Business is good now for many, thanks to the grease provided by low interest rates and the lack of other viable investment opportunities, but many hot housing markets are beginning to cool off, suggesting the party may soon be over.

That leaves the industry back where it started - wondering how it is going to sell houses as the nation moves more toward a buyer's market.

One way to do it is for brokers to reexamine their sales training policies.

Being licensed to sell doesn't mean that an agent knows how to sell, so brokers should coach agents from the very beginning when they hire them.

They should make it crystal clear that the agent is being paid to sell, not to escort buyers to homes. That means that the agents should be trained and learn to develop their own skills in overcoming objections, providing alternatives and solutions, and to solve problems, as sales involves saving a sale as often as making a sale.

Some may raise the objection that buyers will only buy what they want, but as seasoned salespeople know, that's not necessarily true. Buyers will often buy what they are told or shown is a good value, which helps them overcome their initial reactions.

As a broker, it is your job to help agents bring in higher percentages of closed sales.

They need to tell agents from the day they are hired that they are getting paid to sell. (Yes, even buyer's agents are paid by their brokers to sell, even if they call it helping a buyer buy, because nobody gets paid until a house is sold, or bought.) If a buyer isn't buying, the agents can possibly turn that around by doing a better job selling.

So how do agents train or get trained to sell? Here are some suggestions:

Agents should be in the know

Buyers make decisions on their instincts and emotional responses, but they also act on data.

For example, many buyers want new homes, but the current gas prices may make them hesitant to commit to a builder, so they look at older closer-in neighborhoods, but with little enthusiasm.

This is a Realtor's chance to shine. Wouldn't the buyers be more interested to buy if they knew that new services were coming to the area, or that the area has a gem of a school, or that the improvements a home needs might not cost much money?

Agents can easily be ready with the latest economic development report from the chamber of commerce, or the latest blue-ribbon school list, or a fact sheet about home improvements and how they can raise the value of a home, but they have to be trained to use these tools as a means of encouraging buyers to give a home a second look.

In other words, in a tougher market, just showing homes may not be enough.

Discourage agents from overhyping one neighborhood over another

One of the biggest mistakes Realtors make is getting behind one neighborhood while a perfectly good neighborhood right next door stagnates in price and sales.

They do such a good job everyone wants to live in the hyped neighborhood, but only a few can afford it. What happens is that agents may sell a lot of homes in the hyped area quickly, but they'll also waste a lot of time with buyers who are unable to afford that area. It simply creates a lot of unhappiness, as buyers pine away for an area they can't have, and the result is that many of them don't buy at all, or they buy much further out where they can get more for their money.

What broker wouldn't like to have closed transactions with buyers one price range down than nothing at all?

So unless they want their buyers to give up and buy from some builder 20 miles further out, they need to train their salespeople to show all the local neighborhoods with enthusiasm, and know some positive things about each one.

Agents should be aware of the negatives in the neighborhood, but they should also be able to accent the positive.

Concentrate on neighborhood amenities as well as homes

Train agents to look for news about their neighborhoods. Nothing stays the same, especially neighborhoods - they're always either improving or deteriorating. When brokers have their sales meetings, they should either be prepared with a report to share or they should ask the agents what they know that is new in their areas. At the least, a copy of the latest newspaper report on leases and jobs should be available, so the agents know where the market might be headed.

Have plenty of appraisers come in to talk to the group, and ask their opinions of local market directions. Are they trending up or down and why?

Offer presentations from remodeling contractors or inspectors as to the most common problems, complaints about homes in the area and what can be done about them.

Use comprehensive market knowledge to make your agents more professional, and better skilled in their sales.