Top Producer Secrets for New Home Sales Professionals is a must have for New Home Sales Agents, Builders and Managers. With such a challenging Real Estate Market, this wonderful book arrives just in time! Whether you are a New Home Sales Agent, a Manager or a Builder you will find everything you need to be successful in this book. Shirleen Von Hoffmann is one of the best New Home Sales Coaches in the Nation and she knows what it takes to be a Top Producer, she has always been one and has closed over a billion dollars in New Homes! She addresses all the steps Sales Agents must do to be successful in any market. If Sales Agents follow her easy, step by step advice, they will be sought out by Builders because what she teaches is one of kind, new thought Sales Techniques, when it comes to New Home Sales.
TOP PRODUCER SECRETS
A New Way of Selling for New Home Sales ProfessionalsBy Shirleen Von HoffmannAuthorHouse
Copyright © 2010 Shirleen Von Hoffmann
All right reserved. ISBN: 978-1-4490-7928-4Contents
Chapter 1: WHO IS A TOP PRODUCER?.....................1Chapter 2: Become an "Edge Agent".....................7Chapter 3: Secret #1..................................19Secret #2.............................................25Secret #3.............................................35Secret #4.............................................47Secret #5.............................................53Secret #6.............................................57Secret #7.............................................69Secret #8.............................................77Secret #9.............................................85Secret #10............................................93Secret #11............................................107Secret #12............................................111Secret #13............................................117Secret #14............................................125Secret #15............................................135Secret #16............................................145Secret #17............................................159Secret #18............................................167Secret #19............................................173Secret #20............................................177Chapter 4: SERVICES WE PROVIDE........................181
Chapter One
WHO IS A TOP PRODUCER?
There are three constants in life ... Change, choice and principles. Stephen Covey
Top producing Sales People are easy to pick out from the crowd. They have an underlying confidence and their sales skills come off naturally. In other words they are so good, you don't know you're being sold. They come from all walks of life and really can be all ages. They don't necessarily have big degrees from big colleges and may have never even attended college. They have that aura that makes you want to be near them. They have a constant hunger for the sale and are always preoccupied with ways to obtain the sale. They are hunters who live for the sales kill. They are sought out by their potential employers and valued as a key part of the sales strategy for any company they work for.
It is proven, in any given market or in any given selling environment that 10% of the people does 90% of the business: That 10% are your Top Producers!
Is being a Top Producer something you are born with or are these skills something that can be learned? I say yes to both! There are people who are born with that drive to succeed and there are Top Producers being created every day. It happens for many different reasons. Some may become Top Producers because they landed the right account or were in the right place at the right time. Some may not know they are Top Producers but when in a sales environment realize they were born with the drive and determination necessary to be a Top Producer. Some have known all along they were born to be top of their game!
Now if you are reading this and know that you're not a top producer, we are going to tell you how you can become one. It will be up to you to make it a reality in your everyday life and sustain it.
Now sustaining a Top Producer status is really what makes you a real Top Producer! Some Sales People may be on top for a year or two and then lose their account or their EDGE and presto, you don't see them on the top 10 list anymore. They don't have the skills to sustain the title and it was just luck or circumstance that found them there. To be a Top Producer you must have that re and passion deep in your soul, all the time. You plan every day to be and stay successful, it doesn't happen by accident.
To be a Top producer with longevity you have to work at it every day, all day. A Top Producer with longevity is the "Gold" that every Sales Person strives to mirror and every employer pays dearly to attain and retain. Why? Because having one top producer is like having a selling machine working for you. A few top producers can be enough at times to run an entire company. And typically, a Top Producer has smooth transactions and happy buyers.
There are definitive skill sets that will get you to the top and keep you there. We are going to teach you those skill sets and we are going to speak directly to New Homes Sales.
Being the best is a daily habit not a hobby.
I send out emails and articles each week. I religiously send them out in order to give value to my clients and perhaps attract new clients. No matter what vacation I may be on or what team I may be training in any given city, I always make a point to send out my weekly emails and do my regular marketing. It's a habit not a hobby. And all good things come with great product, time and consistent effort. Determination and consistency is a huge part of being a Top Producer. Top Producers are willing to change, morph, remap, retool, think outside the box and venture into the unknown to be successful.
We teach New Home Sales Professionals that in tougher markets, they will need to change the way they sell and create new marketing strategies. They will need to work with the clients walking in the door in different ways than they have in the past and cherish those clients with proper and smart follow up and marketing. The days of letting prospects walk in and walk out, leaving your sales to the law of average are long gone.
