Time kills all deals, especially in the world of discretionary real estate.
A recurring theme on this blog is the importance of timeliness and professional lead response in luxury real estate sales. This is because it applies more to our industry than most others.
News flash: we work in incredibly expensive discretionary products, second homes. Due to the fact that this is a want rather than a need, those lucky enough to purchase one of life’s luxuries don’t necessarily do so with urgency.
Four Seasons Private Residences Napa Valley – Clearview Elite Client
Luxury second home buyers often fall into one of two categories: spontaneous purchaser or forever shopper. Spontaneous (what salespeople refer to as Christmas) doesn’t require much of a sales process. We just say a little prayer each morning and hope one of those falls in our laps.
But the forever buyers, those who leave the property with so much excitement and then finally decide to pony up for a purchase two years later, definitely require more attention. The million dollar question (literally) is how to speed up that sale.
For most buyers, the issue is often times very elementary: Life just gets in the way.
One minute, successful Mr. Stock Trader is sipping a glass of Sauvignon Blanc and salivating over your impressive and beautiful website… so he requests information. The next morning he’s sitting in a board meeting learning about an employee strike.
Or maybe he finds out that his mother has a health issue, or his son just flunked 9th grade, it can be literally anything. If your product is not discretionary and Mr. Stock Trader truly needs to buy from you then he’ll continue down the path of purchasing.
If you’re selling second homes in the Caribbean however, you’re about to take a back seat.
This is all the more reason for second home real estate sales people to time their responses and follow up immediately! Begin the conversation and the relationship building process as fast as possible, when your property is top of mind to Mr. Stock Trader.
The longer you wait to make a phone call or the longer it takes you to get more information in the prospects hands, the greater the chance you are going to lose out to a Bar Mitzvah, wedding, ski accident or worse… a purchase with one of your competitors.
Developers spend thousands of dollars on lead generation. You, the sales professional, need to respond with speed.
You need to deliver the additional information that potential clients are looking for and you need to do it right now.
A nominal investment in automated response can help you to master the prioritization game and make sure Mr. Stock Trader moves from simply “interested” to fully “engaged” before life gets in the way.