Don't get penalized for too much talking

Continuing yesterday's discussion from which I received many fantastic comments, talking and listening are likely the two most important facets of a sales encounter because they are the root of communication.

Communication is nothing more than the effective transmittal of an idea or concept. We ask our customers what they want, they talk and we listen. They ask us questions, we talk and they listen. Then all too often we think we have it sized up and we dominate the conversation from there. They try to ask a question and we jump right in with the answer - maybe before we fully understood the issue.

Sales can't happen without communication, and communication is not the same thing as talking. I have done my share of cutting customers off or talking over them so I can inject my point - except that I might have missed something important they wanted to say be talking at the same time.

With CBs and other push-to-talk systems, only one voice transmission can happen at a time. You talk, then you listen to the other person talk. If you have the button pushed in (like when we're trying to talk also or busy thinking about our next phrase) we can't hear the other person. That is good to remember.

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For more information on my coaching services or sales tips visit my website stevehoffacker.com or my blog homesalesinsights.com.

43 comments • Steve Hoffacker - Real Estate Sales & Marketing Consulting and Strategies • November 18 2008 12:56PM

How much can we talk on one set of batteries?

Some days I barely make it past noon before I have recharge my phone. I guess I really do talk a lot.

Talk is fine - it's how we communicate. However, there are times when we need to talk and when it's helpful. There are other times when it's beneficial - even necessary - to listen.

What if when we started a sales or listing presentation we only had so much "talk time" before our batteries ran out and we would be unable to talk anymore? Do you suppose we might listen more? Do you think we'd make what we did say count for more? Is it possible we might focus on hearing what our customers were saying?

Well, we don't have batteries, so it doesn't really matter how much we talk during our presentations - or does it?

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For more information on my coaching services or sales tips visit my website stevehoffacker.com or my blog homesalesinsights.com.

20 comments • Steve Hoffacker - Real Estate Sales & Marketing Consulting and Strategies • November 17 2008 07:42PM

Our sales proposition has to be believable

I was watching college football earlier this afternoon, and what I find interesting is that I was able to go through the channels and find 8 different games to watch on my regular Direct TV service (not the football package). That means 16 different teams from various markets around the country. Then after those games are over, others will be broadcast as well. I'm not sure how many but maybe another half-dozen or so.

Here's my point, Direct TV sells and promotes this rather expensive college football package (and the same for the pros), yet I can watch such a variety of games without their premium package. I may not get to see my favorite team every week, but I get college football. Seems to really dilute the value of this package.

They do the same with basketball, soccer, baseball, and NASCAR. The NASCAR promotion is really funny, because every single race is broadcast anyway, and all you get from them is access to 5 drivers - their choice not yours and not the same week-to-week.

So their premium package has lost its luster for me. Why pay extra for something that I pretty much get anyway?

Translated to sales, let's be careful not to make promises, exaggerations, assertions, or claims about the value, features, location, or uniqueness of some of our properties if there are others on the market with similar attributes.

If our sales proposition is not believable, it's a much harder sale. It's not believable if people can achieve it in other ways or at a better value.

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For more information on my coaching services or sales tips visit my website stevehoffacker.com or my blog homesalesinsights.com.

2 comments • Steve Hoffacker - Real Estate Sales & Marketing Consulting and Strategies • September 27 2008 03:57PM

How's that again?

As Realtors and salespeople, it's important that we communicate effectively and that we choose our words and phrases properly. Recently, I've heard 3 comments by various people that just "jumped off the page" so to speak and illustrate my point.

I overheard a guy talking on his cell phone in the restaurant (because he was talking loud) about a problem he was having with his truck, and he meant to say that he had no warning of anything about to happen. What he said though was "It's not like it happened overnight."

Then I heard someone commenting about a drainage issue after heavy rains and indicating they weren't sure whether it was due to the way the system was designed or if it was totally just from the rain - a natural occurrence versus one that possibly could have been prevented with better design. What they said was that they "don't know whether it's man-made or if someone is responsible for it."

Then I heard a reporter talking about the progress of one of the recent hurricanes was suggesting that "it might get all the way to a category 5 or 6." Category 5 is as high as it goes, and those storms are rare.

It's easy to say something other than what we mean when we get excited, but we need to remember that we're professional communicators and try not to let this happen to us.

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For more information on my coaching services or sales tips visit my website stevehoffacker.com or my blog homesalesinsights.com.

24 comments • Steve Hoffacker - Real Estate Sales & Marketing Consulting and Strategies • September 09 2008 08:14PM