Sue Blackstock was about to turn over the keys of a newly built home to a family that she had come to know well during the house’s planning and construction.
“Their little girl looked up at me and said, `You go with the house, too, don’t you? Aren’t you going to live in it with us?’ ” she recalls with a laugh.
Maybe it’s a perfectly natural misperception for the child. After all, as a home builder’s sales representative, Blackstock spends a lot of time explaining a lot of things to her buyers.
“You get so involved,” said Blackstock, who has been selling homes for Hyrn Development for 23 years, currently at Michael John Manor in south suburban Matteson.
“People are making the biggest decision of their lives. You are a little bit of everything to them.”
She’s not exaggerating, according to other sales reps for builders, who say they are called on to be psychologists, decorators, structural engineers, financial advisers and, occasionally, marriage counselors.
This shouldn’t be surprising, considering the complexity of the product they are selling. Consumers have to put a lot of faith in one person.
If you’re pounding the model-home pavement–or contemplating it–here are some behaviors and areas of expertise that salespeople say you might reasonably expect.
First, builders are well aware of the positive and negative influences that their sales staff can have, which is why the industry in general increasingly has put an emphasis on training programs.
“I tell people, `You are a housing counselor, not a salesperson,’ ” says Tom Richey, whose Houston firm, Richey Resources, conducts sales seminars for builders around the country, including in Chicago.
“I tell them, `You have to live with these people, even the ones who drive you bonkers.’ “
Of course, there are two sides to “bonkers,” especially if you’ve ever innocently walked into a builder’s sales office and been besieged with questions before you’ve even trod upon the model’s genuine ceramic tile foyer.
But the salespeople insist there is a reason for the questions that they ask, not mere nosiness.
“Good salespeople do a lot of listening and they ask very good questions in a conversational way, not in an interrogational way. They get off their seats and welcome you,” explains Melinda Brody, who runs a “mystery shopper” service in Longwood, Fla.
“Mystery shoppers” are hired by businesses, including builders, to pose as “average” consumers to find out how well customers are served.
One of Brody’s firm’s specialities is the home-building industry; she also conducts training sessions for sales reps. Brody concedes that the overall purpose of the questions that sales reps ask is to find out how best to sell the prospect on a house. But such questions also give the sales rep a starting point in showing prospects what interests them and avoiding what doesn’t.
Usually visitors to models will be asked to sign in and run the gantlet of “conversational” questions–how long have you been looking, have you seen anything elsewhere that you’ve liked, where was it?–Brody says. If there are multiple models at the development, the sales rep then is likely to show you through the first one, highlighting the unique qualities of the builder and explaining less-obvious characteristics of his or her houses, Brody says.
Having made said pitch and adding some details about the community in general, the sales rep very well might step back and let something miraculous happen, Brody says: You might be left on your own.
“People want to be left alone,” Brody acknowledges. “A good sales person would catch up with them in the last model. He or she would ask which one they liked, which one fits their needs the best (and) offer to show them home sites, to show them amenities or proposed amenities.”
The follow-up
Of course, not everybody wants to take the relationship that far. Bye-byes may be exchanged, and the shopper may think that that’s the end of it.
But don’t be surprised when you hear from the sales rep again–and soon. This is, after all, a form of courtship.
“We encourage the sales person to call within 24 hours and certainly to write a thank-you note and see if they have additional questions,” Brody says. “If the visitor indicates that they are still going to look around, the salesperson should ask , `Is it OK to call before you make your decision?’ “
These check-in calls might come as often as every week, salespeople say, though they acknowledge that there is a fine line between professional courtesy and outright suffocation.
“If you have done your job on the front end and learned something about the family, you can send them information,” Brody says. “It should not be the obvious `Did you sell your house?’ inquiry. But it should be `I found out some information for your son about the high school wrestling team.’ “
It pays to ask
Bond. Bond. Bond. Some potential buyers crave it in the course of making a decision. Others abhor it.
“People are afraid that if they ask questions, the salesperson is going to slip them a contract, and that’s not true,” says Blackstock, who adds that when she senses that buyers crave some distance, that’s just what they get. “But if you don’t ask a lot of questions (as a buyer) at some point, you’re going to have trouble down the road,” she says.
When the questions do start to flow, the salesperson should be expected to have answers on a lot of subjects, the experts say. Good salespeople know about building materials, the range of structural changes that the builder is willing to make, the topography of the land, the community itself and financing; the breadth of knowledge will depend on what a given builder offers, from customization possibilities to mortgage rates.
Adam Kraft, for example, says he spends a lot of time going over the pricing of changes in the construction of the houses because his company, Red Seal Development, specializes in semicustomization designs at Sedgewood Cove on Crooked Lake, near north suburban Lindenhurst.
