Do You Need Real Estate Scripts?

ISA and real estate script
ISA and real estate script

Do You Need Real Estate Scripts?

Real estate scripts.

Everyone wants the magic set of words that will get them the appointment or sale every time. Memorizing the right script is all it takes to increase your conversions and become a successful ISA, right?

If only it were that easy!

The truth is that there is no magic real estate script that ISAs and agents can use that will work 100% of the time, regardless of who they are speaking with, and what their specific circumstances are. In reality, call scripts are only useful and effective as part of a wider conversion system and strategy to turn more no’s into yes’s on your calls.

Different Types of Real Estate Scripts

Before we dive into how to incorporate scripts into your strategy and discuss when scripts are useful and when they aren’t, let’s go over the different types of real estate scripts and what makes a good one.

First, there are two broad categories of scripts that every real estate agent and ISA needs: one for inbound leads and one for outbound. In addition to those, there should also be special scripts for unusual leads like probate, home valuations, and specific scripts for unique offers.

The most important thing for all of them, however, is that each needs to be tailored to the type of lead you’ll be speaking with. The way you speak to and address a lead is different for people who have sought you out (inbound leads) and for people who you are essentially calling out of the blue (outbound leads).

Second, a good script is one that is straight to the point, asks great questions of the prospect, and has a close that contains a great value proposition. It also needs to not be too wordy and should mostly prompt the lead to do the talking.

Because script or no script, the key to a successful call is understanding what the lead is trying to accomplish, understanding what is preventing them from accomplishing it, and what their own existing plan is to overcome those obstacles.

Scripts Alone Aren’t Enough

Real estate scripts are useful to keep your calls on track and to make sure you are remembering to ask all the necessary questions and gather all the required information. But at the end of the day, scripts are more for beginner ISAs. Primarily because they don’t have the experience that more seasoned ISAs have and so to be successful, they have to rely on tried and tested templates that increase their chances of converting the different types of leads.

More experienced ISAs, on the other hand, know the basics of speaking with outbound and inbound leads, and probably have developed a decent repertoire of questions and responses. More than scripts, seasoned real estate ISAs and agents need to hone and perfect their discovery, objection handling, and closing skills. This is where we come to using scripts as part of a wider conversion system.

Have a Real Conversation

At Smart Inside Sales, we emphasize that your sales calls need to revolve around actual conversations that are enjoyable and productive for both parties. This means that, especially as you get more experienced, you cannot rely solely on pre-programmed responses. Each situation is different and you need to be able to respond appropriately and intelligently to each unique conversation on every call.

For this, we developed a technique to handle objections and to get to the heart of what the lead wants that goes beyond scripts, called the PPO Process. PPO stands for Perspective Process Outcome.

The lead’s perspective is their past experience, knowledge and speculation.

The prospect’s process is their own plan that they have for their situation. The process is typically what will lead to an objection. They have their plan and you are not a part of it in their mind, so they turn you down.

And finally, the outcome. This is the unique result or benefit the prospect believes their process will deliver for them.

Confidently Deal with Objections

Perspective, process, and outcome are the three things that make up any objection. The key here is to understand these three parts of the objection from the lead’s point of view, not just from your own. Below are the five most critical aspects of dealing with an objection once they tell you it:

  1. Acknowledge – Listen to what they say and let them know that you understand it.
  2. Paraphrase – Restate what they said without leading and without interpretation.
  3. Inquire into their perspective, process, and outcome – This is where you dig into their thought process how they see it. Get them to walk you through their knowledge, plan, and the unique thing they hope to accomplish. These are the three things you need to know in order to counter their objection, so ask questions that get you the answers.
  4. Determine the unique benefit or result they hope to achieve – this is their sought after outcome.
  5. Close if appropriate – Close if the lead does not bring up another objection as a result of the PPO process or if it becomes obvious that meeting is the next logical step in your conversation.

Follow this process, understand where the lead’s objection is coming from (from their own point of view), and respond in a way that makes sense given their perspective and goal.

Scripts as Part of an Overall System & Strategy

Real estate scripts are valuable as a general outline of how to approach the different types of leads and to make sure you are hitting all the points you need to hit. This is especially true for newer ISAs who are still learning the finer points of cold calling, sales calls, and converting leads over the phone.

