the first time in the history of the tournament that all four #1 seeds (from the four regional brackets) had comprised the Final Four. Always in the past there had been at least one upset of a favored team.

I’m not going to speculate as to a winner except to say that the team that wants it the most and the team that is the best prepared mentally likely will win.

At this point, physical ability has been tested. A desire to make it to the final has been tested. Now, which team wants it the most?

See any parallels to making a sale?

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com.

Knowing How To Ask Questions Makes All the Difference

Asking questions is an art. It is coachable but not extremely teachable. I can take someone who has an innate ability to ask questions and teach them how to be a great salesperson – regardless of their current line of work.

In fact, I often look for new home salespeople outside of real estate, and the first quality I look for is the ability to ask questions.

I want someone who enjoys working with people because that’s how the questioning is effective. Otherwise, it can come across as superficial and detached.

Product knowledge can be learned. Sales skills can be taught. Asking questions is either something you understand or it isn’t.

For instance: “How long have you been looking for a new home?” “What would you like to accomplish during our time together today?” “When you find a home that you’d like to live in, how soon are you prepared to make a decision on that home?” “Is there anything else we need to discuss before we start the paperwork?”

I left out dozens of questions, but you can see that just having a conversation with your customers can be a very effective sales technique.

We tend to complicate the sales process. It simply is a matter of meeting interested people who need or want a new home, learning what they’d like to achieve in getting a new home, determining their ability to make a purchasing decision, showing them choices and explaining how their needs can be met, identifying a specific solution for them, and helping them finalize their selection.

For the most part, this process is accomplished through a series of skillfully used questions – not done as a survey, but as a conversational give-and-take interview that you use to meet and get to know someone.

Critical path, working with objections, features and benefits, closing techniques – all important concepts but none as important as the art of asking questions. How do you know what to show someone, and how do you know that they understand and appreciate what you’re showing them, and how do you know that it’s important or that it matters to them? You have to ask.

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com.

So What Have You Done with Your Extra Month of Daylight?

Do you realize that normally tonight would be when we turn our clocks ahead for daylight savings time and yet we did that a month ago? That’s right, for the past month, we’ve been enjoying that extra evening daylight to brighten our spirit, give us that extra vitamin D, provide more light for the evening commute, and allow us a time to pursue a few more activities after work. By now, it probably seems like it’s always been this light in the evening.

I only hope that those clocks that set the time ahead automatically realize that they’ve already done it for this year.

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com.

This Is the Time to Buy

On Thursday, April 3, 2008, I read a headline in the business section of the Palm Beach Post that reported:

“Foreclosures dip, still top ’07 figures”

The subhead stated:

“Investors are snapping up area properties at bargain prices compared with recent years.”

The article stated that foreclosures had dipped from February 2008 to March 2008.

The importance of this article was buried in the text, not the headline. The shift in the market is that traditional investors have returned to the market and are buying properties at an accelerated pace creating opportunities for sellers, Realtors® and buyers.

The article states multiple investors feel the market has hit the bottom and this is an excellent time to buy properties under market value.

In situations where investors are working with banks they have indicated that it takes extra time and effort to buy the property from the bank.

Real Estate Professionals are Conducting Bus Tours of Foreclosure Properties

Properties are being sold with great success as a result of the tours.

A better headline for the article would have been:

Excellent Opportunities Exist for Homebuyers and Investors to Buy Today

Why this is an excellent time to buy:

■ Near all time low mortgage rates
■ Excellent selection of homes and condominiums available
■ Flexible seller
■ The market has hit the bottom

If the traditional investors have returned to the market isn’t this a great time for our customers to make the same decision?

Over the last few years, many buyers who have been priced out of the market are now buying as a result of the current pricing opportunities.

This is the time to buy.

No Cure for Spring Fever

Suffering from a case of spring fever? Need to get away? Looking for a vacation spot? How about a nice tropical destination? Familiar with the legendary paradise of “Someday Isle (I’ll)”? This is where excuses abound and procrastination dominates.

Not interested? Great, but many people are. You’ll hear plenty of people longing for this place as they lament how “someday I’ll” do this or that.

I wouldn’t schedule this place for a vacation – not even a brief one. Keep focused on more positive pursuits.

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com.