Restarting Home Sales: The Recovery Begins

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BuilderRadio’s 100th Program!

For this, our 100th program, we have a very special announcement to make:  We, the BuilderRadio Faculty, do hereby assign an official date to the end of the housing recession – October 8, 2009.

Who gives us the authority to say that?  Um, well, consider this a citizen’s arrest of the recession.  We feel that someone has lead the way by taking decisive action that others can follow, and frankly, we’re tired of waiting.  So, we’ve stepped up to the plate.  Won’t you join us?

Really, though, who has more clout to make that statement than the consultants, teachers and coaches that are BuilderRadio faculty members?  Each of them is a renowned industry leader.  Each has clear insights into the marketplace, having experienced and survived any number of past recessions.  So, who better to to announce the official end of the housing recession?

To make our point, we’ve invited not one, but five of our BuilderRadio Faculty members to join us with their thoughts about the future of housing.  Listen as Rober August, Melinda Brody, Roger Fiehn,  Bob Hafer, and Bill Webb share their perspectives on what’s in store for us as the recovery gets under way.

Roger Fiehn, Roger Fiehn & Associates, Inc.
Activity can be measured in different ways.  As this year’s chairman of the National Sales & Marketing Council’s Membership Committee, Roger sees positive signs through that council’s growth.

“I have noted three goods signs that the recover is underway:  First, membership has bottomed out at about 8,000 members, still leaving the NSMC as the largest of the NAHB councils.  We have five new local Sales & Marketing Councils in the process of being formed.  So, we’re looking at strong membership growth during this next year.

The second thing is I’m seeing increased demand from local councils for educational programs.  This is always a good thing.  As builders and developers begin to ramp back up, their putting money back into education and helping get their staff back up to speed.  With November and February being ‘Designations Months’, many are taking the opportunity to attain their designations to put themselves in a position to get the best jobs as the market unfolds.

The last thing I see is the increased activity in executive recruiting.  All of a sudden we’re getting a lot of requests sales management and marketing management for placement in early 2010.  This is a major signal because, as we all know, it’s the salespeople that will lead this industry out of the recession.”

Bill Webb, Wm. N. Webb & Co. Inc.
Bill makes the point that “no matter how bad things got, no market ever got to zero.  No matter how much bad news was out there, customers continued to walk in to sales centers and visit websites.  And all there were looking for was someone to give them permission to buy.  Those builders, salespeople and marketers that latched on to the idea that the only market that counts is the next person that walks in to your sales center and that every one represents an opportunity to deliver a positive message backed up by solid value – those people always did well.

They used this opportunity to gain market share and, in many cases, also to increase their profit margins.  They didn’t accept the conventional wisdom that they could not do business.  They went out and latched on to a positive attitude, deliver a solid value, and wrap it all up with customer service with a smile.  Builders that do that today will continue to do well.”

Melinda Brody, Melinda Brody & Company, Inc.
Melinda admits that when the recession hit “it was a personal shake-up.  I am doing business differently.  I have had to recreate some of my offerings.  It has challenged me to be more creative in my approach and how I run my own company.  But those personal shake-ups always bring great results.

My whole philosophy is locked in to the law of attraction.  The more you focus on how bad it is, the more bad shows up.  So I encourage sales managers to have their people do a vision board.  Focus on what’s coming up; what are the possibilities; what are the positive things.  i mean look at today’s mortgage rates; they’re the lowest on record! That’s what the top companies are doing, and it’s working.   Change is great! ”

Robert August, S. Robert August Co.
Robert never fails to inspire everyone in his presence to see themselves and the market in a positive light.  As he looks at the immediate future of our industry, encourages us to take stock of how we got here and not to forget the positive lessons of our past.

“It is about reinventing yourself to some degree,but it’s also about taking the experiences that you have had over the years and building on those.  What did you do 10 years ago that was successful?  We find that it’s important for individuals to archive their successes so they can continually go back and review them.  This helps them keep that positive attitude toward themselves and the individuals that they work with.

“We need to do a better job of taking control of the buyers.  In 1992, our market has been so phenomenal that for the next 17 years we stopped training our salespeople on how to qualify and help our customers from a financial standpoint.  Realtors and new home salespeople would say, ‘Go talk to a mortgage broker and then come back and we’ll talk.’

When I started in this industry, I was taught how to qualify everyone so that I was the point person.  I was the counsellor; I was the one who would be with them from the beginning and all the way through customer service and beyond.

We need to get back to that and do a better job of introducing the financing package.  Six years ago you could have worked with over 2,000 different mortgage instruments.  Today, there are less than 30.  So, I would encourage you not only to take good care of your customer as they walk through the door, but also that you take control of the financing.  When you do that , you have a clearer understanding of the buyers needs and wants, and can visualize how to put them into the plan.”

Robert also leaves us with a suggested reading list:

• Visualization:  Directing the Movies of Your Mind by Adelaide Bry & Marjorie Bair.
• The Trusted Adviser by Charles Green
• Trust-Based Selling by  David Maister,Charles Green, and Robert Galford

Bob Hafer, Robert E. Hafer & Associates, LLC.
“When you model a behavior of participation, you make things happen,” opens Bob Hafer, a sales trainer who leans heavily on the fundamentals of NLP, such as modeling.  “Success is never achieved by accident; it’s a planned event.  In order to plan for success you have to know precisely what you want.  If you do, you will begin to participate in that customer’s experience.

That’s when you make things happen.  As Robert mentioned, for the last 17 years we have fallen into the role of administering the experience rather than participating in it.  Getting involved; being a part of the experience not only in the sales center, but in the model home, on the home site; following up as much as it takes.

If we think in terms of just that one word, participation, success will not be an accident, it will be a planned event.  And I believe that is the ‘difference that makes the difference’, participation.”

So, there you’ve heard from five of the most respected people in home sales, and they all agree:  The housing recession is over; it’s time to catch the next wave.  Are you with us?   Please participate in the recovery by promoting October 8 as the  official beginning date of the housing recovery, and spread the word – particularly to the many, many people waiting for someone to tell them it’s okay to buy now.

Our thanks to Roger Fiehn, Melinda Brody, Bill Webb, Robert August, and Bob Hafer for joining us today, to the other 90 or so guests who have participated in our first 100 programs, and most importantly, to you, our listeners for your continued encouragement and support.  May your businesses turn around and soar toward the skies as we put this recession behind us and eagerly look to the future.

Jerry Rouleau
Scott Stroud

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