Mike Lyon - Internet Marketing for Home Builders and Real Estate » Video Posts

Follow Up + Technology = More Sales (video)

Mike Lyon — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 21:00:21 +0000

Are you using old outdated methods to communicate with your prospects? Here I share a story about an encounter with a real estate agent while my wife and I were shopping for a home. She made the choice not to upgrade her process and now her 30 year old business is suffering because of it. Don’t be that agent – don’t get stuck in a rut! Similar Posts:

(video) Lead Generation – Managing Your Outbound Activities

Mike Lyon — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:32:52 +0000

At this year’s PCBC conference, I was asked to give a 2 minute tip sharing best practices of a sales executive that I worked with. In this video clip, I discuss lead generation and managing your outbound activities. Without a specific system or process the numbers I talk about here will sound unattainable, but I assure, it is possible and produces great results!

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(video) Presale Without Fail – New ebook from Kevin Oakley

Mike Lyon — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 14:03:57 +0000

Hot off the presses! This brand new ebook will change the way you release new communities – and get you more sales. In this video, I interview Kevin Oakley about Presale Without Fail: The Secret to Launching New Communities & Phases with Maximum Results He shares how to sell multiple homes on the day one without the need for a model home – or even paved streets! It’s step-by-step and proven to work.

Presale Without Fail won’t be released until September 29th, but because you are so special (and reading this blog) you can download it now. Just go to www.PreSaleWithoutFail.com and enter presale-lyon as your pre-release code. When you use the code you will be entered into a random drawing for one hour of Skype time with Kevin to answer any questions you have about how to implement this with your builder!

Kevin Oakley is a branding and marketing expert specializing in the new home industry. He is the Director of Marketing & Sales Training at Heartland Homes – a top 100 national builder (and Pittsburgh’s #1 custom home builder). He believes results matter, brands are not dead, and that it’s not easy – but it is simple. Learn more at www.brandpossible.com Similar Posts:

(video) What Are Your Model Hours?

Mike Lyon — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 12:18:48 +0000

When a prospect asks, “What are your model hours?”, what are they really asking? You can’t just regurgitate your hours and hang up the phone, you really need to get to the heart of the matter.

This is one of the most important (and expensive) decisions they will ever make. By simply giving out model hours, we are missing the mark and an opportunity to help them through their decision.

Don’t make is sound like they can just pop in. Is this a frozen yogurt shop? Are they stopping by the Gap for a $30 pair of jeans? In general brokerage you need an appointment. When you are making an investment decision, talking with your CPA, or anything that requires deliberation and decisions you have to set an appointment. Here are a few dialogues that you can use to turn the question, “Hey, when are your models open?” into an appointment.Similar Posts:

(video) Digital Native or Digital Immigrant

Mike Lyon — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:41:02 +0000

What is the difference between a digital native and a digital immigrant? Is your hero Steve Jobs? Or is it Pellegrino Turri ? (What you don’t know who Pellegrino Turri is?! Is your first instinct to run to the encyclopedia or the interwebs….)

No matter if you are a native or an immigrant, if you are selling then your goal is to be more effective, communicate better, and be a super star in following up with prospects. To achieve these goals effectively today, it requires digital tools.

The first step is probably the hardest. Figuring it all out. It might take time, but the results will be worth it.Similar Posts:

Keep Your Phone Skills Sharp (video)

Mike Lyon — Wed, 25 May 2011 15:39:44 +0000

I’ve had plenty of sales associates (even a sales manager) tell me, “I do better selling face-to-face, it’s hard for me to connect with people over the phone or by email.” The problem is that customers aren’t shopping face-to-face, they’re shopping online, and the primary forms of communication during the “shopping phase” are email and phone. It is critical you become great at communicating by email and especially over the phone.

It is amazing what happens when you record and listen to your phone calls. Once you get over the initial shock of how weird your own voice sounds, you can start to dissect the conversation and pinpoint ways to improve your delivery.

