Smart and Profitable Follow Up

This is the Selling More Homes Podcast, episode number 230, brought to you by Uvarix, making clean, fresh, healthy air available to homes and homebuilders across the country. Visit germfreecleanair.com for more information. By North Star Synergies, developing business, marketing, and sales strategies for builders and developers nationwide. And by Builder Buyer Services Group, the leading provider of customer care programs to builders across North America. And you’re listening to Builder Radio on the Selling More Homes Media Network.

Welcome to the Selling More Homes Podcast, where every week we bring you interviews, ideas, and information to help you sell more, earn more, and achieve more in this challenging housing market. This program is a production of Selling More Homes Media and the Selling More Homes Academy, now serving skills-building information and personal coaching to housing professionals around the globe. Now, grab a pen and paper so you can take good notes. This week’s program begins now.

Hello, everyone, and welcome back to another Monday Morning Sales Meeting. I’m Scott Stroud.

You know, in recent programs, we’ve given a lot of coverage to lead generation.

In fact, generating a consistent flow of new, qualified leads is the purpose of every marketing activity we engage in. New leads are the lifeblood of every sales organization. Without them, sales stop. But often, we find that we sacrifice the people and relationships we already have to get new ones. It’s kind of like the old adage, stepping over a dollar to pick up a dime.

Well, I spent last week in a marketing conference focusing on better nurturing and follow-up of leads already in our system. So this week, I’ve asked my friend Robert August to come back and talk about how to better follow up on the leads we’ve already acquired.

Robert is president of North Star Synergies, a marketing and business development company specializing in the housing and real estate arena.

Robert, welcome back to Builder Radio. It’s great to have you back with us.

It’s a pleasure to be here, Scott. Thank you so much for inviting me. Oh, you’re quite welcome. You’ve been one of the greatest supporters of our program since Jerry and I began this program nearly four years ago. So it’s our delight to have you back with us. And you always bring so much to the table. Robert, you’re with North Star Synergies. That’s your company. Tell us what North Star does.

North Star Synergies is an executive business development strategy company. And we specialize in the real estate industry. Throughout the years, we’ve had the good fortune of working with builders and developers, remodelers, REALTORS, we have worked with manufacturers, subcontractors, vendors, lenders, as well as other related trade associations through the real estate construction industry and have had the good fortune of having a wonderful, wonderful career on behalf of the companies that we have represented as well as our own companies. Robert, I’ve got to say that you are, I think, the most connected person I’ve ever met. And if I need anything from anybody, I can come and say, hey, Robert, who does this? And you give me a list of people to do it. So I appreciate that.

Well, it’s always a pleasure. I think it’s great when each of us can take a moment and reflect on how we can help one another. And we found that networking is one of the greatest spheres of opportunities for all of us because when we provide an excellent recommendation, it’s an extension of us. And the good news is that we’re recommending companies based on what they can do for you and others without looking for any monetary recompense. You know, it’s interesting that you say that, and you’re the greatest example of that that I know. But, you know, today, so much of marketing and so much attention, I guess, even a lot of the programs that we have covered, the topics that we’ve brought have to do with networking.

And we think of networking today as Facebook and social media and those things. But the key to all of it and what makes it work is what you’ve been doing for decades, and that is sharing, giving, connecting, and looking for ways to add value to other people. And I think that’s not our topic this week, but it could be a future topic, how to give value and how to share. And that’s really how to build a business. Well, I appreciate that. And I think that, fortunately, it’s a rule of thumb for me and all of our associates. And there’s no better way than to get involved in your local community, your region, your nation. And we’re fortunate to have wonderful trade associations like the National Association of Homebuilders and the National Association of REALTORS and the National Association for the Remodeling Industry all participating with us.

And certainly, Scott, you’re involved with a series of other trade associations like the Manufactured Housing Institute and, I believe, the Timber Construction Industry Trade Association as well. I am, and I enjoy my affiliations with each one of those. That kind of leads into the topic that we’re going to be talking about today. And you’re going to talk about follow-up. We’ve been talking about networking and keeping up with and being connected.

So often, we spend so much money to get a lead. And lead generation is big on everybody’s list right now. I’ve got to find more buyers. I’ve got to find more buyers. When in reality, we do need to find more buyers. That’s always good to keep that funnel full. But connecting and following up with the ones that we have is, I think, even more important. And looking backwards into the database that we have, looking at the people that are coming on board now. And how are we cultivating those leads and those individuals and those relationships?

