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Posts Tagged ‘relationship selling’

Fellow Real Estate People: Your Clients Are Checking You Out Online. Will They Like What They See?

Posted on: January 26th, 2012 by Beth Heilman

Ahhhh, the internet. Whether you love it, hate it or are somewhere in between the fact is, an amazing tool…and it's here to stay. There's not much that you CAN'T find on the internet. Including information about you.

Do you like what it says? A more important question might be, when a new or prospective client does a search on you Will they like what they see?

Now I'm not talking about old photos that an ex-boyfriend took and posted on his Facebook wall (although if there are any of those floating around, you might want to see about getting rid of 'em). What I'm talking about is the impression folks get when they read your bio on your company's website, or Google your name to find out more about you and how you do business.

It's not any breaking news to Real Estate folks that upwards of 93% of people wanting to buy a home do their searching online before they ever contact a Realtor. It shouldn't come as a surprise then that while that same client is checking out that sweet three bedroom colonial on Maple Street you have listed, they're also checking out… you.

Have you taken ownership of your online presence?

If you haven't, it's time you do before someone else does.

Now, I'm not trying to sound ominous, but in today's society it's the negative that gets reported and you know how people like to talk about the least little negative thing. But let's not dwell on that…

Fact is, in today's internet world you can let people not only know what you do, you kick-butt Real Estate pro, you; but by having your own blog and Social Media presence you can let people know who you are as a person. You get to sell you.

In today's market, it's the person who takes the time to build the relationship with their customer and treats them well that makes the sale. Are you doing something everyday to show prospective clients how awesome you are by sharing a more personal side of you?

I hope so. If you're not, I hate to be the one to break it to you,but you're going to be left behind…or at the very least stagnate where
you're at.

Tomorrow's business goes to the one who builds the relationships today.

Claiming your place on Social Media will help build and nurture those relationships. Are you using it to build your business?

I'd love to hear how you're using Social Media to market and grow your business. Leave a comment below and let me know what you're doing. Until then…

To Your Success,
Sonrisas(smiles),

Beth 🙂

Beth Heilman is a 20 year Real Estate veteran and Owner/CEO of Red Leopard Marketing, a company specializing in Social Media Marketing to help Real Estate Professionals attract, engage and keep quality customers. Beth is a 30 year Las Vegas resident, a mother of four great kiddos and a "gramita" to 10 wonderful grandmunchkins. Her philosophy in business and in life is "when you do the right things for the right reasons, you'll always succeed". Do you believe that? You should…

 

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The Secret To Sales Success Is Connecting With Your Customer

Posted on: October 10th, 2011 by Beth Heilman

Today I want to talk with you about how connecting with your customer is the secret to sales success…in ANY business.

How many times have you gone into a store or (gulp) stepped on a car lot and were met with one of two things? Either you were ignored totally while the clerks of said store gossiped amongst each other or horror of horrors…you stepped out of your car only to be descended on by a school of hungry piranha?


Neither scenario makes you feel like doing business there and the last one I mentioned makes you want to run for the hills!!

What's a person to do when all they want is to get a little help, get some questions answered and, big shock to the merchant, actually buy something.

What ever happened to good, old fashioned sales skills? I'm taking a stand for a sale skills revival and it's gonna start right here.

The first thing any dedicated salesperson needs to do is make a connection with their customer. By that, I mean greet them with a smile, find out their name and what it is they came to you for.

Here's one of the most important secrets…Ask them questions about what it is they need and what it is they WANT (yep, folks there is a difference). And then, here's the most important part…LISTEN.

It's been said many times and in many ways that we all have two ears and one mouth and they should be used in that proportion. In other words we should listen at least twice as much as we talk 🙂

Don't plan what it is you're going to say next. Don't have a laundry list of answers to their objections ready to rapid-fire back to them.

Really listen. Your customers will let you know exactly what it is they want if you'll just listen.

I remember a few years ago I was in the market for an SUV.  I'm an Acura girl from way back( I've had three of 'em, still own two)and I knew I wanted an Acura MDX.

