By Jennifer Fincham, Sales Leader - New Home Star //
With the slow summer months out of the way, it is time to kick it into full gear for the approaching fall season. Though sales centers will surely be experiencing an increase in traffic, sales associates must still focus on how to stand out from their neighboring competition. One main objective that will enable us to accomplish such a goal is to employ a technique known as emotion-based selling. While we still should be focusing on the needs and wants of our customer, emotion-based selling projects our efforts further and encourages us to dig deeper into our prospective buyer’s world.
Think and recall why prospective buyers visit our communities. In a nutshell, they visit because they are dissatisfied with their current living situation. It’s our job to uncover what is behind their dissatisfaction. Once we connect that reasoning to the emotion of the current dissatisfaction, we can become more powerful in our overall sales presentation.
Author and Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman suggests that we should think of the future as ‘anticipated memories.’ Consider this when reflecting on your prospective buyers who are actively engaged in the home search process. Yes, square footage matters to them, but does it mean as much to them as the ‘anticipated memories’ of their new life in their new home? Often times, the answer is no. Typically, the standardized sales presentation is framed to ignore the emotion-based thinking behind the decision-making process. This forces it to focus too intently on the prospective buyer’s list of needs and wants. Understanding the needs and wants of our customer is important, but at the same time, it is crucial to outline those specific ‘anticipated memories.’
To become a master at emotion-based selling, an associate must consider the ‘what’ vs. the ‘why.’ Sales professionals tend to focus on the ‘what’; details regarding square footage, the total amount of bedrooms, pricing, etc. It is the ‘why’ that will drive a buyer to tap into their emotions and the reasoning behind their motivation. We also must consider the ‘to’ vs. the ‘from.’ Too many salespeople become consumed with what their buyers are moving from, but in reality, they should focus on knowing what their clients are moving to.
Moving forward with this concept, we should consider how to engage our customer’s emotions in the process by differentiating what they are moving from and what are they moving to. “You mentioned you’ll be happy to leave your kitchen behind, tell me why.” “What is it about the backyard that is really important to you, how do you plan to use that outdoor space?”
It is unlikely that we will discover the true reason behind the ‘from’ and the ‘to’ after just one question. This practice will require several follow-up questions. We have to be willing to dig deeper. On average, it will take us three levels of ‘why’ to get to the heart of the matter, so listen intently on their answers and engage in productive follow-up questions.
Now how do we tie digging deeper to emotion? One sales technique suggests we utilize a factor called emotional endorsement. Basically, if a customer likes us, and we like the product, they will be more likely to like it as well. In order to connect the prospective buyer to the emotion in the process, we need to create a genuine enthusiasm for our product. We play a huge role in monitoring and even altering the customer’s energy level. We must be committed to enthusiasm, positivity, and genuineness. Our customers will adopt the energy and enthusiasm we project so this is vital to the entirety of the sales process.
To effectively dig deeper, all great salespeople do one simple thing: they listen more than they talk. It goes beyond that, they are active listeners. They comprehend what they hear and, in turn, have well thought out responses.
If we, as new home sales professionals, commit to this process and its practices, we can build better rapport with our buyers and elicit true emotion during the sales process. Guide them through the most favorable thought process, but do so in a more strategic and personable manner; you’ll be amazed at what you may learn about them and the vision they have for the future in their new home!
