I’ve lived in New York City for 25 years. It’s been great from a work and social perspective, but there’s one little catch: Real estate here costs a gazillion dollars so I have never been able to buy property.
But now I’m getting old(er) and I feel like I should stop renting and have some property to my name.
Yah?
Okeeee, so this January my resolution was to buy a piece of rental property in upstate New York (Hudson Valley area). I started frequenting Zillow and Realtor.com and setting up viewings. Some of these interactions have me wondering if these realtors got their training from Jerry Springer.
I am starting to think that I will never, ever buy property in my entire lifetime. Because every time I find a realtor that I think I can trust — and believe me, I’ve spoken with about 100 of over the last four months — crazy stuff like this happens:
Me: This house’s roof is 20 years old. How much could it cost to replace it?
Realtor: Oh, don’t worry about that; some old roofs hold up for decades.
Me: (scratching my head).
Okay, so I fired him shortly after that.
But it brings up a good point that I think all of us can learn from regarding the sales process:
Complete the action.
What do I mean by that?
The Longer the Sales Process, the Worse it Is for the Buyer
Being on the receiving end of sales pitches for a high-end product, like a rental property, you really see that we often forget to look at the sales process from the buyer’s viewpoint.
We include too much of the wrong info, and not enough of the info the buyer needs. This is exemplified above.
2. Nobody wants to shop around for a financial advisor. They’d rather be doing almost anything else in their lives. It’s not like they are shopping for a Maserati. People hate financial advisors and nobody wants to sit around all day talking to them.
3. The longer it goes on, the more burned out the buyer gets. The sales pitches are horrible, the presentations are boring and too technical, and it’s just painful the more it drags out.
All of this leads me to the point of this article: Do them a favor and actually close the prospect.
Close them or recognize a reason you can’t close them, and then find someone that they can hire, if it isn’t you.
Why?
It doesn’t do our economy or our society any good for people to be searching around endlessly every time they want to buy an expensive item. That is because the people who are in command of enough capital to buy a big-ticket item are often important, successful people and their time shouldn’t be spent shopping around for financial advisors. Yes, big financial decisions shouldn’t be rushed. But I think we often use patience as a cover up for disastrous sales performances.
Also, the longer the sales process takes, the more the questions compound. Doubts, insecurities and negative sentiment creep in.
For me, the last six months have been a downward facing parabola. It started out great; I was all excited. The negative interactions with realtors led my sentiment to peak and then plummet downwards like an upside down “U.”
I Wish Somebody Had Taken a ‘Close Her or Die’ Attitude
I have wasted countless hours checking out homes on Zillow every night. Not once has an agent called me and said, “Sara, that home you asked me about two weeks ago, how come you didn’t buy it from me?”
Not once.
And truly, I wish someone had.
They are so focused on finding the buyer they can close the ticket with, that they don’t spend enough time finding out my mindset.
Truth is, I would probably own property by now if more of those realtors had refused to take no for an answer, and became hellbent on ethically and fairly closing me in a way that put my interests first. Because I would have grown to trust them and we would have been able to work out whatever fears or challenges I had. I’d be done by now instead of looking at 70-acre parcels in Ulster County, N.Y., on Zillow at 11 p.m.
Look at your sales process from the buyer’s point of view. Have you really responded to all their needs, understood them? Or are there gaps that you are randomly trying to fill with random acts that probably just irritate the buyer more than moving them closer to you or to the sale?
The Closing Script
Okee, so here’s the script if you want to close someone in a fair, logical way that won’t make you look like a sales schmuck.
Call the person (no email or text) and say, “I have a question. A while ago we met and talked about our services but you have not moved forward. I want to make sure you are taken care of, but to do that I need to know this: What do you need from a financial advisor that you are not convinced yet that I’m able to give you?”
They’ll go, “Huh?”
Then you say, “It’s just I feel as if I have wasted your time by not solving the problem you came to me for. I want to get this taken care of so you can finally get what you need from someone. But to do that, I have to know what you need from a financial advisor so that we can get you someone good. Yeah?”
Pause.
They will probably look at you with shock in their eyes.
Continue, “Either I can fulfill what you need, or if I cannot then I will personally find you someone who can. Because it’s no good being in this holding pattern, unable to move on, unable to get served, unable to reach the financial health you want. Right?”
Pause.
Continue, “I say let’s get this done and move on right now, regardless of whether or not the advisor winds up being me.”
If you call and they aren’t there, leave a voicemail.
If you leave a voicemail and they don’t respond, send an email with the subject line: “IMPORTANT: need to take care of this right now.” Insert the script I just wrote you above.
“There is too much ho-hum prospecting that goes nowhere and wastes everyone’s time.”
It may sound brash but this works. There is too much ho-hum prospecting that goes nowhere and wastes everyone’s time.
‘HIGHER FOCUS = HIGHER RESULTS,’ People!
You may lose some prospects, but you lost them anyway because they were already not doing business with you. However, many people will appreciate your directness, your will to complete tasks, your modesty to acknowledge that you may not be the right person, and your spirit of servitude.
Do this with confidence, boldness and speed, and be upbeat, because helping someone get what they need is an act of service and a positive thing.
Thanks for reading and I’ll see you in the next article for Rethinking65.
Sara Grillo, CFA, is a marketing consultant who helps financial advisors marketing without sounding like washing machine salespeople. She invites you to check out her services page if you want help with your sales process, want to get started on social media or need some copy for your website.
