HIGH IMPACT SELLING IN

COMPETITIVE MARKETS

Gulf Coast Real Estate & Economic Education Conference

Center for Real Estate and Economic Development

Mitchell College of BusinessUniversity of South Alabama

Alvin J. WilliamsAugust 18, 2016

OUR GOALS FOR THE DAY

• To convey the importance of specific selling skills for job success in the highly-competitive real estate field.

• To understand the selling process and the impact of external and internal factors on the process.

• To connect relationship marketing and organizational success in real estate.

OUR GOALS FOR THE DAY

• To underscore the importance of customer knowledge in sales success.

• To reinforce the link between market segmentation and sales goal achievement.

• To understand the mechanics of developing, implementing, and assessing a sales plan.

WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS FOR THIS SALES

WORKSHOP?

• GOAL #1

• GOAL #2

• GOAL #3

• GOAL #4

WHAT IS SELLING?

• Personal selling is a relationship building, trust-based process aimed at:

– Creating and delivering value

– Gaining new business

– Maintaining current customer base

– Solving problems and satisfying customer needs

SOME TRUTHS ABOUT SALES

• Nothing happens until someone sells something - product, service, idea, point of view, attitude…

• Selling adds value!

• Selling enhances performance!

• Everybody is selling to everybody• Everybody is selling to everybody ALL THE TIME!

REFLECTION POINT

• What do you ‘sell’ on the job everyday?

• Do you ‘sell’ something different to different groups?

– How does your sales approach change?

• How would you rate your ‘selling skills’ on a scale of 1-10.

REFLECTION POINT

• As members of your real estate team, all of you add value.

– HOW do you add value?

– WHERE do you add value?

• How can selling skills help you ‘add more value’ to the real estate team?

YOUR REAL ESTATE BRAND

AND SALES SUCCESS

• Why do customers value certain brand names?– How is your brand valued?

• What is the value of ‘your’ brand name?

• Every brand has its own unique ‘personality’

• A brand name is an asset.

• Loyalty is built around brand names.

RELATIONSHIP SELLING

• What is a relationship? – A conscious and deliberate effort

to nurture interaction between parties for mutual benefit.

FACTORS IN BUILDING BUYER-SELLER

RELATIONSHIPS

• Trust (expertise, reliability, genuine concern)

• Mutual Respect

• Value

• Perceived fairness in the relationship

• Open and honest communication

VALUE PROPOSITION – THE CORE OF

SELLING

• What value is added by your product or service?

• Expected benefits vs. expected costs: closing the gap = value proposition

• Why should we do business with you?

• What differentiates you from competing real estate firms?

THE SELLING PROCESS

• Prospecting strategy and sales call planning

• Sources of prospects

• Is your prospecting plan systematic?

• Developing the sales call strategy

ProspectingSales Call Strategy

The Sales CallHandling

ObjectionsClosing the

SaleFollow Up

REFLECTION POINT – PROSPECTING

STRATEGY

As a well-known realtor in the Mobile area, you have been asked to develop a systematic prospecting plan for each of the following sectors:

How would you do this?

• Residential

• Retail

• Commercial

• Industrial

SHARING THE SALES MESSAGE

EFFECTIVELY

• Successfully communicating the sales message

• Alternative sales presentation strategies (memorized, formula, need satisfaction, problem-solving)

• What are the elements of a great sales presentation?

THE SELLING PROCESS – MOVING

TOWARD WIN/WIN SOLUTIONS

• Managing customer concerns

• Reducing perceived risk levels

• Re-visit the value proposition

• Negotiating the path to mutual success

THE SELLING PROCESS – CLOSING THE

DEAL AND FOLLOWING UP

• What is closing and why is it so difficult?

• Barriers to effective closing

• Closing strategies – balance sheet close, benefit summary, alternative choice close

• Effective management of the post-purchase process

DEVELOPING A SALES

PLAN

• Define your business clearly

– What business are we really in?

• But be careful!!

• DO NOT ‘DEFINE’ YOUR BUSINESS TOO NARROWLY OR TOO BROADLY

DEVELOPING A SALES

PLAN

• What are your distinctive competencies??

In other words… What can we do better than anyone else??

DEVELOPING A SALES

PLAN

• Identify major market segments and their differences.

– Are there gaps in the market?

DEVELOPING A SALES

PLAN

• Consumer analysis

– Who?

– What?

– Where?

– How?

– When?

– Why?

DEVELOPING A SALES

PLAN

– Demand analysis: What are the factors that can impact demand?

Demand

Economic

Social/Cultural

Political

Others??

Financial

Environmental

DEVELOPING A SALES

PLAN

DEVELOPING A SALES

PLAN

• Review sales performance historically (weeks, months, years)

DEVELOPING A SALES

PLAN

• Develop a sales strategy, with specific goals & action plans (who, what, where…)

• Attach $$$ to each aspect of the strategy.

– What is the true cost of implementation?

– Is it really worth it?

– Are there alternative cost models that will deliver similar results?

DEVELOPING A SALES

PLAN

• Evaluate the effectiveness of the sales plan.

• Identify specific indicators of success.

LISTEN TO THE CUSTOMER!

• Listen and understand the customer’s point of view.

• Be truthful and honest with customers.

• Be responsive and attentive to customers’ needs.

LISTEN TO THE CUSTOMER!

• Follow through - do what you promise!

WHAT IS A CUSTOMER WORTH?

• Lifetime customer value (LCV) – the present value of a stream of revenue that can be produced by a customer

WHAT IS A CUSTOMER WORTH?

• It is much more difficult and costly to GET a customer than to KEEP a customer!

CREATIVITY AND SALES SUCCESS

• Creativity allows you to sell new solutions.

• Creativity makes you more competitive.

• Creativity increases your level of performance.

• Creativity adds value to what you do.

• Creativity is key to sales success!

LEADERSHIP AND SELLING SUCCESS IN

REAL ESTATE

• Leadership involves selling.

• When you lead, you sell yourself, your ideas, the company and its values.

LEADERSHIP AND SELLING SUCCESS IN

REAL ESTATE

• All good leaders are good salespersons.

• If you can’t sell, you can’t lead well.

• When leadership is missing, you can’t sell.

LEADERSHIP AND SELLING SUCCESS IN

REAL ESTATE

• Every real estate team member has to be sold on the company’s mission, goals, culture, people, and its future.

COMMUNICATIONS AND SALES SUCCESS

IN REAL ESTATE

• Selling is all about effective communications!

• Selling involves both verbal and non-verbal communications.

• Successful sales reps constantly assess their communications effectiveness.

VERBAL COMMUNICATION

Choose the ‘right tone’ to communicate

VERBAL COMMUNICATION

NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION

NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION