Understanding the sales funnel is crucial for your team, as it allows them to effectively guide potential clients from initial awareness to closing a successful real estate transaction.

A Framework For Selling

Having a framework for selling is essential for real estate professionals, as it provides a structured approach to prospecting, qualifying leads, building relationships within your community, and ultimately closing deals in both a systematic and efficient manner.

In order for a new home sales team to thrive, they must understand the process of increasing conversions. This is done by mastering the point of sale from your initial greeting to the signature on the dotted line. At the same time, navigating threats along that journey out of the sales agents control like economic headwinds or increases to interest rates.

Let’s dig in deeper!

2 Essential Concepts to Understand in Order to Become a Champion at Point of Sale

Mastering the Art of Persuasion: Becoming a More Effective Salesperson

There are two components you need to implement to become a champion at point of sale.

Sales Funnel: The emotional process buyers should follow when making a home purchase decision.

Critical Path: The linear process you follow in order to obtain a sale effectively.

Both processes are essential and have their own set of merits. The challenging task, for most new home sales associates, is understanding the details of each process individually while applying them simultaneously.

Gain a Better Understanding of the Sales Funnel

Unveiling and unlocking the emotional pathway of the Sales Funnel

The Sales Funnel serves as the pathway for new home buyers to navigate the decision-making process. This concept acknowledges that reaching a final decision requires starting at the top and progressing downward as the potential buyer gains trust and confidence in your solution. While some buyers may move through the Sales Funnel unconsciously, there are others whom you must actively guide. The Sales Funnel demonstrates that new home sales associates are selling more than a home; you are selling a dream that impacts all areas of your buyer's lifestyle. The decision to purchase a home is highly emotional and immensely personal. Successful new home sales professionals understand that they can tap into the buyer's emotions by being an expert in all areas of the Sales Funnel.

9 Stages of the Sales Funnel

#1 Area: The region or part of town a home is located in.

#2 Builder: The individual/group of people building a home.

#3 Community: A group of people living in a specific area with unique characteristics.

#4 Neighborhood: A specific area within a community.

#5 Lifestyle: The way of life of an individual.

#6 Floor Plan: The layout of a home.

#7 Features: The included benefits in a home.

#8 Homesite: A plot of land for a home.

#9 Terms: Incentives, pricing information, policies, methods, and contracts.

In order to navigate the Sales Funnel effectively, you must first understand that all items need to be satisfied in a top-to-bottom order. For example, if a potential buyer loves a floor plan but the neighborhood is an hour commute to and from work each way, will they buy the home? It’s highly unlikely. It’s clear to see that the floor plan is trumped by the area in which it is located. So, before a buyer even considers a floor plan, they must first choose an area they wish to live in. In order to navigate the Sales Funnel effectively, sales professionals should stick to what is proven to work, not a gut feeling. Most buyers, and far too many salespeople, believe that the conversation should focus further down the funnel on things like floor plans, features, and homesites. The reality is that the potential buyer must pass through the top of the funnel before they can progress. If they agree that the features and benefits at the top of the funnel meet their needs, you can move on to the items below. Understanding the top-to-bottom construction of the Sales Funnel will lead to sales. When your prospect is emotionally bought into your area, builder, and community, you have a buyer. Why are we so confident? Because nobody else can match your specific set of features and benefits!

Answer → Transition → Question

As mentioned in the last chapter, it is essential to follow the Sales Funnel in order. Skipping around and hoping back and forth is not going to result in sales as often as you’d like. The question becomes - how can you ensure you follow it without losing the flow of your conversation with your potential buyer? Although you understand the Sales Funnel and its functionality, it is likely that your customers will not. This is why it is essential to be in control of the conversation. You never want to allow the sales process to focus on a deeper section of the funnel before you have created value and gained agreement for the initial sections. It’s common that a buyer will come into your model home with a list of questions that must be answered. Usually, those questions revolve around the floor plan and pricing. To help lead the customer effectively, you will need to follow a simple three-step procedure.

This is Answer → Transition → Question.

When a buyer attempts to control the conversation and focus on aspects of the Sales Funnel out of order, you may be tempted to follow their lead in order to not lose their sale. Certainly you can’t simply ignore what they’re asking and talk about something else instead?

You’re correct in that assumption; the first thing you must do is answer their question. Everyone likes to feel heard, and this shows them that you are listening. Once you do, though, it’s time to take back control of the flow of the conversation. You will next make a statement that transitions the thought process back to the correct section of the Sales Funnel. Lastly, ask the buyer a question that is centered around the same topic in the sales funnel that you just recently mentioned. This ensures that the conversation remains on the right path.

