Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, many salespeople were saying that they were selling everything they listed. “We’d make more sales if we had more listings” was a common statement.
March 2020 was an uncertain month. Nobody knew what restrictions the government would apply and what effects those restrictions may have on business. This caused many salespeople to ‘mark time’ where actions were concerned. Some cut their hours, most cut their prospecting, and often their offices cut marketing to save money.
Nobody seemed to notice the overall drop in actions that create listings, because most were focused on survival.
Fair enough – but action and inaction have consequences. Cutting marketing and prospecting (inaction) had a knock-on effect months later. That knock-on effect was a shortage of stock.
Pre-pandemic, salespeople complained of a shortage of stock. But cutting down prospecting actions, and cutting down marketing actions, only compounded the problem. If you were low on stock before the pandemic started, and if you cut actions that create listings, you’re even shorter on stock now.
Obvious in hindsight, huh?
Okay, you’re short of stock. What are you doing about it?
If a lack of marketing and prospecting caused a lack of stock, it stands to reason that by increasing marketing and prospecting to HIGH LEVELS, over time your stock will increase. And with that increase in stock come more sales.
For decades we told salespeople, “Massive action leads to massive results”. But more recently I modified that saying. I now advise salespeople: “Massive RIGHT action leads to massive results”.
You can be very busy on the wrong actions. It’s massive amounts of the right actions that get results.
As I wrote this article I received an email from Wayne Beard, of Harcourts West Ryde. The email said, “We have had 10 listing enquiries so far this month. This is because I doubled our letterbox drops last month”. Smart man.
If you’re low on stock, you have an empty listing pipeline. That empty listing pipeline means that you have little to sell. That leads to an empty buyer pipeline.
If you’re not talking to people, you’re emptying your sales pipeline.
You can’t sell what you don’t have.
What are you doing to get more stock?
Gary Pittard