Building - Course Outline

PDF Version - 58kb

Building is the second step in the consultative selling series with a focus on putting learned skills into practice with an emphasis on closing technique, quantifying value and proving value statements. This class uses case studies and extensive role playing to reinforce and help participants master the skills introduced in Foundations. Intense attention is given to understanding and communicating the benefits of specific issues in order to sell them more effectively. All the material is tailored to your specific marketplace. Each participant will focus on a specific benefit and sell it to the instructor and receive immediate guidance.

This one-day course is designed as the next step for people who have taken the Foundations class and anyone who has responsibility for qualifying prospects or actually selling. Because of the extensive use of role-play and case-studies, class size is kept intentionally small. Following is an outline of the course.

I. Situational Analysis
Brief review of the Foundations class is conducted and the participants discuss their experiences in using the new skills learned in that session. Reinforcement, correction and further honing to those skills is given to each participant.

II. Universal Problem Situations
A review of real-life sales problems that each person is currently experiencing is conducted. In this way they gain immediate benefit not only from the material taught, but from the problem analysis and resolution of their current issues. As the instructors use the consultative approach to help the participants think through their real-life, current problems it reinforces the total experience and helps the participants to further understand the impact and effectiveness of the diagnostic approach to consultative selling.

III. Classroom Focus on Real Sales Issues
The attendees participate in substantial role playing and receive extensive personal attention during the two days of the class. The focus is on improving execution of the skills necessary to successfully sell. Particular emphasis is placed on closing techniques and they will learn a new, highly successful technique for closing sales of all types. Role-plays are adjusted to match with attendees’ specific marketplaces and the types of real estate they are working with. Participants receive direct instruction on improving their presentation by more effectively matching advantages to each prospect’s particular needs.

IV. Role playing
Participants take turns individually selling to the instructors who act as the prospects. This allows the instructors to construct role playing scenarios that reflect real sales situations and gives the participants one-on-one instruction. Because the participant chooses the situations they want to practice selling to the instructor they not only gain experience with their sales technique, but receive substantial instruction and guidance on advantages.

V. “Selling” with computer demonstrations
Many real estate professionals are using, and in come cases depending on, computer-based programs. This a high risk activity because if done poorly you can shatter credibility and dramatically reduce the chances of a successful sale. Most of the directions that people receive from the program designers on how to use the demos and programs are not well suited for real-life selling. We will explain in detail how to use them effectively and what to do when they go wrong.

A. What can go wrong

B. How to avoid the common “technical” errors

C. What to do when the program will not run or crashes in the middle of a presentation

VI. Summary
Sales calls often fail because the sales person has made assumptions about what is attractive to the seller or buyer of a property. We have all learned that there are features and benefits. However this simplistic approach ignores the obvious fact that if the prospect does not find a particular “benefit” to be beneficial then it is simply an “advantage.” This class teaches the participants how to test the benefits to correctly identify which have value to the prospect. It shows them how to execute a closing technique that can draw upon the often times non-obvious benefits in a property, but also how to identify the other “advantages” that can be welded into a real “benefits” closing. There is a lot that goes into a good close and while it is one of the most important parts of the whole sales process it is one on which many real estate professionals spend the least amount of time. At the close of “Building” the participants will not only have new closing techniques, but they will have tried them and have begun to build confidence.