The Summary Close has become my favorite close. In order to have a summary though….I have to ask questions and get answers to have something to summarize. If I remember correctly….the only people I sough that day were a long ways out from buying, but I tried the summary close anyway. I told them lets pretend that you already had that job and you already sold your house…..then started to summarize everything we had discussed and gone over with them….and asked them if they could would they. They told me that they really liked what I had to offer but the floorplans I showed them did not quite fit them or satisfy them completely. I was able to determine what was lacking. Unfortunately I was not able to solve their mission. I am limited to what I have…but for this specific couple….it was a great excercise. I LOVE THE SUMMARY CLOSE!!!! I love how simple Jason puts it.
- Understand the customer’s mission
- Solve the customer’s mission
- And hold the customer accountable to achieving their mission
Well folks….back from the dead of a bad cold. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Trying to remember this dare day. From what I can, I was not able to ask anyone the day of….but I have had a chance since and unfortunately I did not have them commited to memory as good as I should have. Im usually good about asking how long have they been looking for a home. I never have asked any of the rest of the 5 questions though. I do like all of these questions. My thoughts are as follows. The more information we can gather the better! I will admit that I am a little uncomfortable asking all of these questions so quickly in the first 5 minutes. But I guess all of these dares are not meant to all be easy nor comfortable. But again I believe I can see the reasoning behind them. I would feel comfortable asking these questions at some point in my presentation….not sure where that is yet…so I plan at this point to just follow instructions and get the answers as quick as I can. I do plan to go back to my presentation scripts and work these in somewhere. There has to be a reason they havnt bought up till this point….or why they are still looking. You can find out what they like and or dislike and what is still lacking (THE PROBLEM) by asking these questions…and then present an EDUCATED solution that is directed or better guided….and in some cases hopefully….eventually present a one of a kind solution. Asking how long and how many homes is a good GENERAL temprature gauge that can be really helpful in catering your presentation.
I like this one for sure. I think purposeful transition statements put the buyer more at ease. I use one of these statements right off the bat when I start asking questions about what type or kind of home they are looking for. I let them know that the purpose of all of these questions is to hopefully narrow down a couple of floorplans that meet most of the requirments of what you are looking for. We have so many different floorplans and a spread out investment range here at this community. By getting the answers to these questions….I can better help you find what you are looking for. I plan on using some of the recommended statements that Jason uses in this chapter. Already practicing some of them on my own.
These folks are great to practice on….and who knows you might find the diamond in the rough. I am treating it like a game. I had some folks that came in yesterday that just b-lined it right past me…said that they are just in town visiting and wanted to look at the model. Thats fine…..I wanted to see how much I could learn about them as much as possible. I got into a pretty lengthy two way conversation with the wife and her friend who lives nearbye. I learned a great deal about them. It was a fun challenge for me. It is also my goal to practice all of these principle in all of my affairs….or at least as many as possible.
1. What is your emotional motivation behind choosing a career in commission sales?
- Your performance dictates your paycheck! If you perform well you usually get recognized more so in my opinion in commission sales…and you have the opportunity to make more money in commission sales than salary.
2. How much money do you make per house you sell?
- On average I make about $6K p/house
3. How many houses do you need to sell each month to pay for you basic needs?
- I need to sell at least 1 house p/month to pay for my basic needs.
4. How many houses do you need to sell each month to pay for you wants?
- I need to sell at least 3 homes p/month for my wants.
5. How are you going to spend the money that you make above your needs?
- Buy a new car (Mercedes CLS)
- Buy a new house
- Save for retirement
- Spend lots of money on marketing (it makes me feel good)
- Take a trip to Las Vegas
- Spend more money on personal development
- Go to dinner at nice restaurants (lots of sushi)
- Buy lots of really nice clothes
- Cosmetic surgery
- Buy nice things for my girlfriend
- Pay my student loans off
- Pay off any remaining long standing debt
- Have money in the bank (security)
Repeating back helps me clarify….tie down…build credibility. I was able to practice this one with my partner on this one….no traffic that day.
Hope everyone had a great Turkey Day. Dare 15 was an eye opener for me. Come to think about it….god knows how many times I thought I had someone in the bag….and then I either call them or they call me and say they decided on another home elsewhere. Damit! that ticks me off!! But I have no one to blame but myself.
This dare really conincides in my opinion with phase #2 of the 7 phases of emotional urgency, “They want your home more than any other home they have seen, and more than their current home”.
The only way to find this out in my opinion to to ask them. You cant just go on a whim thinking this is the case because they gave you the impression that they really like your home.
Here is the deal. If you do a good job of asking good questions on the front end….where else have they looked….what floorplan did they like….etc….etc. It will be easier to ask the end questions (like the dare) to gain mutual accomplishment and verbal commitments.
I would like to add something to the example in the chapter where the buyer responded that they liked the competitions floorplan better…..where the next step might be to look at another floorplan or home in your inventory. If they respond that they liked the competition’s floorplan better…..ASK why they like it better.
By asking these questions you are isolating the objection…..and you might be able to overcome this. I performed this dare on someone. They said they really liked my floorplan….and they were also interested in another floorplan at a different community. I asked what it was that they like about it. Turns out that they were more interested in the deal that they thought they would be getting there. They thought that they would be getting more square footage for less. So I tried to put the focus more on the floorplan and community. They thought both communities made equal sense for them….and they liked my floorplan a little more. So now I have isolated the hang up. I was able to overcome their objection and find a mutual accomplishment.
So many times in the past I never asked these questions….so unfortunately they would go home and discuss things….which I was never a part of that process or discussion….and loose the deal without any say so in the matter. This was a good dare / lesson for me. I need to incorporate this into all of my presentations.
I read a quote the other day that goes right in line with this dare. Something to the effect of the first objection is rarely ever the real one. I am so guilty of just trying to immediately come over the top of their objection with tons of reasons why they shouldnt be have this objection….blaw…blaw…blaw. I usually dont dig deeper by asking more questions about their objection. So I sometimes winde up spewing all of this information what I consider to be the solution….which turns out that I am presenting the solution to the wrong problem which I dont know about…because Im not asking or digging a little deeper on the initial objection they gave me. So I vow to always try to dig / probe a little more on their initial objection before presenting a solution. I lalso ike to ask the question, “If I could solve that problem….would you move forward” to smoke out other possible objections.
I really like these scripts. I used them and I love em. Sets the expectation right off the bat for interaction on the room level. Asking them if it feels right as soon as they walk in is brilliant. Great trial close question as well. And no matter what….your getting valuable information. I really wanna rememberize these as part of my own scripts and use them everytime.
This dare is a good reminder for me. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed with all of the imformation I am getting, learning and trying to use all of the time. Sometimes it almost seems impossible to remember it all. Gosh I feel a little sympathetic to my prospects that must feel overwhelmed with all of the information I am throwing at them. This chapter helped remind me that I need to step back…take a deep breath and keep it simple.
As far as the dare is concerned….making the following up calls with a simple agenda was good for me because I have a bad tendancy to have no agenda and just call to check in with them to see how things are going….yadda….yadda. I need to have the goal in mind of closing on the appt by sticking to a simple agenda.
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