Real Estate Script #2: Inquiry on Property

When people call you to inquire about a property they’d like to see it should be pretty simple, right? Well, a lot of agents have a tendency to overcomplicate this type of interaction. What I want you to do in these situations is to just set the appointment no matter what. Set the appointment first, before you ask them any discovery or qualifying questions. Why? Because setting an appointment is much more difficult than cancelling one.

The real estate script for property inquiries is a simple one:

Hi Name, this is Agent with Real Estate Company. It looks like you’re interested in Address?

Great, when would you like to go see it?

That’s it. Give the lead what they want and set the appointment. Once you set it, now go into your discovery questions.

How long have you been looking for a house?

Are you seriously looking?

Do you live in the area currently?

What are you looking for?

Are you working with an agent?

And so on.

Real Estate Script #3: Request for a Listing Agent

There are several routes you can take when dealing with a request for a listing agent:

• You can avoid
• You can imply
• You can challenge
• You can offer more, better, faster, cheaper, easier (MBFCE)

The best case scenario is if you can avoid. For example, if the lead asks if they can speak with the listing agent for the property, you can avoid the question and counter with: “When would you like to go see it (address)?”

If the lead keeps pushing for the listing agent and says they have questions for them, then you can try implying: “We have a large team/brokerage, it could be one of ours but I don’t know at the moment. What questions do you have? Do you want to go see the property?”

If the lead is not satisfied by your “avoid” and “imply” answers, then you can move on to challenge: “What’s important about talking to the listing agent?” Then the lead will tell you what advantage they think they’ll gain by talking to the listing agent. That answer allows you to move on to MBFCE and gives you the ammunition you need to close.

More, better, faster, cheaper, easier (MBFCE): “If getting the best deal is important to you, would you be interested in learning how I can:

• “Save you 5% – 10% on the purchase of this home?”
• “Virtually guarantee that your offer wins over the 10-20 other ones the seller will likely get?”

Figure out what they think they will gain by talking to the listing agent and offer it to them.

Real Estate Script #4: Buyer Nurture Video Close

With COVID-19 ramping up again, converting leads to video calls is still a key part of the real estate process. Here are some closes you can use with buyer nurture leads (leads that are ready to buy a home now but will be in the future).

Learn Neighborhoods/Market:

 “Most of my buyers find it helpful if we have a quick video call so I can walk them through the neighborhoods and prices so that they can make decisions and narrow down their search. I’m available now for 10 minutes or so. I can send you a zoom link, would you prefer to use your smartphone or laptop?”

Off Market:

“I spend time actively looking for properties that aren’t yet on the market to send to my priority buyers. Let’s have a quick video call, I can pull up my MLS and you can tell me what works for you and doesn’t. That way as I’m finding new sellers out there in the world I can have you top of mind for a good deal.

 I can send you a zoom link now, would you prefer to use your smartphone or laptop?”

Buyer Unique Selling Proposition:

“I’m wondering would you be interested in (benefit 1) when it’s time to get serious about your home purchase?

 Great, well that’s just one of several benefits we are able to offer to buyers who work with me/our team. I’d like to show everything we offer in case any of it helps you get yourself ready before its time to start seriously shopping.

 I can go over it in 5 minutes or so, let’s jump on Zoom so I can show it to you. would you prefer to use your smartphone or laptop?”

Real Estate Script #5: Wrap Up Script

 You’ll use the wrap up script with essentially everyone—every new lead that you have coming in.

“Do you have any other homes you are interested in?

 I have access to all homes that are currently on the market, if you see something you are interested in, send it to me and I’ll get your questions answered. You don’t need to register on other websites otherwise you’ll have a bunch of sales people hounding you.

 Your information is out there on the internet now, so you may get calls from other sales people. You can just let them know you are working with (your name, from your company).”

Use these short scripts as part of your wider system, but remember that they are only useful to you if you are constantly working on discovery, objection handling, and closing.

If you’re an agent or ISA struggling to convert your leads, then Smart Inside Sales has a training program that will help called Conversion University.

How to Do Circle Prospecting Right

At its core, circle prospecting is just letting people know you buy and sell homes in their area. Putting up signs on current clients’ yards and stuffing flyers into mailboxes also all technically qualify as circle prospecting. But more often than not, when people say circle prospecting, they are referring to cold calling the surrounding homeowners.

