A Message for New-Home Salespeople: Stop Trying to Sell Homes

Here’s a crazy idea: Tell your salespeople to stop trying to sell homes.

Sure, it seems counterintuitive, but I contend that no one has ever actually sold a new home to anyone. Imagine the farcical notion that you can talk someone into spending $300,000 on a life-changing purchase that will dramatically affect their family’s future. I don’t think so.

I began my career in home building as a new-home salesperson in December 1983. I was newly licensed and knew practically nothing about selling homes or about construction. My “training” consisted of a couple of hours of a “community overview” and I was handed the keys. With that introduction, I was dubbed the “Sales Manager” for my community. Yikes!

In those days, there was no internet or websites or virtual model tours. Customers came into my sales office knowing only what they’d read in a quarter-page ad in the newspaper. On my first Saturday, they knew about as much as I did.