Now here in Las Vegas we have one Acura dealer and I stopped at the car lot one afternoon to take a look. After checking out the inventory for a few minutes, a very well dressed gentleman came out and asked me what I was interested in. I told him. I wanted a late model used MDX ( I rarely buy brand new. Depreciation…ick!!) with low miles, Touring package, loaded. I'd done my homework (hint: your customers have probably been doing their homework, too. That's how they found you).

This guy didn't hear a thing I said. All he kept asking me (several times) was what color did I want. Color? I never mentioned color. Not once. He was fixated on the color thing (I guess women car buyers are supposed to only care what color the car is, huh?) to the point that I finally told him I'd take anything but purple  (there is no such thing as a purple MDX, by the way). At last, in frustration I left the lot, went up the street to the Honda dealership, found exactly what I wanted and I'm still driving it today.

The moral of the story? Customers today are smart, educated and more than a bit skeptical when it comes to parting with their money…especially large sums of money. Can you blame them?

The more you take the time with your prospects and customers to find out about them and what they want, the easier, more fun and more profitable the sales process will be for you and them. Now…got your questions ready and your listening ears on? Get to it!! Happy selling!!

Ever had a nightmare sales experience (or a really good one where everybody came out a winner?) Please share it with everyone below. It's just as important knowing what NOT to do as it is what works. Until next time…make it a wondermous day.

To Your Sales Success,
Sonrisas(smiles),

Beth 🙂

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Your Ideal Client: Narrow Your Focus For A Broader Reach

Posted on: July 28th, 2011 by Beth Heilman

As small business owners, it makes sense to reach out to as many potential customers as we humanly can.The reasoning behind this is that the more people we can see, talk to or get to visit us the more we’ll sell, right?

Well…no.

It sounds counter-intuitive I know, but not everyone is your customer. That’s a good thing…really.

Let me ask you something…

Is it easier to write, video or speak a marketing message that tries to attract the attention of a huge group of people? Or is it easier to concentrate on a very specific problem that a specific group of people is having and speak to that.

Ideal Client

I’m thinkin’ it’s the second one. Here’s an example…

Years ago I was very active in a Direct Sales Company that sold skin care products. The products were fabulous (still are) and the general feeling of the powers-that-be of the company was that it should be a no-brainer to sell because “everyone has skin”.

Yes, everyone DOES have skin, but not everyone wants the sames results for their skin.

Some is dry, some is oily, some has break-outs, some is getting kinda crinkly around the edges. You get the idea, right?

The best and most effective way to sell in any business (yes, I said sell. It’s not a bad word) is to narrow your focus and identify the customers you want to work with and help the most. Direct all your marketing towards them.

Talk to them like you’d talk with a friend over lunch and see how easy (and fun) it is to build a relationship with them that will keep them a customer for years to come. Narrowing your focus won’t cut down on the number of people you serve. It will strengthen your relationship with the right people…your ideal customers.

How do you figure out who your Ideal Client is and where do you find them? Stay tuned for the next post and I’ll tell ya 🙂

In the mean time, your input is really important to me. Leave a comment below and let me know how I can help you in your business. Til next time…

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Selling By Intuition

Posted on: May 14th, 2011 by Beth Heilman

Intuition. What is it exactly and how can you apply it to your sales career? The dictionary.com definition of intuition is

–noun
1. direct perception of truth, fact, etc., independent of any reasoning process; immediate apprehension.
2. a fact, truth, etc., perceived in this way.
3. a keen and quick insight.

I define it as an inner “knowing”. In other words it’s not a head knowledge, but a “heart knowledge“.

Selling By Intuition

Selling By Intuition

Have you ever been working with a customer and they were saying all the right things, agreeing that what you have to offer is perfect for them and you’re thinking to yourself ka-ching…payday!! But, something deep inside you is saying that something’s “out”, something’s not quite right. Intuition…

You keep going, you proceed with your best close. They follow through and make the purchase only to call you the next day and cancel. Rats!! So close…but were you really?

Were you listening to them with your head or listening with your heart during the sales process? There is a difference.

