Selling a house is quite different from selling just about anything else primarily because so much of the buyer/occupant's emotion is involved in the decision to buy. I like to watch all those house shows on HGTV cable channel because, even if the situation is staged by actors, there is a lot to learn about dealing with buyers and showing a house.
The first thing I notice is that the salesperson is at the premises before the buyer arrives, and is almost always a woman. An extraordinary percentage of the most successful people in the house business are women. I think this is because women take the time to see and hear things that men often miss when dealing with buyers; and they take pains to avoid being confrontational.
Another factor that I think is critical is that the salesperson knows how much money the buyers have to work with (which they diplomatically call a “budget” rather than the maximum amount a buyer can “afford.”) They also know how much a lender will lend on the house, so they don't waste time showing houses that buyers can't buy.
When they arrive at the target house, there are two approaches that salesladies use: One is to open the house and to let the buyers roam around for about 5 minutes on their own. The house is usually “staged” with attractive furnishings, and immaculate. After the buyers have had a chance to see all of the house, they are “steered” into the room with the most “pop” where they are asked to list the attributes they liked best, then those they liked least. This way they can be kept thinking positively about the house.
The other approach to showing a house is to steer the client around so that the most positive aspects of a house are seen first. The kitchen, baths, patios, extra features, master bedroom, closets, etc. are seen, then the negative features are shown in the context of being minor inconveinances when compared to the positive aspects of the property.
When a buyer makes a negative remark, this is usually ignored. When it is responded to, it is with a positive remedy that the buyer can implement, rather than the seller making an accommodation.
Initially, price is mentioned only in the general context of its relationship to the “budget” of the buyer. Only when the general likes and dislikes have been discussed is the price mentioned. When the price is right on the market, it becomes irrelevant with respect to the house because the other competing houses the buyers will have seen will have been in the same general price range.
Can your salesman ship be improved by these examples?
