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Agents
know that they have to ask for the sale, but many have a hard time knowing when
and what to say. If you put
yourself in the buyer’s shoes it makes it easier to do.
In other words, how many times have you wanted to buy something and the
clerk that was helping you says, “do you need anything else?”
That’s a close! You expected the clerk to say that; well, the buyer expects
to be asked to buy the property. Let
me share some simple ideas that may just make your closing ratio a little
better. You
should be asking closing questions constantly from the first time you meet a
prospective buyer until they actually buy.
Some times we call these qualifying questions, but I think they are
closes. For example, “how soon do
you need to be in your new home?” or “how many bedrooms do you need?” When you ask questions the buyer feels that you are
interested in their needs. And, of
course, you are because it is hard to find out what a buyer likes or dislikes
without questions. When
you are showing property, you should be asking questions, but wait until your
buyer makes a comment. In other
words, be quiet in a home until the buyer makes a comment about what he/she is
seeing. Then based on his/her
comment, you ask a question; such as, “I like fireplaces too.
Wouldn’t it be great this winter to be sitting in front of this pretty
fireplace?” If there are no
comments made (which is rare) then ask questions.
For example, “what do you think of the size of this room?”
Anything to get them talking. Another
example of a showing question would be if they ask questions about the
neighborhood answer and ask a question at the same time; such as, “this is a
great area, would this be important to you in purchasing a home?” Asking
closing questions during a showing such as, “would your furniture fit in this
room?” or “would you like this swing set included?” give you knowledge as
to whether your buyer is considering the home that you are showing. If they show signs of THIS IS THE ONE, then say, “let’s
write an offer and see if we can get it.” Or “Do you want me to call the
other agent and let him/her know that we are writing an offer so someone
doesn’t beat us out of this home?” Practice asking questions. Once you get the hang of it, it’s second nature. You’re closing ratio will go up and you will have lots of happy buyers! |
