How Even a Slight Edge Drives Major Wins For New Home Sales Professionals

On September 10, 1977 at the Belmont Futurity in Elmont New York, champion thoroughbred Affirmed met his arch-rival, Alydar.

Rounding into the stretch, the two horses were dueling head-to-head. Alydar held the lead for much of the last furlong before Affirmed rallied in the final stride to win by a nose.

"He never gave up", said his rider, Steve Cauthen, "even when he was [behind by a head]".

Now this story points to the idea of never giving up, even when things look bleak. But there’s an even deeper, if less obvious, lesson to be learned here.

Consider the impact of those few millimeters over the course of a 1? mile run, the length of the Belmont. The first place prize was $63,570, or $335,049 in 2024 dollars. Second place winnings were $103,092 (in 2024 dollars) – less than a third of first place.

Over $200k lost by an infinitesimally small fraction of the entire race.

The same dynamic is true in every new home sold. Except that the stakes are even more drastic. When you’re competing for the sale of a new home, it’s “winner take all, and loser take none”.

And yet in every group of home builder sales professionals — as with horse racing, or any other sport for that matter — you’ll notice the top producers are usually one out of every ten, if not one out of every hundred.?

And their “winnings” in terms of commissions and other benefits are likewise multiples of the rest of the pack.

Is It Just Luck?

So, what are they doing that most sales people don’t? How are they so consistently “lucky”?

Of course it’s not luck at all.

Top producers have an edge — even if just “by a nose” — that their competitors just can’t seem to beat.

So, what’s driving their consistent success?

The answer, I believe, after having trained, coached and consulted for literally thousands of new home sales professionals, boils down to one thing:

Time.

They have no more time in the day than you or me, or anyone else on the planet. It’s how they use the time they have that makes all the difference.

So, is it all about setting goals, planning your day, and all the other worn out time management hacks you’ve heard of by now?

Well, yes… But there’s something else going on here.

To explain, let me take you back a little ways into our history as a nation and culture.?

Beyond Outdated Time Management Techniques

Around the turn of the 20th century, productivity was all about how to make manufacturing on an assembly line more profitable. Time management was all about efficiency; how quickly you could accomplish a given task.

Then, on August 15, 1989, Dr. Stephen Covey popularized a whole new way of looking at time, with his seminal course, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.?

He transformed the popular notion of time management from being all about efficiency to a focus on effectiveness. In other words, it was not about doing things quickly; it was about doing the right things first, starting with the end in mind.

By the way, this was not a new concept. Dr. Peter Drucker, often considered the father of modern business management, published his classic work The Effective Executive in 1967.?

So as a modern society, we progressed from the manufacturing age, in which there was a premium placed on efficiency, to the information age which put a premium on effectiveness.?

And yet today, we find ourselves in a whole new era.

There’s something else going now, with so much connection between people through so many forms of media today.

And today’s top producers are again one step ahead of the crowd in understanding the impact this has on how they use their time.

It’s as if they’re playing 3D chess, while the rest of us are still on a regular chessboard. Or even trying to win playing checkers. Winning, for these top producers, almost seems effortless.

How could this be? What are they doing that the rest of us just don’t seem to get?

What The Top 1% Do

Are you ready for the secret?

It’s actually quite simple; they look at time as something to be invested for future gains.?

In other words, when they look at a list of tasks for the day, they don’t just ask, “What are my top priorities to get done today?”. They look at that same list and ask, “What can I do today that will bring the highest return on the time I invest in it?”?

Of course, they’re looking at effectiveness and efficiency too. But their key metric is ROTI; Return On Time Invested.

Ok, let’s bring this down to Earth.

What specifically are they doing to sell more new homes than, in some instances, ten or more of their colleagues combined?

To achieve market leadership, a competitive edge in whatever market they’re competing in, they invest their time in the profound compounding effect of “pre-game” preparation, resulting in tiny, deliberate improvements and incremental gains made over time, moment by moment, day after day.

They go the extra mile in the day-to-day “blocking and tackling” of everyday sales challenges. Just a few examples might include:

• Mapping out and optimizing a successful customer journey; from initial discovery of your community to signing docs at closing… What are your customers experiencing, and how could you take the friction out of every step in their journey to buying from you?

• Thinking through every possible objection and turning point in a sales conversation and having a quiver full of responses at the ready… Responding to every question with an open ended vs “yes-or-no” (aka “dead end”) question, etc. as the situation warrants.

• Engaging in active role play with team members. Or if your team members roll their eyes at the mere mention of role playing, why not take advantage of one or more of today’s A.I. driven role-playing apps?

How “Pre-Game” Practice Builds a Winning Edge?

This kind of “pre-game” practice can have huge benefits over time. It’s the secret to getting the truly superior ROTI (return on time invested, remember?) that top producers enjoy on a regular basis.?

To see a couple of well-known examples of this kind of practice, we need look no further than players like legendary NBA superstar Michael Jordan, who said of his pre-game practice…?

“So when the game comes, there isn’t nothing that I haven’t already practiced. It's just a routine. Whatever happens in the game, okay I’ve done this before.”

Or NFL Hall-of-Fame Wide Receiver, Jerry Rice.?

Famous for his hustle during team workouts, while many receivers would trot back to the quarterback after catching a pass, Rice would sprint to the end zone after each reception. And he would typically continue practicing long after the rest of the team had gone home.

What would your paycheck look like each month after even just a few months of this kind of dedication?

And think of the other side of the coin; how many sales have you lost “by a nose”, that maybe with just a little more preparation could have been won?

The Slight Edge Cuts Both Ways

In the early days of Elon Musk’s company SpaceX, after its first two $6-million rockets failed on launch, the third suffered a “loss-by-a-nose”.?

At an altitude of 217 km, a single line of code failed to allow enough time for a main engine shut down and stage separation. The result? A multi-million-dollar project failed “by a nose” due to a single line within millions of lines of code.

Consider: What would life be like if you could transform your losses into wins?

If you could WIN just one sale you might have otherwise lost each month. What would that do for your self-esteem, not to mention paycheck? The status and recognition you’d enjoy at your company… The respect of peers and competitors… The financial benefits and all they could mean in your personal life.?

It’s amazing how even the smallest of improvements can snowball into huge results over time.

Every Champion Needs a Coach

I hope this article has inspired you to consider how even just the smallest efforts made consistently over time can have a massive impact on your sales results. And how even just the slightest edge can be all you need to win.?

Are you ready to take your selling career to a whole new level??

You don’t need to go it alone. Our mission and purpose at SaleSolveEverything is to help sales leaders like you progress to the “nth degree” in your career and financial success. We’re here for you at SaleSolveEverything.com. Drop by to see our complete catalog of sales coaching and consulting services.?

Or give us a call at 888-738-4020 to learn how we can help you take your sales results to a whole new level.?

We look forward to hearing from you!