Even if you tell yourself you don’t have a good intuition, you really do. Everyone does, some folks have just developed it more than others; that’s all.

So how do you develop your “sales intuition”? First, you have to acknowledge that you have it (you do).

Second, think of a time when there was something you “just knew”…

Maybe you were driving on the way to an appointment and all of a sudden you got the urge to turn left instead of turning right like you always do. At first you’re curious why the urge to make a detour was so strong, then you may get aggravated that now your trip is going to take longer. Later you find out there was a traffic accident on the route you were planning to take and traffic was backed up for hours.  Taking the detour meant you made it to your appointment on time. Hmmm…

Maybe it’s a phone call you know you need to make. You’ve been thinking of the person you had to call and then, brrrringgg.

The phone rings and it’s that person you were thinking of on the other end. Spooky? No. Intuition? Yes.

So how do you apply intuition in your sales career?

When you’re asking your customer what their wants and needs are, listen for the answers with your heart and not your head.

What I mean by that is, do the answers they’re giving you “feel” right? Do the words they’re saying, the tone of their voice and their body language all match up? Is there a real connection and flow to the interaction?

If so, great. Keep moving forward to the close.

If not, relax. Be patient, ask more questions, trust your intuition (your inner voice) and really listen. You know if what you have to offer is right for them and if it is, they do too. When you’re being your authentic self and letting your intuition guide you, you’ll always do what’s in the best interest of your customer (and you).

Develop your sales intuition muscle and sales success will naturally follow.

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Relationship Selling and The Power Of The Truth

Posted on: September 8th, 2010 by Beth Heilman

These crazy economic times we’re in call upon those of us in business to especially mindful of Relationship Selling; customer service, trust, honesty and integrity. To illustrate the point, here’s a story that happened to me.
Relationship Selling
The other day when I was checking around,getting prices for a repair job on my car that was
hit in a rear end collision.

Since the other person’s insurance company will be paying for repairs, I wanted to get a couple of opinions so they would know I wasn’t trying to “pull one over on them”.

Let me start by saying that I have an Acura SUV. It’s my third Acura, so I know they’re not cheap to fix.

The first place I went gave me an estimate of over $1700, just to replace a muffler. That doesn’t take into account the body damage. I thought that was a little pricey so I called another muffler place for a second opinion.

The answer I got is the reason I’m writing this now.

Now, I know my car and I know the price of the parts are a little steep. When I called the second muffler shop (mind you I already had the first estimate) The guy who answered the phone quoted me a price off the top of his head of “around $150”. No asking anyone, no checking in the computer for the part number or price.

I reminded him of the make and model of my car and he then rethought his answer and said “well, maybe then double that to around $300).

Still not convinced, I stopped by the shop later that day to get a written estimate for the insurance company.

My car was put on the lift and examined. They called the parts supplier and the final estimate was over $1500!!

Now, back to point of the story. When a client or customer asks something of us, it’s because they consider us an expert.

They’ve come to us because they need the product or service we offer.

Nothing, but nothing, will kill business faster than pretending to be an expert and giving someone an answer when you don’t know all the facts.

Any business person that gives a customer an answer that “sounds good” Any amount of trust that had been established is now gone. Even if the customer still chooses to do business with that company, they’re going to be suspicious of anything they’re told.

Long term business success is based on trust and honesty.

We’re the one’s working in a certain establishment or running our business. We know more than they do, right? And if we’re not sure of something, the last thing we should do is make something up. That’s what this kid at the muffler shop did.

Rather that look up the information if he wasn’t sure, or ask someone who had more experience, he told me something that even I, as a non-mechanic knew wasn’t true.

Did I go in and get the estimate anyway? Yes, they are a national chain that I knew the insurance company would recognize.

Did I believe the actual technician who looked at my car? Yes, because he showed me (in black and white) the price for the parts. He gave me the information I needed to make an informed decision and didn’t just quote something off the top of his head.

All our customers want is some understanding and honesty. They’re not asking for perfection. People are a whole lot more receptive to the not-so-great news (like the price to fix my car) when they’re being consulted with and not talked at. That’s relationship selling at it’s best.

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