In sales, words make all the difference in the world! It is interesting how sales people ask questions that get answers they do not want simply because they were not prepared. How many times have you heard a salesperson ask, “How do you like the service you are currently receiving?” The answer received can be as simple as, “I love the service I am currently receiving!” Now what? Sure, the salesperson can ask a series of questions to get details about service, but if the salesperson had done his or her homework, he or she would have probably known that this question would not be advantageous. Why not do a little preparation and homework? Then you could focus only on the questions that create a “selling advantage.”
Suppose you found out through a little preparation that a Realtor was very happy with the service he or she was receiving from a competing loan officer, but you also knew that you had certain marketing services that could add value to the Realtor’s business. Instead of asking, “How do you like the service you are receiving from your current loan officer,” you could ask, “Could you relate to me some of the things your current loan officer is doing regarding service?” The Realtor will give you a detailed explanation of the positives (minus the things you already know he or she is not doing). At this point, ask questions that are to your advantage such as, “Does your current relationship assist you in marketing campaigns to grow your business and create more income for you?” You already know the answer, no. Now you have the opportunity to sell your strengths.
A great set of projection questions to enhance your advantage is, “How much commission do you make out of one sale or listing?” (Answer: $3,000) “If a marketing program I suggest brought you only one extra selling opportunity each month, how much would that be over the year?” (Answer: $36,000!) “What would that do for your business?” (Answer: “That would be a tremendous impact!”) “Great, would you like to get started?” People make buying decisions based on receiving more value than they expected. Think of buying as a balance scale. You have to weigh the scales in your favor by adding more value to your side of the scale until it outweighs the reasons not to buy or make a new decision.
By preparing for sales calls and restructuring your questions so that you receive positive (or at worst neutral) answers, your sales will grow dramatically and you will be able to stay in the fight long enough to build relationships and trust in the selling process. Remember, if you do not like the potential answer, then do not ask the question! Instead, put some thought into your questions, do your homework, and watch your success level rise dramatically! Great sales people are not born; they are made through studying, practicing, and applying what is learned to every day selling. One great thing about selling in a particular industry like mortgages is you will quickly know the objections and obstacles that exist and be able to prepare in advance for each one of them.
The obstacles you will face will always fall in one or more of three areas:
· Price- Price can be defined by an actual interest rate, points, transaction fees, or long term costs. People always ask about price, but what they really want is value. Value is the true and total investment made and what is received in return. In the long term, value always wins over price!
· Service- Service is always in the eyes of the beholder! In other words, service is what a particular individual wants it to be at any given point in time. It is a moving target and great sales professionals adapt to that target.
· Relationship- This is the most important obstacle of all. Fail to build a relationship with your client and nothing else matters for the long term. A valuable tip, objections and obstacles decrease in direct proportion to relationships increasing. Build relationships from trust by being honest and always doing the things you promised.
Practice all the negative comments that you would hear in these three areas and you will seldom be lost for words or questions in the sale process. A great idea is at a sales meeting to write down as a group all the negative comments your team has had to face and start preparing questions to handle these situations. You will be shocked at how quickly your sales will soar!