Simple Strategies to Elevate Your Sales Calls

I’ve been talking with a lot of builders from across the country and want to share strategies I’m using that are proving to be very effective. These insights focus on helping builders see the value of financing and creating urgency for buyers.

Builder Questions: Your Go-To Responses
Builders often ask:
• “Why should I work with you?”
• “How can you help me?”
• “What makes you different?”

Here’s how to respond (how we help them):

1. Understand the Market: Share how buyers in their pricing range are financing homes.
2. Tailor Incentives: Help them craft promotions that align with buyer needs and market trends.
3. Simplify the Message: Show them how to market these offers with clear, compelling value propositions. Our marketing is turnkey to implement.
4. Empower Their Team: Train their sales team to confidently communicate financing benefits to buyers.
5. “We create sales”

Helping Builders Compete Effectively
I often hear, “I need to compete with what other builders are offering.” When builders worry about competing, focus on the value buyers receive from competitive offerings:

1. Market Research: Identify competing builders and their financing offers.
2. Show the Difference: Compare how competitors’ offers improve buyer affordability compared to the builder’s current offerings (or lack thereof). Use simple, relatable examples like payment savings.
   • i.e. “DR Horton’s current financing offering will save their buyers over $250 per month on a similarly priced home.”
3. Visualize the Impact: Present a grid of rate options that shows:
   • Promotional rates, the cost, and their corresponding monthly savings for buyers.
   • Using competitive offerings to set the expectation for concessions is key.

Example Grid:

Keeping it straightforward helps builders quickly see the benefits and increases their likelihood of acting on your recommendations.

Training Idea: Why Affordability is Key
Help builders and their teams understand buyer challenges with visuals that resonate:

• Use data showing local median incomes vs. the income needed to afford a median-priced home.
  • Illustrate how financing solutions or incentives can bridge this gap and bring buyers closer to ownership.

Visuals simplify complex issues and make the case for why financing options are crucial to driving sales.

Create visuals for your market: Atlanta Fed Homeownership Affordability Monitor

Addressing Buyer Hesitations: “I’m Waiting for Rates to Drop”
Buyers often hesitate, believing rates will improve. Share tools with your builders to counter this:
• Use a cost-of-waiting analysis (e.g., from MBS Highway) to show how waiting can increase the total cost of buying due to rising home prices.
• Emphasize that home appreciation means higher down payments and loan amounts later, even if rates improve.
• Highlight how equity grows immediately with homeownership, creating urgency for buyers to act now.

This Week’s Focus:
• Start Conversations: Ask builders what concerns them about the market and current buyer challenges.
• Share Comparisons: Use marketing grids and visuals to show how they can make a difference for buyers.
• Role-Play Responses: Write down and teach their sales team how to answer common objections like “I’m waiting for rates to drop.”

By delivering clear value and actionable ideas, we can help our builders succeed in today’s market.

Questions? Connect with me.