FEATURE
Interviews and Personal Sales
Closing a real estate sale across multiple interviews
A high-value, high-risk transaction such as a real estate purchase is rarely completed in a single meeting. More commonly, the salesperson and client move through a series of interviews before the transaction is closed.
The personal-selling process begins with the first direct contact and continues through the closing and, when the client accepts the offer, the formal completion of the sale.
The process can produce three broad outcomes:
- The client accepts the offer, and the parties proceed to formalize the sale.
- The client rejects the current offer but remains open to considering other properties, beginning a new sales cycle.
- The client rejects the offer and does not wish to consider further alternatives.
Intermediate and closing interviews
Sales interviews can be divided into two types:
- Intermediate sales interviews: All meetings that prepare the client and salesperson for a final decision.
- Closing interview: The meeting in which the salesperson asks for the client’s commitment to purchase.
The distinction matters because each type of interview requires a different form of closure.
The purpose of each interview
The objective of a closing interview is clear: to secure the client’s commitment and complete the sale.
An intermediate interview has a different objective. It should end in a way that preserves momentum and ensures that the sales conversation continues after the time between meetings. This can mean agreeing on a next appointment, arranging a property visit, supplying requested information or defining another concrete action.
The article relates this principle to Neil Rackham’s SPIN Selling: progress in a complex sale depends on obtaining an advance rather than merely ending a conversation pleasantly.
Practical principle
Every intermediate interview should conclude with a specific advance that supports the next sales conversation.
The same principle applies after a sale. Personal and non-personal interactions with existing clients should also move the relationship forward through an appropriate, agreed next step.