Most of us in the business of selling real estate are unsatisfied with our ratio of listing presentations to sales. Ideally, we’d all like to sell a house every time we present one, but obviously it doesn’t work that way. In reality, there are ways to maximize the use of your time by closing deals on more of your presentations. The key, in many cases, is simply persistence.
Everyone has had the feeling of wrapping up a really good presentation, and sitting down to talk it over with your prospective buyers. You come to the table confident about the tour you’ve given and the response and interaction of your customers, and you’re ready to do a deal. But you sense their hesitation, and when it comes time to talk brass tax, they begin to pull away. The most common line is, “We need to think about it.” Clearly, there is nothing wrong with thinking about a major purchase, and you should encourage your buyers to consider the decision seriously before signing any contracts.
But the mistake many investors/sellers make is to allow the buyers to simply walk away when they say they need some time to think. Whether or not you expect a call back from them eventually, allowing potential buyers to get up from the table and leave is a resignation of failure on your part; and while many people consider persistence in sales too be tasteless, keeping your customers interested and engaged can be done both tactfully and gracefully.
One of my first observations of sales as a kid was watching a sales manager at a fitness gym. His job mostly involved employing borderline sales tactics to sell memberships, but that experience offered some valuable fundamental lessons about sales which can be applied in any industry—but particularly in real estate sales. You never, never tour a new customer and let them leave. When they say they want to think about it, you offer to think it over with them. To hash out all the things holding them back from moving forward with something they want to do for themselves (after all, they got up and came to the gym, or attended your listing tour, or sought out whatever else you may be selling). Offer to discuss the issues, to figure it all out together, now.
If not approached tenderly, this effort to maintain involvement can understandably be mistaken for prying into the buyer’s personal affairs, but you can always appeal to your experience with helping buyers and sellers through many transactions to encourage your customers to open up and share with you.
You will be surprised at how often simply keeping the conversation moving along (as opposed to allowing buyers to get up and walk away) can open the doors that ultimately lead to a sale. As silly as it sounds, sometimes a buyer wants to feel wooed, like you care enough about their reasons for buying to get involved and help them work through their issues by providing information and expertise. After all, you are a professional, right?
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Based out of Indiana, Jay Redding is a real estate entrepreneur, with experience in single family and multi-family investing.
