Just starting to look

Part of my job is working with people who are looking to buy a manufactured home in communities where you rent the lot every month. Sometimes I work in an office within a community where we have a lot of listings. Every day I get one or two people come in off the street who say they are just starting to look and want to see what we have for sale. I don't want to show these lookers every home so I ask a few questions about their wants and needs to get an idea of which home to show. The problem is that these people say "I don't know" to A LOT of the questions. For instance, what price range are you looking in? I DON'T KNOW. How large of a home or how much space do you want in a home? I DON'T KNOW. What features would you like to see in your next home? I DON'T KNOW. As crazy as that sounds it's true. What's should I do, what should I say when I'm with people who are "just starting to look" and don't know yet what they want?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thomas

Part of my job is working with people who are looking to buy a manufactured home in communities where you rent the lot every month. Sometimes I work in an office within a community where we have a lot of listings. Every day I get one or two people come in off the street who say they are just starting to look and want to see what we have for sale. I don't want to show these lookers every home so I ask a few questions about their wants and needs to get an idea of which home to show. The problem is that these people say "I don't know" to A LOT of the questions. For instance, what price range are you looking in? I DON'T KNOW. How large of a home or how much space do you want in a home? I DON'T KNOW. What features would you like to see in your next home? I DON'T KNOW. As crazy as that sounds it's true. What's should I do, what should I say when I'm with people who are "just starting to look" and don't know yet what they want?

I have to confess, it does sound a bit crazy!

1. I would recommend that you validate that they are "just starting to look." Just make sure that you're not letting any tension into the environment when they tell you that (I'm sure you're not from what I know about you through your posts). Say, "Excellent, I love it when people are just starting to look. . . welcome!"

2. How about if you preface your questions with something like this: "I have a great deal of knowledge about manufactured homes, and I'd like to provide you with all the information you need since you have just started looking. Would it be okay with you if I ask you some questions so that I have a better understanding of your situation?"

God willing, they'll say "yes." If they say "no", then I haven't a clue what to do!

3. When you're asking questions and you reach a little resistance, you just have to work through it, with things such as, "I know this is a difficult question, but it's so important so that I can help you. I know you're here to get pricing from me, and I'll be glad to provide that for you. But as a starting point, please tell me about where you feel comfortable."

If they hesitate, then you should ask again. "I know; when I bought my first _____________, they asked me the same thing, and I didn't know what to say, but I did know that I was comfortable in the $80,0000 range (or whatever), so that's what I told them. About where would you be in your comfort level?" (or something like that).

4. In a worst case scenario where you're receiving a lot of resistance, then I think it's appropriate and wise to address it: "You know, Mr. and Mrs. Prospect, I really want to help you by giving you all the information you need, but it seems like you might be a bit reluctant to help me help you. Can we talk about that?" Then be quiet and see what they say.

5. If you ask something like "how large a home are you looking for" and they say "we don't know", then you should follow up with another question. "I know, it's difficult knowing what to say, isn't it? [validation]. So let me phrase the question this way: do you think you'd be more interested in a large home, a medium home, or a small home? Giving them options might get them talking.

I hope that helps!

I have a few rules in selling that might apply to what you have written in your question. One of my rules is this:
"Buyers are liars" - I generally don't believe everything someone tells me when they are looking around and poking tires if you know what I mean. I have learned that if I tackfully challenge a person more than two times, they can't or won't lie to me the third time. There is just something about the third time. With this in mind, I will ask a similar question a few times to get to the root of a question.

Another of m rules is more of a qualification rule. I never move to the next phase of my selling process unless I know that I am working with someone who has qualified for me to move forward.

Until I know "IF" someone matches my profile as a potential buyer, they don't become a prospect. So, I must always be in the questioning mode to determine if they are a legitimate prospect. After they qualify in my mind as someone to spend time with, I don't spend time with them too much.

I suggest that you become an information magnet and ask them if they would like some help in their decision process. If you postion youself as someone whom they can turn to in the future, you are very likely to get them to trust you. Trust is your key to increasing sales.

Thomas
Start by telling them that a lot of your customers have started looking before they knew exactly what they wanted. You will be happy to help them by showing them some houses and by helping them narrow down their thought process. I would recommend asking more specific, less generic questions and trying to help them ascertain the information both of you need.

For instance, if they don't know how large they need, ask how many people will be living there? Do they have family or friends that will be coming to visit? In this way you can help them begin to fill in the blanks. Ask how big their present place is? Which room do they use the most. If they could add a room, what would they like? These are more specific than what features or how large a house, do you want.

As far as price, ask where they are living now? Ask what their current monthly payment is. That will at least give you some idea of a range.

These responses have been super helpful. Thank you!

Thomas,

Good answers above. This may help as well.

Tell your indecisive 'don't know what I'm looking for' prospects:

"When buyers aren't sure what they want, they tend to look at lots of homes, only to discover that a good one got away. I don't like to have that happen to my customers so here's what I do ...

‘I take a piece of paper and draw a line down the center. On the left hand side I write “Gotta”, “Liketa” and “Niceta”. Then we write down all the things you gotta have…things like, “I gotta have three bedrooms”, “I gotta have 2 baths.”

‘Then we write down all the things you’d like to have…things like, “I’d like to have a formal dining room” or “I’d like to have a home with a cathedral ceiling”.

‘Then we write down some of the things you say if would be nice to have. These things you don’t really expect to find, but it would be exciting if you found them – things like, “Wouldn’t it be nice if we could find a house that had apple trees in the garden?”

‘Then, on the other side of the page, I put the word, “Why?” and we write down all the reasons why. Why do you “gotta” have three bedrooms, and why would you like a cathedral ceiling, and why would it be nice if you could have the apple trees?

‘Then, we could go out and look at houses. And if the very first house had everything you said you “gotta” have, and everything you said you’d like to have, and something you said, “Wouldn’t it be nice if…” you could buy that house without looking at even one more home and you’d he happy with that decision for the rest of your life. At the very most, you would have to look at only 3 or 4 homes that way. Wouldn’t that be better than looking at 20 homes and still being unsure?

Obviously, Thomas, you must suggest features that conform to the limits of the types of homes available.

Hope this helps.

Thank you Jerry. That's a great piece of sales language and I'm going to write it down and memorize it like I did your other scripts. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Instead of asking them their price range, try suggesting a couple of monthly payment ranges and then ask them which one would fit into their budget the best.

Instead of asking them how large of a Home they want try finding out how large their Family is and then suggest the appropriate Model.

Instead of asking what features they want try suggesting your most popular features and then ask them which ones are most important to them.

Have a "FANTA$TIC Future!
Stan Billue, CSP

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