This week on The Home Builder Digital Marketing Podcast, Ryan Taft of Impact Eighty-Eight joins Greg and Kevin to discuss why home builder digital marketing and sales teams should focus more on improving home buyers’ lives and less on selling homes.
Salespeople who understand and focus on the emotional aspect of the home buying process will always be essential. Ryan says,
“I got asked, do you think that salespeople will be necessary in the future with where tech is going, and to your point, the access to information? And everyone thinks, I’m going to say absolutely, salespeople are necessary. My answer is, it depends. Depends on the salesperson. Are you someone who’s trying to just transfer information? Because if that’s your job, if that’s what you’re doing, I don’t need you right now. I don’t need you today. I can put an iPad in that office that asks the same lame questions and shares the same information. Heck, I could get a ChatGPT login right there in the sales office and just say, here’s the prompts you should ask. I could do that today. So, the question then becomes, well, what is the job of the salesperson? And here’s what it is. It’s to uncover the emotional buying strategy, and via that strategy, help improve that person’s life. That’s the shift.”
People purchase homes because they want to enhance their lives, not because they just want a new home. Ryan explains,
“There is a driver, an emotional driver, to cause someone to actually come out to your sales office that’s 20 minutes away from their house or an hour or fly in from another city for crying out loud. They don’t do that because it’s fun. Nobody wants to buy a home. Nobody wants to spend a million dollars. Nobody wants to pack up all their crap and move. Nobody wants to do those things, but they do want to improve their life. That’s just the obstacles they have to go through to get that. That’s what you’re selling, not the other stuff.”
Home builder salespeople and marketers must understand that the home is not what they are selling to home buyers. Ryan says,
“It’s because people think that the home is what we’re selling, so that makes sense. Go look at the thing you want to buy. It’s not what people are buying. And the minute you wrap your head around the fact that we’re selling life improvement, we’re not selling homes, then you can’t just send people out to models and hope they’d come back and say, What do I need to do to buy it? That was COVID. That was what happened, right? Number 312, now serving. You can’t do that today.”
Listen to this week’s episode to learn how home builder digital marketers and salespeople can better home buyers’ lives and sell more homes.
About the Guest:
Ryan Taft is a dynamic speaker, author, and sales expert dedicated to helping individuals achieve exceptional results in sales, business, and life. With over two decades of experience, he has made a lasting impact on the new home sales industry.
Ryan began his career as a licensed Realtor® in Arizona before becoming the National Sales Training Manager for a $10 billion Fortune 100 home builder. He then spent 12 years as a Senior Consultant at Shore Consulting, where he trained thousands of sales professionals and leaders. In 2024, Ryan founded Impact Eighty-Eight, a training and performance improvement company that partners with top home builders nationwide. Through Impact Eighty-Eight, he applies his expertise in human performance, psychology, and sales skill development to deliver engaging live seminars and team coaching that drive peak performance.
Beyond his training work, Ryan is a frequent contributor to industry publications, blogs, and podcasts. He is the author of The Sales Cure and co-author of Buying the Experience and Tougher Market New Home Sales. StoryGetter is his second solo book.
In 2018, Ryan earned the prestigious Certified Speaking Professional designation from the National Speakers Association, a testament to his dedication to inspiring and educating others. When he’s not speaking or training, he enjoys life in Gilbert, Arizona, with his wife, Melissa, and their three dogs—Odie, Ava, and Chadwick.