Can you imagine Sales Professionals who are consistently marketing in their downtime and working the community and surrounding area to attract new buyers? We not only imagine it, we see it happen. We see the transformation through the classes we teach.
We will teach you that if you want to be the best in this business then you will have to change yourself and your habits just as drastically as our markets change. If you keep your mind open to new ideas, the change will not be painful, just different from your current reality. In tougher markets, we have to get back to basics and remind ourselves of why we got into this business to begin with.
Who are you?
Here are some great questions that you need to ask yourself ...
Why did you get into this business?
Do you have the tenacity and know how to stay in this business through all markets?
Are you challenging yourself every day?
Are you in the top 10% of your company?
Do you have a business plan to achieve your success?
Are you willing to change what you do every day in order to be successful?
Where are we going?
Over the last 100 years, real estate markets have shown proven and dependable up cycles and down cycles. Here are some estimated time frames based on 100 year history.
Market Cycles are generally 15 years, 7 or 8 Years in either direction.
Approximately two Presidential cycles up and two cycles down for about 100 years
Real Estate cycles have a pattern that is dependable but not always anticipated.
And so the bottom line is if you are going to be in the real estate business, then you should be prepared for real estate cycles.
In order to make it through the cycles of real estate and have a thriving career, you need to be the very best in the business.
1. You need to challenge yourself each day and think of new ways to obtain business.
2. You need to maximize the business already walking in your door.
3. You need to be evaluating constantly your performance and crafting your art. You need to take a look at every step of the sale and make sure you are performing each step thoroughly and ef ciently.
4. You need to maximize your entire day, using every minute to be successful.
We'll help you do all of this and more!
Chapter Two
BECOME AN "EDGE AGENT"
"If you are going to show up, Then you might as well be first and You might as well be the best!" Shirleen Von Hoffmann
Who is an "EDGE Agent"?
At Home Builders AdvantEDGE our certification process creates "EDGE Agents", who are Top Producers. When you have achieved the status of an "Edge Agent", you have reached the pinnacle of your new home sales career. You have reached the position of having all the skills and talent necessary to be a Top Producing New Home Sales Professional. You have reached a position sought out by many Builders and Managers in the industry.
The crest we use to represent Edge Agents includes a Lion, the fiercest, bravest hunter of the forest. If you are an Edge Agent you are a true hunter. You thrive on the hunt for the sale!
An "EDGE" agent is an agent who thinks, acts and sells unlike any other new home sales agent.
"EDGE" Agents are experts in all aspects of new home sales; building rapport, marketing, negotiations, nance, closing and consumer relations. They are equipped with the latest sales techniques.
"EDGE Agents" give the prospects their undivided attention and are very good at building rapport. They realize that having great rapport makes everything associated with the sale easier!
"EDGE Agents" know how to question to build rapport and obtain desires and needs and then sell those needs.
"EDGE Agents" remember facts and details about their prospects and log that data into a system for future marketing.
"EDGE Agents" follow up with prospects in ways that are personal, build value and ll needs, so that they will be remembered above the rest of their competition.
"EDGE Agents" are fearless when it comes to change, innovation, overcoming objections, negotiations and closing the deal!
"EDGE Agents" are never content waiting for the sale to walk through the door ... "EDGE Agents" fill their time planning for the sale, getting the sale and closing the sale. They are true hunters.
"EDGE Agents" are like no other sales agents and ones that Builders will seek out to hire, cherish and retain.
"EDGE Agents" are top producers and make great money in every market whether it is good or bad!
"EDGE Agents" are held in the highest esteem by the Builder and Managers. Everything is easier when you become an "EDGE Agent".
It is our ultimate goal that the changes we teach you, will not only make you more money but will make you a more "in demand" Sales Agent; different from all the rest; the very best in the business; An EDGE Agent!
Ways to become an "EDGE Agent":
It's all very simple and of course you will need to study, apply and pass through the proper courses. But you should get the right frame of mind to begin. Here are a few ways to do that.
Help your customers
Be the leader, the one with the experience and the one with the answers. Be optimistic about real estate as an investment and its recovery. Reaffirm the cyclical nature of real estate but that there is no better investment. Prospects will always remember your positive attitude, experience, leadership and help.
Get closer to your customers
Put yourself in their shoes for a day. Get to understand what they are thinking, their concerns about buying and come up with solutions to their objections.
