Today I’m going to assume you’ve read my other training articles. I will assume you now know how to set an appointment, sell benefits instead of features, and can identify you prospective clients personality. Now we will focus on how to identify their buying signals.

During the course of any sales presentation, your client’s attitude towards buying can be mapped. Think of a pendulum. On one side they are buying, on the other they are kicking you out of the office, and in the middle they are neutral. Here’s a map of the pendulum.

In most cases, your Realtor is at a Neutral level or better. You likely would not have gotten this far if the case was otherwise. More likely, they are at the Discover level. In this case, selling to this person is a simple matter of tugging the pendulum your way by narrowing your questions to find out how you can best fit their needs.

Here’s the progression
Your Realtor is at the Discover level. They want to learn more about your products to see if there’s anything in it for them. A typical Discovery question is, “Tell me, what’s your niche?” Don’t answer that! If your niche is of no interest to their personal needs, the pendulum will swing towards neutral. Instead, you want to move them towards Consider by finding out what they are looking for, not what you might be selling. Ask them, “What types of niches are you looking for?” You want to get your client thinking about particulars ways you might be able to help them. When they bring up a need you can fulfill, you’ll be able to move them to the next level.

At this Point, your Realtor moves to the Consider level. They are exited about a particular benefit that you can provide and want to figure out how they can take advantage of it. They might say something more focused like, “I like the idea of recommending my clients to a Loan Officer that has access to FHA loans”. Now you want to move them to Enthusiasm by asking, ” Can you give me an example of any current first time buyers you are working with that might fit in an FHA loan?”

When the Realtor is showing Enthusiasm toward the benefits of your products, and trying to fit them into his own pipeline, it’s time to ask for the Sale. This may not happen in one sitting. The key is to close on a positive action of some sort. In the case of Discover, or Consider, the best action might be to schedule a follow-up meeting. At the point of Enthusiasm, you probably should be asking for a borrower(buyer) in their pipeline.

What about the other side of the pendulum? Stay tuned.

Todd Carpenter - lenderama