Our industry has shifted to a buyer's market. The mortgage industry's woes have come to roost in the building industry's branches, and builders are rightfully concerned about how they can be as successful as they were in the past.

The answer is you can be as successful as you were or even more successful in today's market if you do two things: Get involved in the buyer's experience and radically change the way your sales force sells.

During the years of the seller's market, new home salespeople grew lazy. But they're not lazy by nature. I know for a fact that salespeople can be taught to think and act differently once they understand what is at stake. They can be taught to catch the eye of serious prospects and become the difference that ultimately leads to a sale by following these six principles:

• Rapport precedes the sale.

• People act for their reasons and in their own ways.

• People buy outcomes.

• The sale begins when the customer says "no."

• People like to make small decisions before they make large ones.

• Salespeople must always be developing a follow-up strategy.

Underlying these rules are little-known truths about how customers buy.

The first principle sets the tone for the rest. Rapport is the foundation of any relationship. With it, people deal with tough issues, find solutions and move on. Without it, they go their separate ways. You know how you like to be treated when you make a purchase. When your salespeople begin treating prospects that way, they'll be more successful.

Salespeople should start off with prospects by watching and listening. Most salespeople do the opposite. They start talking right off and follow only their agenda. It's not always their fault. We all hear that selling is what a salesperson does to someone. When salespeople build rapport first, selling becomes what they do with someone. That tiny change of attitude makes a tremendous difference to sales production.

There are sure-fire ways to build rapport. Take a genuine interest in getting to know what is important to prospects. Start by understanding them rather than asking them to understand you.

Listen carefully to the key words and telling phrases they use--how they speak. Then subtly build those words and phrases into your conversations.

Notice their relationship to information. Do they like lots of details, or do they just want the big picture? Respect their preferences by responding accordingly.

As you converse with them, from time to time say back to them what you heard them say. You'll build rapport and check your understandings. You need to discern their deeper intentions--their underlying purposes--rather than getting overly involved in what they do or say. They may not always get it right, but assume their heart is in the right place.

Also, adopt a similar stance to them in terms of body language, gestures, voice tone and speaking speed. People like to buy from people just like them. And don't forget to respect their time, yet another way to build rapport.

Developing effective habits is one of the keys to sustained peak levels of sales performance. To speed your mastery of the art of rapport, try the following:

• Don't commit to integrating a new idea into your daily sales process until everyone understands why it's important to implement.

• Practice the idea at least 30 times a day for 21 days straight. That is how long a time--and how much sustained effort--it takes to develop a new habit.

• Give full attention to each idea you are practicing. Don't practice just to practice. Have a specific intent.

• Evaluate only the sales skill you are practicing at that time. Stay focused!

• Separate practice from performance. Practice in order to integrate new skills for use in performance and then be sure to put practice and performance together again.

• Make life and learning enjoyable. You and your sales force are intelligent, and intelligent people do what they enjoy doing.

• Nothing magical will happen with the rapport-building ideas until you turn them into habits that you follow every day. You can make a difference, even with the tough market conditions we face. But you have to commit to leading and changing the way your sales force sells-you have to be willing to be the difference that makes the difference.

Published: June 2, 2008

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