That’s what I’d like for you to address with us this week is some tips on following up and keeping those relationships moving forward.

Well, it’s a pleasure to jump into this topic because it’s one of my favorites. We know through research that, unfortunately, 95% of all the prospects that walk through our doors, not just in our industry of new home sales and existing home sales, but 95% of everyone who walks into a retail store is seldom followed up. That means that only 5% of the audience is being taken really seriously.

And throughout the years, I have found that every customer that walks through the door is extremely important. That each, as you said before, it costs a lot of money to bring a prospect through the door. And typically, if you were sitting down at a board and writing some information for the audience today, if, for example, we had a $10,000 budget and we had 100 prospective buyers that walked through the door, we would divide 100 into the $10,000 and it would cost us $100 for each customer that walked through the door. Then, if we had two buyers out of those $10,000 that actually bought, that would mean that each of those sales would cost us, if we divided two into $10,000, it would be $5,000 for each customer that actually bought a home.

So, when you start thinking of every prospective buyer that walks through the door, whether it’s a unit with a husband and wife or two significant others, I think it’s important to start realizing that each of us who is on site or each of us who is making a sale to another, we’re in an entrepreneurial mode. And those buyers are becoming, or prospective buyers, are becoming assets to us. And it’s critically important for us to take each one of them seriously. You know, it’s very, very interesting. People often use the term that buyers are liars. And I would defer and say, buyers are not liars. Buyers are afraid. And when you first meet them and go through an introduction, they may not tell you all of the information.

And they may not be ready to buy the first time that they meet with you.

Here’s the opportunity for us to be at our very, very best by having the door opened for us to be able to go back at the end of the presentation, you know, and suggest to set up an appointment. And then to follow up afterwards and make a difference with each one of these buyers that are walking through the door. Some people refer to them as clients, Scott. I like to refer to everyone that walks through a door when I’m selling, I like to refer to them as buyers. And I like to frame my discussion points as I’m talking to them as buyers. And when other buyers are buying our product, et cetera, so that they are getting the signal that they, too, are buyers and are being taken very seriously.

That’s a subtle difference, but there is a distinct difference in that. I like that.

And with the situation, let’s jump right into some of the formal aspects of follow up. There’s no question, as you address with social media, with Facebook, with Twitter, with so many of the other opportunities to reach out to the customer base that we have, customer relations management is extremely important. And we’ll talk about some of the companies that are in the marketplace that can make a huge difference with and for you. Some very, very honorable and helpful companies that are out there that understand the importance of taking the buyer and electronically placing the data within their systems in order to make the follow up. But the rudimentary aspect of our business has never changed. It’s extremely important that when every buyer walks through the door, that we introduce ourselves, first name, last name, we get all of their information.

Now, some people believe that in order to follow up, you have to get all the information right away. We’ve always taken the postulate or the proposition. It’s more important for us as salespeople to fill out the prospect management asset cards in order to understand. Every time we take the moment to write the information down that the buyers are giving to us, it sends a signal to them that we’re interested in them, we’re interested in their needs. And as a result of making the notes, we’re becoming their doctors of real estate. We’re becoming their home doctors. And as a result, the same way that you go to a doctor’s office, it’s critically important to note that the doctor is listening to you, making notes of your concerns so that she or he can follow up appropriately with you in order to determine the diagnosis and how to help you become a healthier individual.

Well, we’re looking to help you become a healthier home buyer. And in this situation, what we’d like to do is make sure that we’re writing down all the information. And a couple of side points when we talk about this point of getting information. If we were to turn the card over to a consumer and let that prospective buyer fill it out, many of the salespeople are often afraid to tell a buyer that your handwriting is not legible. Gosh, I just don’t understand what’s written on the paper. Can you help me? So in essence, many buyers who have filled out these prospect cards, they’re never followed up properly because the individual can’t find the numbers correctly for the addresses, can’t find the numbers correctly for the phone numbers.

And then the email addresses will just not work because the deciphering is not appropriate. Not only that, Robert, I’ve seen registration cards that were filled out by customers as they walked in the door. And after relationships being built, the customer will ask for the card back so they can actually write in the correct email address or the correct phone number. Which is fantastic. Yeah. And I think that the other thing that’s critically important is that as a salesperson, that we take the time to get all the information that we need that’s critically important to the home buyer, we need to respond to what the home buyer wants and what the home buyer needs in relationship to that follow-up. In filling out this information, we’ll often find the real answer for home buyers to not be as to why they came to our neighborhood or community, what is the reason that they came.

