Capture More Sales From Traffic You're Already Generating

Consider that all traffic is not the same, costs the same, nor does it convert to sales at the same rate. New-home sales is a contact sport and a numbers game, so traffic can be defined as the number of contacts a builder’s sales organization makes directly with a prospective buyer. 

To answer my question—Doing what you are doing, the way you are presently doing it, how many sales and how much revenue are you missing?—here is a checklist of some key areas to focus on for capturing more sales from the traffic currently being generated.
 

Staffing and Availability

You are in the retail business, not the real estate business. Individual potential buyers who constitute what is called traffic are far more likely to buy if they come into personal contact with a well-motivated and skilled sales professional. Pay attention to the advice of retail genius Sam Walton: “To be successful in the retail business, be open for the convenience of the customer, not the convenience of the company.” The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is harvest time in retail. During that period most stores report as much as 50 percent to 80 percent of their sales revenues and profit for the entire year. To maximize that opportunity they staff up and stay open longer hours. For most builders, weekends are similarly harvest time. Most potential home buyers work during the week and have weekends to shop and compare. Regrettably, I see too many builders’ sales offices are not open for the convenience of the customers, in particular on weekends. That oversight can be easily fixed. By simply keeping weekend hours, more contacts will be established. Another mistake is the one-salesperson phenomena. If at any time during the weekend there is at least one more prospective customer than salesperson in the office at the same time, sales are potentially lost. This imbalance is easily fixed by recognizing that one good new-home salesperson working in concert with a well-trained and motivated associate (assistant), in particular on weekends, will out-sell two of the best salespeople working without an assistant.

Sales Readiness

Assuming proper retail staffing, the next step is to assure that each of your salespeople is contact ready. Providing more traffic to any sales person who cannot consistently demonstrate extraordinary presentation, communication, and sales skills congruent with diligent follow-up is simply wasting valuable resources and giving them more chances to fail.

Ranking the Quality of Traffic 

Measuring Conversation Rates

Follow Up