For housebuilders, the bottom line is the bottom line. Driving revenue is what it comes down to for you. With income coming from selling homes, sometimes it’s a waiting game.
The frustration of watching lead after lead fade away without converting is undeniable. When we nurture an opportunity, it’s in our nature to want to reap the rewards from it. As they say, patience is a virtue, but in the world of business, time is money.
To increase your bottom line faster, you need to shorten your new home sales cycle – whatever the market is doing.
Don’t let your pricing take them by surprise
Especially in today’s market, people want to know exactly how much they can afford to spend on a house (psst! – you can tell them exactly how much by adding the Budget Calculator to your toolkit). Then they know what type of homes they can look for.
Be sure the price of your homes and any extras are clear from the outset to reduce cancellation rates.
Ensure your team know how to handle objections
Part of the home-buying journey is learning what a buyer likes, what they want and what they need. They move through stages of awareness, consideration and decision. Your sales team are aware that objections are major roadblocks when trying to lead a prospect further down the path to homeownership.
Some common ones include:
- “We’re just looking right now.”
At the very early stages of the home-buying journey, some prospects won’t want to hear your sales pitch. Recognise that they are in the awareness stage or perhaps not even there yet. Ask them very basic questions like what type of home they’re interested in. You can even offer them some information online for them to look at.
- “This is what we want in a home, but it’s not in our budget.”
It’s common, especially in this market, for money concerns to be the largest objection. Reassure them that your job is to help them find a beautiful home that works for them and is in budget. Determining their budget through a Budget Calculator tool is your first step to understand which plots are in-range for them.
- “We have to sell our current house first.”
This type of objection presents an opportunity to use a Home Valuation tool that will give them and yourself a better understanding of how much their home is worth. If part-exchange is part of your strategy, you can open those lines of communication.
Focus on productive channels
While having a wide variety of content is essential, the same can’t be said about the number of your marketing channels. You’ll need to track which channels perform best for your business, then focus on them instead of trying to tackle them all, all at once.
More often than not, that means a mix of digital tools, campaigns and print mail marketing. Fortunately, when you sign up to our tools, you get detailed insights about where the tools perform best, so you can double-down on your efforts. The effectiveness and ROI of each marketing channel are constantly evolving, so make sure you remain on top of trends and monthly reports.
Only sell to warm leads
Your sales team know that to streamline their sales, hit their targets and save a whole load of time, they need warm leads that are keen to progress with a home purchase. While some leads they encounter will inevitably be cold, and perhaps be too early on in the buying process, you can leverage tools that deliver warm leads straight to your sales team. Find out more.
