by Jacques Werth
John Bergen is a Realtor; a good, successful Realtor who works very hard. He meets far more prospects than the average real estate agent does. About 40 percent of his prospects become his clients and he earns four times as much as the average agent.
Paula Stone is also a Realtor; a good, successful Realtor who doesn’t work as hard as John. She meets with fewer prospects than John, but still more than the average real estate agent. Nearly 90 percent of her prospects become her clients and she earns twice as much as John.
The difference is in the type of prospect they look for. John looks for and meets with any type of prospect. Paula looks for only one type of prospect, the type that is ready to buy.
When asked, “What type of prospect do you want?” most Realtors say, “Just put me in front of any prospect and I will make the sale.” In reality, most people who go into the real estate profession fail to make a decent living, and that’s because they don’t close enough business. The ones that succeed do so either by working very hard, or by being very selective about what type of prospect they look for.
Three Types of Prospects
There are three types of prospects. For each type, there is one sales process that is the most effective.
| Type of Prospect | Most Effective Sales Process | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | People who apparently need your type of products, services and/or solutions, but don’t know about those needs. | Consultative Selling |
| 2. | People who know they have needs for, and are interested in, your type of products, services and/or solutions. | Solution Selling |
| 3. | People who are ready, willing and able to buy your type of products, services and/or solutions. | High Probability Selling |
Matching the three types of prospects with their appropriate sales processes produces the highest closing rates for those prospects. However, most Realtors utilize just one type of sales process and use it on every type of prospect they encounter.
A Winning Strategy
1. Determine which type of prospect you want.
2. Master the sales process that is most effective for closing that type of prospect.
3. Utilize lead generation programs designed to get appointments with that type of prospect.
John Bergen, who has mastered Consultative Selling, has a complicated and time-consuming lead generation program that is designed to get him in front of all three types of prospects.
Paula Stone, who has mastered High Probability Selling, has a simple lead generation program that is designed to get her in front of Type 3 prospects only. People like John may say she is just a “cherry picker” or an “order taker,” but that doesn’t bother her. If it would not bother you either, look for more information about High Probability Selling.
