HIGH IMPACT SELLING IN COMPETITIVE MARKETS Gulf Coast Real Estate & Economic Education Conference Center for Real Estate and Economic Development Mitchell College of Business University of South Alabama Alvin J. Williams August 18, 2016
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