Within 24 hours of your completion of the marketing strategy your telephone will start ringing with enquiries about the property. The current national average indicates that residential homes on the secondary market sell within the first 12 viewings – it can be safely assumed therefore that your buyer will be amongst the first batch of telephone calls received.
You must be prepared to deal with these calls efficiently to ensure the buyer does not slip through your fingertips. The first conversation is a starting-point and your objective here is to encourage them to book a viewing appointment. Success or failure will depend largely on how quickly you can use and adapt the three main powerful principles of selling.
The Three Principles Of Selling
Principle Number 1People do not buy products – they buy solutions to a problem!Every purchase you have ever made is likely to have been to
solve a problem. Most will have been minor difficulties, for example, there was an impending birthday and you needed to acknowledge it – so you went out and bought a birthday card because it was the easiest way of resolving the matter.
Other purchases may have been more dramatic. A new car may have solved several problems – not only did it get you to and from work every day but it also raised your status amongst friends and colleagues.
Even impulse buying is a problem-solving pastime which is why supermarkets up and down the country have last-minute opportunistic-buying displays near the cashier’s till. The array of goods presented are there to help prevent you from getting bored whilst waiting to be served on busy days. The chocolate treats, magazines and special offers distract you for a few minutes – just long enough for you to reach the front of the queue.
Although these minor acquisitions pale into insignificance when compared with buying a new home, the principles involved are identical. Your prospective purchaser has a problem – they are relocating for a reason – your objective is to expose the problem and resolve it with the product you have available.
Principle Number 2
People cannot shake hands or sign a contract with a clenched fist!You must try to convince enquirers that you are an honest, trustworthy and friendly seller. If telephone enquirers are
presented with someone brusque or arrogant they will feel threatened and become defensive. Even worse, they are likely to end the conversation abruptly without booking an appointment to view.
You should metaphorically extend a welcoming hand in the tone of your voice. It may sound absurd but smiling as you talk will project pleasant inflections in your voice that the caller will find both attractive and appealing.
Emotively create a friendship between you and the caller and, providing the property satisfies their needs, you will be increasing the chance of successfully selling it to them. The reason for this is that whilst it is very difficult to say ‘no’ to a friend who you trust and respect – it is very easy to say it to a stranger for whom you have little but contempt.
Principle Number 3
If the product doesn’t fit the buyer’s needs- try to make it fit!
By listening to what the purchaser is looking for you should be able to assess which qualities of your property will satisfy the most. If there are elements missing then examine the
structure closely to see whether minor alterations can be made by the buyer to create a perfect home.
The typical scenario is where a potential purchaser suggests that ‘it would be ideal if only there was another bedroom’. If they can be convinced that another bedroom could be established easily and cheaply by installing a dividing wall in the biggest bedroom, then a sale could still be achieved.