So many times a salesperson will often ask the question just to get it out of the way upon meeting an individual. We’ll find at the end of a presentation, as we’re preparing to create the appropriate follow-up, that the real reason might be one of four or five or even six reasons, which will help our marketing team really determine how best to spend our advertising, public relations, and promotional dollars in order to generate more qualified leads for us. The buyers are much more relaxed at the end of the presentation. They’ve spent 15 minutes, a half an hour with you, and as a result, they will be much more conversant about the questions that we’re asking them because they get a sense of comfort and genuineness from the sales team that is in place.

People often say, well, when should I follow up? And I’ve heard it. I’ve heard people say, well, you know, you should follow up probably within no more than two days. You need to let the buyer think about the situation. And I’ve heard people say, well, four days is pretty good. I like to follow up within two hours after a buyer has been to our home community or that I’ve worked with a buyer. You know, that’s interesting because as time goes on, buyers become less and less patient with that, and they expect a faster and faster response from us. So I agree with you. But why do you say that? Well, I’m glad you asked the question. And I say that because of the theory that the more in tune that we can be and subliminally show the individuals that we care about them more directly by responding to their immediate needs, they will be more in tune with buying our product and service.

One of the other key things that we try to do when we recognize that a buyer is just not ready to make that mound decision, as we call it, to go and get over that mound and purchase that home, what we like to do is leave a number of questions that are unanswered. Not all of them, of course. We like to be very, very helpful.

But we also may know more questions, more of the answers to the questions, yet we train our salespeople to hold back. Give yourself, as a salesperson, the opportunity to build more trust, to build more value in the relationship with the buyer by being able to contact that buyer. So, for example, if there are four questions that are left unanswered, and we’ve made notes of those, we’ve written those notes down, and let’s say that we realize that this buyer might be more discerning and more of an owl, more of an individual who wants to dig deep into answers. We may not provide all four answers to four questions right away, but what we’ll do is when we’re following up, we’ll provide the answer to maybe one or two questions and ask for the opportunity to call back with the completion of the answers to the other questions.

It’s building that trust again. If we give everybody everything all at once, they may not need us, but each time that we have the opportunity to call them back and provide them with information, we’re building that same foundation wall that you’re doing with a home in construction, we’re building a strong relationship to withstand the roof against storms and all sorts of difficulties. So, therefore, it’s important for us to be able to provide information to the individuals.

Robert, you talk about following up quickly, and you made reference to calling them. There are a number of different ways to follow up today, and do you have your favorite? I mean, a lot of people will just email and think that they’re following up. Yeah, I think my favorite is the Goodyear blimp, but we may not be able to offer the Goodyear blimp. You make an impression.

Without question, I believe that there’s nothing better and more genuine for people to hear your voice. Because when you’re speaking to them, you’re also saying their name.

And one of the key things that we try to do when we’re following up with a phone call that we’ll make, and the reason that we’re also following up within two hours is the fact that we know that the customers, the prospective buyers, are certainly out looking at other real estate. And as a result, we want to keep the name of our community, the name of our home builder, the name of our development in front of these people as often as we can. So the more that they hear us say their name, the more they hear us say the neighborhood, and the more they hear us providing answers, we’re way ahead of the curve with regard to the competition. We’re taking them seriously. We’re telling them that we want your business indirectly as well as directly.

So this is a very, very meaningful relationship that we’re establishing. And I think that in the art of sales, it’s so important to be able to communicate and contact. I would like to share with the audience two of my favorite lines. Certainly when we call, we want to make sure that it’s a good time. Is this a good time for us to visit Scott? Not is this a bad time? You know, you might hear the kids in the background screaming and shouting, you know, or maybe someone’s having a disagreement. But we always want to talk about a good time because dealing with us or working with us is a good and wonderful opportunity. If we say it’s a bad time, we’re also conveying that negative point of interest.

And the other point that I would like to share is the two words. You may recall or you may remember. You may recall or you may remember using those two different lines, whatever you’re comfortable with. When we met two hours ago, one of your concerns about purchasing a home at Algonquin Meadows was the need to be in a cul-de-sac. And I wasn’t sure at that time how soon we would have a home site available for you to build the Oakwood home. And all of a sudden, I’m following up and I’m telling the buyers about this. Then the next thing I may say, we are going to have those home sites available within the next 60 days, whatever the time period is. So in essence, you’re following up with information.