They can’t, however, be the only thing in your wheelhouse. There are no magic scripts that will help you convert every time with every lead. Each conversation is different. To increase your success you have to focus on learning to deal with objections and how to get to the core of what the lead wants. Scripts are helpful to use as a general outline in case you get stuck on a call, but the key is focusing on having real conversations and producing real value for the lead. 

Real Estate ISA Training: the Importance of Call Review Sessions

real estate isa training call reviews
real estate isa training call reviews

Real Estate ISA Training: the Importance of Call Review Sessions

We’ve talked a lot about real estate training in our articles and video content. That’s because like any job or skill, real estate ISA training is the key to building a successful inside sales career. Becoming a successful real estate inside sales agent comes down to mastering the ability to convince people to take meaningful action over the phone.

Now, I know what you’re thinking, “thanks for pointing out the obvious.” However, devoting substantial amounts of time towards meaningful and effective real estate sales training is not something that every real estate agent or inside sales agent does or thinks is necessary. Make no mistake, though, training is critical to any sales job or sales career.

Because being a real estate inside sales agent is a tough path to choose. You have to be in the trenches day after day, making countless phone calls, often facing unending rejections, and basically constantly fighting an uphill battle with people who don’t want to talk to you. But without ISAs continually converting on their calls and bringing in new leads, real estate teams and real estate companies can’t survive.

What Is a Real Estate Inside Sales Agent?

Before we dive into training specifics, what even is a real estate inside sales agent? Put simply, they are the backbone of any successful real estate business. The vast majority of real estate transactions begin on the phone. This means that all the effort and skill that goes into nailing listing appointments, finding properties for buyers, and actually selling homes is all for nothing if you don’t have effective people successfully setting up appointments over the phone.

This is why real estate inside sales agents are so critical. They allow your agents to do what they do best, and allow you to grow your business without constantly being in the trenches yourself every day. ISAs are sales professionals whose job it is to reach out to leads, introduce them to your company’s brand and the value you offer to clients, and, finally, to set appointments for your real estate agents. They are the front line of your real estate company and it is their responsibility to keep a steady flow of new business coming in through the door.

Real Estate ISA Training Is Crucial

Whether you’re a real estate inside sales agent or a real estate team leader, you have to set aside time for training. Real estate training isn’t just about how to sell houses, specifically—in fact, the majority of it is sales training. Your agents and ISAs need to train in lead generation, lead conversion, how to talk on the phone, caller objection handling, closing techniques, and the list goes on.

Inside sales agents are critical to the healthy growth and success of your real estate business. And the most important part of an ISA role is being able to convert leads and close on their phone calls. This incorporates objection handling, closing techniques, and lead conversion.

Real Estate Training: Call Reviews

In a previous article of ours we mentioned real estate role play training techniques. Role playing is invaluable when it comes to sales training and mastering having productive conversations over the phone. It allows ISAs to practice closing techniques, objection handling, and all the other sales components they are taught, but also allows other people in the group to learn from mistakes that their colleagues make. Just like pilots use flight simulators, so should inside sales agents use role play groups.

Call reviews are another hugely valuable training tool to take advantage of for yourself or for your team. It’s one thing to learn sales and conversations techniques, but it’s a whole other thing to have real conversations on the phone, and it’s a whole other thing to listen to those actual conversations after you’ve had them.

Call reviews allow agents and ISAs to hear how they sound, see where they lost the lead, recognize the different objections that the lead brought up, etc. Reviewing your calls compliments role playing because you’re able to go over whether you are properly implementing the lessons you learned during the role play sessions.

Critical to successful call reviews is a coach or team leader who knows what they are doing. They need to have the experience to guide the review session, point out the errors that the agent or ISA is making on the call, and suggest ways to improve. Listening to your own calls by yourself has some value (allowing you to hear yourself make mistakes you already know are mistakes), but listening with an experienced coach allows you to identify mistakes that you didn’t even know were mistakes.

Conclusion: Don’t Skimp on Call Reviews

Real estate training call reviews allow both the ISA or agent and coach or team leader to gauge how they are doing. Hearing yourself make mistakes on your calls can be a rude awakening and reminder that improvement is necessary. And having a coach means that you will receive tangible, applicable advice about your calling techniques in real time.

This is why call reviews are such an integral part of our coaching programs at Smart Inside Sales. Along with role plays, reviewing the actual calls of agents and ISAs forms the backbone of our highly successful training techniques.

Learn more about Smart Inside Sales coaching options here.

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