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62 • MAY 2013 • WORLD FENCE NEWS How to sell to uncertain customers continued from page 53 Get Carried Away With Pete, Jake and the Boss! You'll Find Them Each Month in World Fence News! perceptions they had to deal with in order to buy from you, then you have a superb opportunity to sell. It's perfectly acceptable to ask your customers, "Why did you buy from me?" or "What perceptions from the media did you have to face before you made this purchase?" Know the inner workings of your customer's thinking and you will build more confidence in them and with yourself. Confidence builder #7: Fill your head with positive information and avoid the negativity of the media. Watch the news and pay attention to world activities enough to know how it affects people and what they perceive about the news. Then turn the TV to a sit-com or the history channel or something else (assuming that you watch TV in the first place). By filling your mind with positive reading and listening material, you can't help but stay upbeat, and that bleeds over into the psyche of your customer. Be the positive energy that your customer is looking for. You really can't take a day off from this. Your customer is counting on you to be the certainty in their life. Just do it! The bottom line is that uncertainty from your customers can be overcome by you with just a little preparation and determination. Until our paths cross again, take great care of yourself and your loved ones. Paul Montelongo CGR, CSP is an international authority on sales moti- Pre-Formed Faux Rock Pillars "If you can't tell the difference, what difference does it make!" make!"™ Starting at $94.50 call for details No mason required Maintenance free No sub-contractors UV fade resistant Same day installation Impact resistant / durable One person installation Can be shipped by UPS! Tri Custom Manufacturing www.tricm.com Increase Pro ts! Fra ction Cost of Sof the tone! Phone 435-563-0261 Toll Free 1-866-833-9589 vation, an author, a syndicated columnist, and a housing industry insider. He conducts process oriented corporate sales training programs, delivers inspirational keynote addresses and offers retreats for sales and management teams worldwide. Montelongo has built two multi-million dollar construction companies over the last 25 years. He is a featured speaker at housing industry conferences all across North America and Europe. For more resources, articles and a free newsletter, visit his web site at www.PaulMontelongo.com. Dodge Momentum Index jumps again in March The Dodge Momentum Index rose 5.9% in March, according to McGrawHill Construction, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies. The Momentum Index is a monthly measure of the first (or initial) report for nonresidential building projects in planning, which have been shown to lead construction spending for nonresidential buildings by a full year. The March increase lifted the Momentum Index to 109.4 (2000=100), marking the fourth gain in a row following the modest retreat that took place from August through November last year. The pause for the Momentum Index during the second half of 2012 coincided with the uncertain political and economic environment at that time. More recently, the four straight gains for the Momentum Index suggest that owners and developers now perceive the climate for construction to be improving, as shown by the rising amount of commercial and institutional building projects reaching the planning stage. The March increase for the Momentum Index was evenly split between its commercial and institutional components. Large projects that boosted the commercial segment of the planning pipeline in March included the $200 million Maui Outlet Mall in Kihei, Hawaii, a $135 million headquarters for New Balance in Brighton, Mass., and a $75 million headquarters for British Petroleum in Houston. The institutional segment was buttressed in March by the inclusion of several new amusement-related projects. The largest of these developments was the $400 million MGM/AEG Arena in Las Vegas. MGM's recently announced plans for this 20,000 seat arena also include retail and dining space.