It’s ALSO the ‘last-mile’ closure, not just more leads

A senior manager with a property developer was speaking to me the other day. He told me that these days customers are taking ever longer time before buying. Similar views as his have been shared to me by many real estate negotiators (REN) as well. When I asked if the number of people visiting the show gallery (for developer) or the number of people viewing homes (for the REN) has actually decreased, both of them said,’not really.’ One main reason was that they were doing ever more advertisements to get ever higher leads into the show gallery (developer) and more viewings (for RENs). I shared with them both that today, the buyers in the market are jittery and choosy. Let me explain briefly.
Jittery because there has been many speculations on what may be happening to the property market. From the world financial crisis potential (China-US trade war) to the local property market bubble bursting (predictions), there has been non-stop news which will usually be scary to many. Due to them being jittery, it’s important to be able to tell them much more than just how good the project is. It’s important to engage them from a more consultative point of view. This is why real estate professionals need to get themselves updated and need to understand the market signs and reasons so that they could impart these to the potential buyers. Anyway, experienced investors are still going to buy. If investors say that they are worried about the potential bubble bursting, do they know what are the bubble bursting signs? 
Choosy because many projects are very similar these days. Seriously, beyond the project name, when a project is similarly priced and is in similar kinds of locations, what is their difference? Their difference is actually the same as above; last mile connection. This is the sales person or the REN. Are they able to step into the shoes of the customer? Do they know what’s the real reason for the potential buyer in considering? It may be due to the housewife and two kids or the potential buyer wants a place which could accommodate three generations? Without knowing, it’s not possible to start answering. Yet, most sales people immediately start answering by telling everything about the project features!
A very prominent property expert whom I played badminton with asked me that other day about a certain sales training by a certain sales trainer. I answered that for developer sales teams or even RENs, the requirements are much more demanding these days. Sending them to more workshops to build their motivation or sales theories will not add much. Sales people are motivated by money, they do not need more motivation trainings. Perhaps what they really need would be ‘Property Investment 101’ workshops as a start followed by “Handling Objections Better” workshops. Yes, I have been conducting these workshops for many months and the response has been positive. Happy engaging me, if needed.
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written on 20 Nov 2018
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