“Sometimes homeowners make hundreds of changes in their houses here,” he says. “I spend a good deal of time working through pricing.”
Alma Fisher, on the other hand, knows her land and her community. She is director of sales and marketing for Conway Farms, a golf course community in Lake Forest, where the developer is selling lots that in turn will see homes by custom builders. Different types of developments and buyers need different sets of sales skills and services, she says.
Where first-time buyers might need a lot of guidance on financing, typically, Fisher’s buyers do not, although she says she can do so if necessary. “Our customer here is a really savvy consumer,” she says. “They may have built several homes before. They know what they are looking for. From me, they need a level of confidence in what they are dealing with.”
That probably goes without saying at any type of development, but consumers’ concerns about financing are not to be overlooked. Blackstock says that Hyrn Development has relationships with several lenders to whom she may refer buyers. Other builders may offer financing themselves. In either case, sales experts say that their colleagues should be at least conversant on financing options and procedures, but probably will refer buyers to loan specialists for detailed questions.
“If I get into an area that is too technical, I will be the first to speak up and say, `I don’t want to put this question off, but it makes sense to set up an appointment with the mortgage broker or the architect,’ ” Red Seal’s Kraft says.
Then, there is the touchy subject of saying no. Not everything a buyer wants is economically or structurally feasible. Good salespeople have to know when to speak up to avoid misunderstandings.
Kraft got a big challenge in that category a few months ago when he was approached by not one, but two pairs of buyers. Two Russian couples, all close friends, had decided that Sedgewood Cove was the place for them, and they wanted two houses together.
“It was almost like they were one couple,” he explained. “Each of the couples wanted the same floor plan, and wanted the same exterior. They wanted everything alike.
“They were hard negotiators,” he said. “We spent three hours one Monday night. They were trying to bring the cost of the house down, but we didn’t have any leverage” in pricing some of the things that they wanted.
In the end, Kraft had to explain that he had given them the best price his company could offer.
The couples said thanks anyway, and adjourned to their cars. Kraft stood at the window looking at them while they looked at him.
After about 15 minutes, they returned, saying, “Let’s buy the house.”
Er, houses.
“I think they’re very happy now,” Kraft said. “Last week they met with our color cooordinator and chose their options.”
After the contract
Bouts of cold feet are not uncommon, sales experts say.
“I think everybody goes through that, whether it’s a car or a house or whatever,” explains Fisher of Conway Farms. “They have that moment when they say `Oh, my God, have I really spent that much money?’ “
“Usually, it’s a matter of saying, `Let’s talk about it.’ Depending on the level of fear that they have, I may take them out to lunch and I will sit and talk about it. If I know someone who already lives in the development, I will have them join us. Our homeowners are our best salespeople. Buyers are comforted to know that someone has preceded them.”
Then, there is the strife.
“This job can require creatively juggling things,” explains Kraft. “Sometimes I will encounter the couples who are arguing. The wife is trying to decorate the house before they have agreed on which one they will buy. At times, we have to referee.”
Even in periods of incredible harmony, it is critical for all parties to stay in touch during the construction of the house, sales experts say.
“The biggest problem that consumers gripe about is when they’ve bought a house and then they are dumped,” said Brody. “Well, great salespeople work on referrals, and the only way to get referrals is to follow their buyers, and with a vengeance.”
Another compelling reason is to make sure that the buyer has followed through.
“I am going to stay in touch,” said Tom Richey.”I am going to see if they have picked out their colors, if they have done the loan applications. I may talk to them a minimum of five times” during the 30 days after the contract, he explained. “No news is bad news.”
And a good sales staff welcomes visits to the building site, salespeople say, although many builders have to limit access to the house for safety and liability reasons.
Bottom-lining
Illinois builders are not required to have licensed real estate agents selling their properties, although traditionally they have dominated the field. The field may be diversifying somewhat, drawing from various other careers that have experienced downsizing.
Nationally, sales commissions average 1 to 2 percent of the sale price, though they may vary depending on whether sales reps also receive a salary or other benefits, Richey says.
“Education is the No. 1 requirement in this job–and liking people,” explains veteran Sue Blackstock. “They don’t have to be beautiful, they have to have common sense and to like people. It’s a hard combination.”
Sales experts stress the word “listen”: Listen to the customer, they say. And listen some more.
“I was talking to a woman who was in her 60s, and we were talking about her leaving a deposit on a house,” said Adam Kraft. “And she got very emotional and started crying because she said it was hard to make a decision without her husband, who had died not long before.
“It wakes you up to the importance of treating people with patience.”