Example of the Answer → Transition → Question Technique

Customer: “Do your floor plans have garden bathtubs?”

Sales Associate:

(Answer) “Yes! Both our single-story homes and two-story homes have large master bathrooms with garden bathtubs."

(Transition) "There are actually several homes in this neighborhood with this bathroom feature."

(Question) "How familiar are you with this neighborhood?”

Customer: “Well, I actually visit this neighborhood pretty often. My best friend lives here.”

As you can see, this process allows you to naturally guide your customer through a purposeful conversation. The customer had their question answered, but the sales associate skilfully brought the conversation back to the correct step in the Sales Funnel. In any conversation, it is likely that the Answer → Transition → Question process will need to be enlisted multiple times. By completely understanding the Sales Funnel and mastering this process, you will become proficient in effectively and efficiently leading customers through the sales process.

Obtain Sales Effectively by Following the Critical Path

The proven linear process from greeting to signing on the dotted line

The Critical Path is the linear process in which you should take a buyer from greeting to contract signing.

In almost every training manual, regardless of industry, sales associates are taught to follow a Critical Path. This method has been around for decades, and there's a good reason for it. It has stood the test of time as an effective strategy for winning sales.

Stages of the Critical Path

#1 Welcome: Initial relationship building with your buyer

#2 Discovery: In-depth learning about your buyer

#3 Demonstration: Systematic showing of your product concept

#4 Homesite: Guiding buyers to the physical location of their home

#5 Commitment: Finalizing and closing the sale

Just like the Sales Funnel, it’s essential to follow this path in order. You wouldn’t push for a commitment before you show the value of your product, whether your product is a new home, a car, a mattress, or anything else.

By beginning with welcome and discovery, moving to demonstration, and continuing on to homesite selection and commitment, you will follow a proven approach to successfully sell a home. This approach taps into rapport and relationship-building to create trust and credibility in order to initiate a sale based on your buyer’s needs and wants.

Speaking of the Sales Funnel, how does that fit in? How can a sales professional follow both simultaneously?

Combining the Two Concepts

Marry the Sales Funnel and Critical Path for Success

It is important to understand how the Critical Path works in conjunction with the Sales Funnel, not instead of. The Sales Funnel and the Critical Path both provide the basic ideal structure for the consumer experience as well as outline the foundations necessary to escalate the value offered in a new home selling environment.

These two methods are used not only by new associates but by everyone. Even the most seasoned professionals in the industry can benefit from following a proven approach. By learning and mastering the Sales Funnel and the Critical Path, you will be on a road to sales success and you will have established a foundation for new home sales excellence.

Flexibility

The last thing we want is to make you feel you must sacrifice your repertoire with a potential lead in order to stick to your sales script. A home purchase is an expensive, emotional decision. While the Sales Funnel and Critical Path provide the basic ideal structure for the consumer experience, the customer does not always allow you to follow a linear process. Historically, new home sales training have coached sales associates to stay firmly in that process with fixed rules of engagement. Buyers today, however, have nearly uncapped resources when they are in the market for a new home. These changes in the marketplace, mixed with buyer expectations, can force our linear processes to become flexible. While we strongly encourage you to follow the Answer → Transition → Question process, it’s also important to navigate your conversation in a way your potential buyer insists upon.

Empowering Your Sales Team with New Home Star

Our sales training software was designed specifically for real estate professionals and offers your team a valuable tool to enhance their skills and performance in the competitive real estate market. With gamification, comprehensive resources, sales courses, a social feed, and marketing templates, this software provides a convenient and flexible platform for new home sales agents to learn and practice crucial sales techniques, as well as engage with others in the industry.

These tools enable sales associates to refine their communication, presentation, and relationship-building skills, ultimately boosting their confidence and effectiveness in converting leads into successful transactions.

Our sales training software delivers unmatched sales process excellence, allowing your team to learn proven strategies, identify areas for improvement, and tailor their training to meet their individual needs. Experience the power of an entire team of sales trainers and strategists dedicated to providing a curated sales meeting curriculum! There are new home sales training modules released on a weekly basis to tackle the constantly evolving new home sales environment, so your team’s training will never feel stagnant.

By utilizing our sales training software, your sales team can continually develop their sales acumen, adapt to market trends, and stay ahead in a highly competitive industry. This platform brings your teams together, provides data-driven insights, offers sales and marketing skills, and makes it possible for sales associates to achieve their sales goals.

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