There are several things that go into successfully circle prospecting:

1. Finding phone numbers
2. Having the right mindset
3. Using the most effective script
4. Following up
5. Following up
6. Following up

Finding Phone Numbers for Circle Prospecting

Step one is probably the simplest part of the process. In 2021 there are many companies that will provide you with phone numbers of people in a given geographic area. The important thing to remember here though is to always check “Do Not Call” lists. If people have taken the time to put their numbers on a list, then they are not going to be happy to hear from you and it will most likely be a complete waste of your time.

Having the Right Mindset

Having the right mindset is crucial for any type of cold calling. Really, it’s critical for any type of sales. That’s why I like to hammer this home to the agents in my training program. The only way you’re going to be able to keep up the motivation for calling number after number is if you are telling yourself a good story in your head about why you’re doing it.

• You’re working for yourself and your family. You’re building the life you want to live. You’re working hard to increase your GCI so you can work less and spend more time with your family.
• On the client side, you’re making the process simpler for them when it comes time for them to buy or sell a house. You’re building a relationship with them so they don’t have to worry about searching for and sifting through a bunch of agents when they need one. When it comes time to buy or sell, you’ll get it done for them better than most other agents would.

Tell yourself positive stories, and it will help you build positive outcomes.

Using the Most Effective Script

Here’s where I might deviate from other agents and teams. I think the key idea with scripts is to use them for support, but not to rely on them completely. One of the worst things you can do is sound like a robot and seem unable to spontaneously answer questions or respond naturally. The most critical thing to do is have a real conversation.

1. Answer the phone using the lead’s name, tell them you just recently listed or sold a house near them.
2. Ask them if they would also be interested in selling.
3. If no, ask them how long they plan to live in their current home for.
4. Ask them why they picked their current home.
5. See what they would look for in a new home.

Prepare questions and responses, but don’t lean on a script too much. Let the conversation flow, match their intensity and speaking speed, and just be friendly and find out about their current situation. Keep it simple. Even if they are not interested in selling in the near future, ask them if you can send them emails once in a while about real estate conditions and homes being bought and sold in their area. Get them in your funnel.

Follow Up, Follow Up, Follow Up

Following up is key to successful circle prospecting and building your sphere. One of the primary purposes of circle prospecting is developing future business. That means nurturing leads who may not want to sell now but will want to buy or sell in the future. Keep sending them valuable information (everyone likes hearing about what homes in their area go for), keep them updated on market conditions, especially if it becomes more advantageous for them to sell, and just generally be their real estate resource.

I would also recommend calling those leads every six months or so to check in with them. Ask them how they are doing, see how they are liking their current home, and tell them that if they are thinking about selling, you are ready for them. Following up via email and phone will help keep you top of mind.

Conclusion

Circle prospecting is an excellent way to develop and build new business. In today’s crazy real estate market, you have to use every tool at your disposal. Follow the tips we laid out above to do it successfully and make it worth your time.

How can you do that? By tailoring your opening statement to the specific person you are speaking to.

First off, assume the person who answered the phone is the person you were calling. Commit to their name; they’ll correct you quickly if it’s not right. Start your first sentence with “Hi Steve…” or “Hi Nicole…”. Then add a statement that lets them know that you know at least something about their situation. Something like, “Hi Mike, I saw you were looking for homes in Downtown Savannah”. By tailoring your message to the interests and behavior of your leads, you increase your chances of a positive sale.

Have a Real Conversation When Cold Calling in Real Estate

Real estate scripts can be very valuable when cold calling. They give you something to fall back on if the conversation gets away from you, they can help you have tried and tested responses to common objections, and they can give you a greater sense of confidence on the call. However, scripts alone are not enough.

Prospects can tell when you are just mindlessly repeating something you memorized. Instead, use the script as a starting point but then have a real conversation. Respond to what the lead is telling you in a way that is tailored to and makes sense for their specific situation.

Real Estate Sales Discovery

When it comes to cold calling, many agents and ISAs are too quick to close. More specifically, they try to close before they’ve put in the work to actually understand what the lead’s goals are—what their motivation behind buying or selling a home is (I’ll give you a hint, it’s not just “to buy or sell my house”).

