Insider information

Webb’s book offers tips for home sales

By Janine Anderson

Nationally, new home construction dropped from the rapid pace it held for the past few years.

In Wisconsin, the numbers dipped slightly as the market shifted in response to higher interest rates and other costs.

But, to Bill Webb, the state of home construction isn’t as important as how people approach the market. He has a plan for success, and he wants to share it with others.

Webb, based in Florida, worked in new home sales for decades. When he was starting out, he wanted to learn more about the profession, and he found that opportunity with the National Association of Home Builders.

Over the years, he became more involved with the NAHB and its marketing programs. And that led to a recent collaboration with the NAHB’s publishing arm, BuilderBooks.com, on his most recent book, “Sweet Success in New Home Sales.”

The book’s message is that it’s easy to sell new homes when everybody’s buying. It’s harder when the market cools, and that’s when good sales techniques really matter.

Webb has some techniques to pass on. His theories range from the simple — don’t focus only on the close; focus on helping the buyers reach their goal — to the complex — determine exactly where you need to stand in a model home to force potential buyers to stand where they get the best view.

Other techniques, like where to put the sales center and where salespeople should be stationed, are more practical, hands-on business suggestions, which Webb said could make a difference to customers.

“I write books because I’ve been blessed sufficiently to have the opportunity to learn a lot of things,” he said. “To thank those who helped me, I want to pay it forward and help people coming along behind me.”

With the book, Webb is also helping the home-building industry. Proceeds from the book are donated to the National Endowment for Housing within the NAHB, he said. The money will be earmarked for construction-trades training, not sales.

He said the book is meant to help everyone involved in new home sales, from builders to salespeople and sales managers.

“Sales is not something you just walk in and do,” he said. “It’s a process.”

Without training, he said, it’s easy for salespeople to be uncomfortable with their jobs and either try too hard or not try at all. Instead, he advocates a middle path.

“It’s simple,” he said. “Be yourself and be knowledgeable about the product. Treat people the way you would like to be treated. Be a competent advocate and be respectful. They will decide you’re a good person and that you will not take advantage of them.”

That focus on buyers’ needs is one of the things that helps make a good salesperson, said Karen Lawrence, marketing director for MasterCraft Builders in Kenosha.

“Salespeople need to be people-related to understand their personalities, desires and fears,” she said. “They need to determine if they need hand-holding. A salesperson needs to key into that right away and make them comfortable about building.”

With depressed home construction rates locally and nationwide, a strong focus on sales techniques will be even more important. Salespeople are taking note of the trend, Lawrence said.

“It makes you perk up a bit and want to be ahead of the game,” she said. “You look for changes to be made if the market is changing. You want to be proactive rather than reactive.”

She said she believes home sales will go up again, possibly after the market adjusts to what consumers are looking for.

Webb agrees.

“The long-term future is extraordinary, especially in places people want to move,” he said. “They’re going to find a way to live there.”

For more information about Webb’s new book, visit www.builderbooks.com.