It’s January. It’s cold in most parts of the country. It’s
time for modular home factory reps to reach out and bring new builder
prospects. Calling and emailing all the builders in your territory involves
about a week’s worth of effort.
Most will never return your call or email. Some will say no
and even a smaller number will want to talk with you. If you send out messages
to new builders, you might get 4 appointments. Four new builders every year,
each doing a house a month would be worth the effort. Unfortunately, many reps
don’t have an action plan in place after a builder says they want to meet and continually miss the target.
Getting a meeting is a great development tool but it is only
the first step in your sales process. Most builders will not be won over by one
meeting. Expect to be n it for the long haul. It could take months to cultivate
a ‘new to modular’ builder.
What happens after that first meeting can make or break your
relationship with the builder. Consider doing the following:
- Stay in regular contact with your builder using a good CRM software
program. - Find ways to stay on your builder’s radar. Just because they
haven’t bought a house yet, you’ve got to keep in front of them. Offer to quote
a house; send them literature of your newest options; send them articles about
our industry and links to websites that they can use in their business. - Work hard to develop leads for your prospective builder.
Even one lead can keep your nw builder thinking you are the greatest sales rep
they’ve ever known. - Be patient. Too often a builder is dropped from the prospect
list just about the time they are gearing up to become a modular home builder.
If it takes up to 6 months to bring a builder into the factory, it could take
another 6 months for them to bring you their first house. Patience.