You need to ask the right questions to dig down and understand what the lead is trying to accomplish through buying or selling, as well as additional information that will help you close later like:

• The prospect’s financial situation
• Their budget for buying a home
• Who is involved in the decision to move forward working with you
• What the prospect’s ideal timeframe is
• Potential objections the prospect might throw at you later in the conversation

There are probably hundreds of discovery questions and variations you can ask when cold calling in real estate, but here are a few of the most common and effective ones:

1. Where are you guys moving from? Great! Are you from there originally?
2. Who are you moving with?
3. Why are you guys looking to move out of your current home?
4. How long have you been looking for a new home? What have you liked about the homes you’ve seen? What kept you from buying that particular home?
5. Is this your first time buying a home?
6. How long has your current home been on the market?
7. Where are you planning on moving to?
8. When would you like to be in your new home?

Real Estate Objection Handling Strategy

There are a lot of strategies out there for overcoming real estate objections on your cold calls. We’ve found that the most effective one is known as the PPO process. PPO stands for Perspective, Process, Outcome. It’s important to note that we’re referring to the lead’s perspective, the lead’s process, and the lead’s desired outcome. These are the three parts of every objection.

• The prospect’s perspective is their past experience, knowledge and speculation. Examples of perspectives that may lead to objections are “I’ve sold my home myself before”, “I’ve already met with an agent”, and “I can do what an agent does, you guys don’t do much.”
• The prospect’s process is their own plan that they have for their situation. Examples of a process is “I’m going to sell my home myself”, “I’ll just use the agent I used before”, and “I am just going to wait until spring to sell my home and get a better deal”. 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. Examples of these are “not wasting time”, “avoiding disappointment”, and “proving to my neighbors or real estate agents or to the world that I am right”. Once you understand these three parts of your lead’s objection, then you follow these steps to overcome 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.

And Finally, Close Logically

Closing on your cold calls should be natural and bring all the above strategies together. If you are working with the lead to get an understanding of the outcome they desire, and you are powering through any objections they present, then the time to close is going to naturally arise once you can tell they are satisfied with your answers to their objections. Just follow the conversation.

If the lead says they are starting to interview new agents and get their home back on the market in a few weeks, then the logical time and way to close would be to say “Oh great! I am excited to show you how our team sells homes in less time and for more money than other agents. I am available on Wednesday or Thursday to meet. Which day works best for you?” That would not be the logical close if the lead said, “We’re not interested in selling. We took it off the market and are going to wait until the market improves.”

You see the difference?

Conclusion

Real estate cold calling in 2021 is difficult, but definitely not impossible. The biggest hurdle is low answer rates. But if you can get someone on the phone, then follow the strategies we outlined above, and you’ll to start to convert more leads and grow your business like never before.

If you’re an agent or ISA struggling to convert your leads, then Smart Inside Sales has a training program that will help called Conversion University. 

What’s the Problem?

Compared to seller agents, buyer agents are always constrained by the fact that they are physically showing houses to their clients and taking the time to research and find the best houses that meet their clients’ needs and wants. They also have to take the time to write offers. So, if you’re writing 10-15 offers without one going through, then you’ve got a large strain on your time with nothing to show for it.

In other words, how do buyer teams and agents keep their businesses afloat and thriving in the current crazy market? That’s the problem we’re trying to solve with these emergency real estate strategies.

Emergency Real Estate Strategies: Call Expired Listings

Because it is such a strong seller’s market right now, one of the best ways to successfully make deals for your buyers is to find homes that aren’t yet listed. There are several ways you can do this, but it’s important to remember to make clear to the seller that you represent the buyer and have a responsibility to them not the seller. The first strategy for cold real estate prospecting is contacting expired listings.

There may not be many expireds in your market right now because homes are selling so easily. With that said, it’s worth checking out. It’s also a good idea to call past expired listings from previous years. Contact listings that expired in 2017, 2018, or 2019 and ask if they would still like to sell their home. There’s a good possibility that some people don’t even realize what is happening in the market right now.

You may even find expireds who aren’t interested in listing their home but who may be open to having you bring a buyer by the house.

Look through Withdrawn FSBOs

In most markets, for sale by owners (FSBOs) are most likely having an easier than normal time selling their homes. However, similar to expired listings, there still may be some who are having trouble for a number of different reasons. Also, similar to the strategy for expired listings, go through withdrawn FSBO listings from previous years.

