In a recent example we conducted a secret shopper campaign within our company.  We undertook over 100 open homes of salespeople from within our business and also from other real estate companies.  An open home is when an individual comes into contact with a salesperson, who then generally has to follow up to be able to make more of that potential business.  When there is no follow up the business is lost at that point.  When there is follow up the business continues to be available and, depending on the skills, can be converted to more business.

The reason why questions are so important is because there is one space in business you don’t want to be – and maybe this is also a part of our life experience – and that is the space of “don’t know”.  It is the bearer of a lot of thought and allows possibility and options but if the “don’t know” space is where you end then you are unlikely to be the converter of any business.  There are two responses that you get when you ask for business; you get a ‘yes’, which is great and allows you to continue to build and grow with your contact; or you get a ‘no’, which either generally ends that association or gives you a reason to find a different solution.

When I look at the recent results of the secret shopper campaign I can only determine that there are a lot of people who should be good at sales who are not because they sit in the space of “don’t know”.

I would suggest if you don’t ask questions and don’t follow up, you will reside in the unsuccessful space of “don’t know”.  A ‘yes’ is great; a ‘no’ is disappointing; a “don’t know” is a waste of time.

]]> http://www.careysmith.com/who-knows/feed/ 0 http://www.careysmith.com/environmental-change/ http://www.careysmith.com/environmental-change/#comments Sat, 09 Oct 2010 10:27:51 +0000 Carey Smith http://www.careysmith.com/?p=2615 On a global scale we understand what is meant by environmental change.  It requires all of us to be conscious and to play a small role together which makes a big impact collectively.

In the industry that I work in salespeople have an environment choice.  They work on commission only and so unlike any other industry there are always jobs available in real estate, it is just a matter of where and who with.  In business leaders have a certain degree of attraction and people join individuals first, but they also look at the environment around them – where are they going to be spending the majority of their working hours and how will it impact on their ability to maximise their own personal productivity?  I see many real estate offices, a better description would be real estate office environments.  Some are very good, some are average and some are tired and lack energy.

If you can make an environmental change to your business it can be done in such a small way, positive livery, ensuring significant light into your work areas and having where possible a reception area that reflects the standards of your business.  I thought about this because recently I was in a real estate office that was tired and a customer came in and was looking at the displays and you could see them looking around and making a visual judgement on this business, then they walked out.  The environment of that real estate office was not friendly and was due for a business environmental change.

What small changes can you make in your business to make it environmentally attractive and productive?