You may not have had the current mortgage rate. You may not have had the ability to select a particular brick or stucco for the exterior. Or the buyer may have wanted a different window package. There’s a host of different things. And we can be following up with the buyers more directly and more quickly. So you’re not just talking about the speed of follow-up and the method of follow-up. You’re talking about the message in follow-up and following up with relevant, pertinent information for them.

Absolutely. And it’s giving them, again, every time we provide them with more information, we’re giving them peace of mind. We’re letting them know that we care, that we want their business. And at the same time, we would like them to become the next homeowner within our neighborhood. We’ve talked about the fact that telephone calls should be made within two hours. We’d like you to conceivably get prepared before you pick up the phone and call. And so let’s talk about a couple of points that I think will help you. As you get prepared, please take time to review your prospect asset management card, review all the points, and review the items that are most important. Make sure that you have all the names of the children spelled out and know how to pronounce them, that you also know how to relate to the specific needs.

And whom are you calling? Are you calling the female or the male? Are you calling? Who is important for you to deliver the message to? And so that’s very, very important as you start to think about the preparation for the call.

As you get ready for the call, I would highly suggest that you place a mirror next to your phone. And you should always have a mirror next to your phone because when you’re talking on the phone, you want to convey a positive direction to the folks that you’re working with. And when you’ve got that smile, that smile radiates throughout the whole process. So I think it’s critically important to prepare for the follow-up. Look into the mirror near your phone. Make sure you’ve got that smile. A smile can be seen even over the telephone. Be creative. Have a reason for calling. Always make sure that you’ve got information that you’re going to share. If you’re just calling to thank the folks for coming out and you may not have all the questions that you thought would be necessary, take the time to review the presentation that you made.

And like most buyers that have left, Scott, most buyers will always have a couple of questions that maybe they forgot to ask. Or if they reviewed the brochure material or went back home and went online to review the community and the products that are available, they may have several questions as well. Talk about the buyer. Talk about her needs, his needs. Talk about the family’s needs if there’s a family involved. Talk about the desires and issues that they may have that you can help and mitigate and solve. Always be enthusiastic. Take notes when you’re making the follow-up telephone call. Always have a pad and pen with you so that you can write down what’s important. And when there’s another question that’s addressed, make sure that you repeat it.

If you don’t understand the information, don’t be afraid to tell the buyer, gee, can you please repeat that or explain in more detail about this situation.

When you are calling, of course, as we shared, always identify yourself.

And as I said before, please ask, is this a good time to visit? If they don’t have the time to talk to you right now, ask them, and it would be convenient for you to call back. Again, you’re calling back. You’re not asking them to call you. You’re calling them. You also want to make sure that when you have, of course, placed the introduction, you’re giving your full name, Robert August, and your full company, North Star Synergies. You want to schedule an appointment.

Also, a wonderful reason for following up is to schedule a return meeting at the site. So these things are very, very helpful. If a buyer is totally uninterested, this is a very, very good time for you to determine if there’s a referral. You may have a referral program that you would like to share so that if they can introduce you to other prospects that convert into a buying opportunity, that you can provide them with a referral benefit or bonus. Remember, always ask for referrals at the end of every presentation.

Many of us will also prefer to use e-mail rather than phone. I found that I would much rather speak to someone than e-mail and tell them when you’re working with them that your best, your favorite form of following up is through phone contact. So many times the message that we will often e-mail or receive back from an individual may be misconstrued. It may be short. It may be terse. And yet the customer is not upset, but we don’t know that. We get over-emotional. I think it’s very, very important for us, Scott, to make sure that we follow up in the best manner. Now, as a salesperson, the audience may have the belief that we should follow up in the form of e-mails. If that’s what you’d like to do, please do it.

But again, I think that you’re possibly taking a shortcut. No question that e-mail is important, but I found that when people hear your voice and you’re continuing to repeat their name, their name is the sweetest sound that they possibly have. So, Scott, when I’m sharing information with you and letting you know that I’m paying attention to you, you’re more relaxed and at ease and will continue to pay attention to me.

That was part one of our interview with S. Robert August of North Star Synergies. Part two of my interview with Robert will be posted next week. You can contact Robert through his website, northstarsynergies.com.

Well, that’s our program for this week. For Jerry Rillo, I’m Scott Stroud. And thanks for listening to Builder Radio on the Selling More Homes Media Network. Builder Radio on the Selling More Homes Media Network.