by: Roy Barker, Director – Special Projects
How many times have we heard this objection, right? This is a very common response by those residents that are uncomfortable making a decision to move into your community right now. This objection could be based on many factors or even fear. While sales people always want to make that next sale, it is good to remember that for the prospect, moving into your community, no matter how great it is, can be an intimidating life altering decision. Instead of taking this as a negative, take it as a positive, an opportunity to ask more open ended questions and get to know your prospect better. This also provides the opportunity to frame the decision around a lifestyle choice that will motivate the prospect.
The “I’m just not ready” can be a legitimate cover for other reasons the prospect could be embarrassed to admit or talk about. A couple of these are affordability and coming to grips with the fact that a higher level of care is needed. Even though we want to refute all objections to our great sales pitch, empathy must be shown for the prospects plight and pushing too hard could just lead to embarrassment for them. As sales people we must have that sense about whom we can probe further and whom we can’t. We don’t want to beat prospects down, but we must get to the heart of the objection if we are to overcome it. For the latter, the next question should be something like, “what do you see as a drawback to moving here” or “how will you know when you are ready”. It is very important to ask the open ended questions to try and get the prospect to talk about what is the real concern. Then the objection can be addressed by painting the picture of the dream/lifestyle. Be sure to let them know what they are missing by not already living at your community. If they are local, it is also a good idea to present the move as an enhancement to the great life they already have.
For instance, snow plowing/lawn maintenance is included as part of the monthly service fee, but there is a huge difference in covering this information from sheet of paper while sitting down across a desk as opposed to creating a mental picture of the new lifestyle while touring the community. Set the stage, tell the story, and let them visualize their new life. For instance, this winter they will not have to shovel snow themselves, pay someone to do it, or even worry if it is getting done and/or done right. As a resident, they can be sipping hot chocolate and having a muffin with their friends while playing dominos and watching the plow guy out the window in a 72 degree room. Vice versa, they can enjoy a beautiful manicured lawn this summer without having to get out in the heat to mow, oversee a lawn person, pay them as well as a large water bill, and so on.
If the concerns are relationship or activity based, we would want to show them the active card games, domino games, puzzle solving that are going on in our community. Have them speak with other residents that are involved in charity work, church groups, and other group activities. Introducing the prospect to current residents who had the same reservation upon move-in is also a great idea. This is called the feel, felt, found technique of selling. Empathize with how they are feeling, let them know that others before them have felt the same way, but what they found was they wished they had done it sooner. These would be great testimonials for a community’s website and it is recommended to provide the option of a DVD for the prospect to take home. Don’t be afraid to utilize those current residents that are positive, happy, outspoken, and well adjusted in the community; they are the best sales presentation a community can have.
By exercising some patience and empathy you will be able to turn that “I’m just not ready,” into a “wished I had moved here sooner.” With that you will also gain another positive testimonial for your website/DVD.
MDS would like to know: How are you over coming typical objections? What are some of your success stories? Let us hear from you!
MDS has a wide variety of services to help your marketing team overcome these types of objections in order to increase your closing ratios, increase occupancy, and thereby increasing your bottom line. Give MDS a call today and let us get started working for you!