Position yourself as a resource
Know everything about your homes, your community, financing and your builder. You are an expert on everything and anything that says, "New home". Know more and be more than your competition. Give your prospects that buying experience they are looking for.
Get endorsements from your most loyal customers, and use them in a testimonial
This will authenticate all your claims. Your prospects will be more likely to believe you. Your customers will love you, and will tell others. And your competition will hate you.
Rededicate yourself to the present.
Your ability to win is in direct proportion to your desire to remain a student and the intensity of your attitude and enthusiasm.
This means you need to live in the moment. The market is different now from five years ago and it will be different next month. No matter what the market, dedicate yourself to being in the present and bring your skills to the level you need.
For instance, if you are an Agent in today's market and don't believe you need to know how to use the computer to be in sales, you are dead wrong!
SHIRLEEN VON HOFFMANN
If you find yourself becoming stale or negative, become aware of it immediately and do whatever you need to do to bring yourself to a positive, uplifted position. There is no room for negativity when you are in sales.
Give impeccable service.
Customer Service is one of the most important things you can do to build rapport and get referrals.
Always do the right thing.
Always honor your word.
Always under promise and over deliver.
Always follow through on what you promise.
Always go that extra mile, no matter what.
Always put the client first.
Build relationships for life
For so many years, new home sales agents treated each deal as a single transaction instead of looking at their business as one where they are constantly building long term, sustained relationships.
Let's face it, in our hot market, you didn't have to think of such things because people were waiting in line to buy. You wrote the offer, closed the transaction and moved to the next one without looking back. But now, you need to start looking at all things differently and with a fresh pair of eyes. The order taker sales person is not acceptable and will be gone. You must not only be good, you must be great!
The days of waiting for the buyer to come in, fill the card out, view the models and if they didn't buy just let them go and move on to the next person ... are gone, gone, gone! Engaging with each buyer, getting to know their needs and wants, engaging them as you walk through the homes, taking notes, influencing them with your great sales capabilities, pacing the conversation, moving them to locations where you want to tie down the sale, will become the way of life for great sales people.
When a buyer walks in, he needs to have a certain experience and that experience is provided by YOU. It goes back to basics; you want them to remember you over and above all of the other agents in the communities they are visiting that day.
How do you do that?
Get out from behind your desk.
Walk over to the customers; greet them as if you are pleased to see them.
Give them your undivided attention.
Find out what motivated them to come to your community.
Find out why they are buying and what their needs are.
Do they have a home to sell?
Get to know them and their families and interests.
Create great rapport; make them feel as if you are interested in them and not just in a sale.
Don't just forget them and move to the next prospect when they leave. Follow up with them, over and over. They are a precious commodity.
Make them remember YOU, the person.
What is it about YOU, your routine, your greeting, and your sales process that makes you different from the next sales person? Let's really think about this question;
How will your prospective buyers remember you and your homes from all the others they may visit that day?
It all starts in the first few critical seconds. You need to sum up your buyers and mirror them, read body language, evaluate eye contact, tonality of voice. If there is more than one person, figure out who is the leader, but don't ignore the other person and come up with your approach to the sale.
It's a lot to do, quickly, but part of your job. How well do you do it? And that's just the beginning of the process. There is so much more.... No worries, we have solutions for you!
CAUTION: To be the best is a combination of all these elements. There is no pill you can swallow that will make the market better, you better, or the customer buy faster. Nor will it make the customer buy from you, rather than the competition. The good news is that you control your destiny. That's why you got into sales in the first place.
We will be starting with the basics and moving through a sale. We do this because we find, through our secret shopping that most Agents are forgetting the basics. You must master the basics in order to be a Top Producer. Top Producers take the basics of a sale and move to a place of perfection. They don't miss steps, therefore steps aren't missed!
We have the answers you need but we need your buy in and commitment in order for you to be a success.
We need you to walk along with us, one step at a time and master your skills.
We need you to be a sponge and be able to adapt new habits and ideas.
We need you to be like a new born baby, learning new things each day with a fresh attitude.
Do all of this and you will reap the benefits this book offers you.
Adapt the Top Producer mentality before you are one. Do the Agent Takeaways we give you, to master your skills. When you master your skills and have the attitude of greatness, you become a Top Producer.
Let's take a close look at the essence of my book and what "Edge Agents" base all of their training on; "Top Producer Secrets".
Let's just start at the beginning of being great, shall we?
Excerpted from TOP PRODUCER SECRETSby Shirleen Von Hoffmann Copyright © 2010 by Shirleen Von Hoffmann . Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