The first step, of course, is to take the time to record yourself talking with a customer. Ask others whom you trust to analyze it with you to constantly improve your methods. Also, be sure to record every message you leave. You will hone your phone skills as you do this. Remember, most messages are relayed through non-verbal communication, such as facial expressions, posture, etc, when you speak on the phone, you are relying solely on your verbal communication. It is imperative that you are not focusing on what you should say next but how you will say it. The way you can overcome this is by memorizing proven scripts that will help you speak effectively on the phone.

In addition to memorizing and utilizing scripts, here are some excellent tips that lead to better phone communication:

• Maintain good posture.
• Smile when you talk – it comes through on the phone.
• Slow down your speech.
• Listen to the customer – do not interrupt.
• Ask multiple and engaging questions.
• Prepare in advance.

In addition to recording your calls, I think it is essential to role play and practice in front of the sales team. Many sales managers are already doing this for the traditional phase of the sales process, but what about making calls in front of the group? It’s not that bad once you get the hang of it. Here is Grant making a call back to a prospect in front of his team. He does a fantastic job.

Sales managers – if you are worried about your staff not recording their calls – do it for them. Use a service like Callsource or Whoscalling to record, track answer rates and use the results for training.

Image used under Creative Commons from Leo ReynoldsSimilar Posts:

(Video) Join.me – Quick and Easy Collaboration

Mike Lyon — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 13:47:52 +0000

Recently I was talking with a builder about options to collaborate with prospects and clients. Many of the webinar programs out there are just too pricey per user, and can be cumbersome with the need to download software.

I heard about join.me a while ago and now they have some cool new features that make it an even better option to use when communicating with customers on many levels. It is FREE, quick and easy to use. Plus, it works on the iPhone, iPad and Android as well.

In this demo I gave you several ideas for how you could use this tool to stand out from the competition and improve ways to interact with your customers. What are some of your ideas on how you could use Join.me to punch up your client interactions?Similar Posts:

Book Review: Delivering Happiness the Zappos Story

Mike Lyon — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 14:58:16 +0000

Myers Barnes, a good friend and mentor of mine told me years ago that if I wanted to double my income, read an hour a day. And surprise! It actually works. I consume books, blog posts, and articles that are applicable to our industry and I’ve decide to begin doing some book reviews so that you can benefit from the great pool of knowledge out there.

This video post is about a book called Delivering Happiness by Zappos CEO, Tony Hsieh. This is a great book about creating company culture through customer service and at the same time building experiences. Already a #1 New York Times Best seller, Hsieh shares lessons learned both in business and in life from the creation of his billion dollar business.

Check out my post and learn about the three main takeaways this book has to offer the building, real estate and online sales industries.

Check out what Tony has to say about the book, his motivation, and why Zappos was a ground breaking way of motivating both customers and employees.

Hsieh says, “The best businesses are the ones that can really combine passion, profits, and purpose.” How are you going to integrate this into your industry?Similar Posts:

Don’t Curb Qualify Your Leads

Mike Lyon — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 17:30:48 +0000

As a sales professional, you have probably heard the term “curb qualify” right? It’s a big no-no. We are trained never to pre-judge or assume anything about a potential prospect until we learn more about their specific needs.

The problem is, many forget this valuable rule when it comes to their online prospects.

View the video hereSimilar Posts:

It’s Time to Build A New Virtual Model Home

Mike Lyon — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:45:35 +0000

View video here

What kind of an impression would you make if people searching for a new home show up at your model home and you have no furniture, a small desk in a dimly lit corner and weeds in the flower beds? When they ask for a brochure, a salesperson hands them a crinkly piece of paper with the prices scribbled on it. Needless to say, I’m sure you wouldn’t expect a return visit from them any time soon.

Sadly, this may be what’s happening on your website. How many browsers abandon their online search after visiting your homepage because of the lack of information, complicated navigation, “under construction” pages and poor or outdated design? If 90+% of new home buyers are starting their search online (have I hammered that statistic home yet?), then it is highly likely that your website will be their first impression of you as a builder.

Ask yourself: What kind of impression is my site making? Does it accurately reflect the image I have in the community? Maybe you don’t know…maybe you think you know. You must look at your site with a fresh eye and make sure that you have all of the pieces of the puzzle in their proper positions – and that they’re easy to access.

Don’t pucker up too much when it comes to attracting qualified prospects.
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