Again, you may find people whose home was taken off the market and who may feel reluctant to go through the process again and who don’t understand what’s going on around them in the real estate world. Believe it or not, there are people who don’t watch the news or scroll through social media. They either don’t know about the seller’s market or don’t quite understand what it means for them.

It’s your job to educate them and then tell them that they don’t have to go through the stressful process of selling their home again, because you have a buyer who is very interested in their home right now.

Go Door Knocking

In addition to calling expired listings and FSBOs, you also need to keep your ear to the ground in your market. Contact rental property owners to see if they would rather sell than rent because of the current market. If they seem like reluctant landlords, then they may be open to having your buyer stop by. Look for things like for rent by owner signs, people handling home improvement projects, talk to your network to see if anyone knows anyone who is thinking of selling—pull out all the stops.

If your market allows it, get out there, go door knocking, and start trying to make new contacts. Remember, your goal is to find properties whose owners are willing to sell but who haven’t listed them yet.

Find More Sellers, Too

What’s great about these strategies is that they also give you the potential opportunity to sign seller clients. Even if your first or second buyer doesn’t end up putting in an offer on the house, as you’re bringing buyers by these properties that aren’t even listed, the owner may become open to listing their home. And they see you already bringing buyers by, they recognize your initiative, and they might think that, even if your initial buyers fall through, you’re the person to sign with to get their property sold.

Aren’t these Strategies too Much Work Though?

Getting out and finding sellers before they list can be a lot of work. But so is writing 40 offers and only having one of them go through. These strategies aren’t necessarily more work, they are just different work—and they may have a better chance of bearing fruit than what you are currently doing.

Calling expireds and FSBOs, finding reluctant landlords, and reaching out to your network to find potential sellers are all ways that you can find homes for your buyers without spending large amounts of money purchasing leads. The current market calls for creative strategies that involve thinking outside the box or doing things you wouldn’t normally do.  

Ensure Your Client Is Preapproved

Again, the name of the game for a buyer in a seller’s market is to not give the seller any reason to doubt you’ll be able to follow through on your offer. You and your client may know that you will be approved for a mortgage loan, but unless they are preapproved, then the seller won’t know for sure. Unless your client is paying cash, then they really need to get preapproved before even beginning the home search and buying process.

Contact the Listing Agent

One thing you can do as a buyer’s agent is contact the listing agent to ask how they would like the offer prepared. If you can save the listing agent some time by preparing the offer exactly how the seller wants it, then they may be more inclined to recommend your client’s offer over a competing offer.

You Can Beat the Seller’s Market

It’s not impossible to help your buyer clients meet their goals and find the home they want in a seller’s market. You just need to keep them informed, make sure they understand that it’s a tougher situation than usual, encourage them to move as quickly as possible (but avoid impulse buying), and, above all else, keep their spirits up if they end up losing several properties they liked.

Not Thinking Strategically

Not thinking strategically could fall under not putting in the work, but I wanted to pull it out as its own reason. To be successful in real estate, you have to understand your market and the buyers and sellers within it. If you’re not constantly updating yourself on what’s selling, what’s not selling, what people are buying, etc., then you’ll be blind to potential opportunities all around you. Analyze your market, understand it, and recognize your place within it. Agents that don’t do that won’t make it.

Not Marketing Effectively

You have to have a solid, tangible marketing plan in order to be successful in real estate. At the very least you should have a website, a presence on social media, and a profile on both Zillow and Trulia. Yes, this means you need to put in even more work. When agents are starting out, they have to effectively become their own marketing agency, social media agency, and their own advertising manager. You have to figure out how to build your sphere online and learn how to effectively find clients on platforms like Zillow, Trulia, and Facebook.

This isn’t always easy, but marketing is the only way to grow and expand your business. To neglect it will almost certainly end your real estate career prematurely.

You’re going have no shows, you’re going to lose clients, you’re going to have sales fall through. This is the nature of the business and is unavoidable. Having a solid and successful inside sales team is how you mitigate the inevitable losses. They are the ones who keep a steady stream of new business coming through the door. And it all starts with hiring the right people.

It’s all about the mindset

Once you have made the decision to grow your business and hire one or more inside sales agent(s), the biggest fear typically becomes, “what if I hire the wrong person?!?”. Hiring the wrong person can cost countless hours and thousands of dollars—time and money you don’t have. So the key is to hire the right person, the first time around. According to insidesales.com, there are seven critical attributes that salespeople have to have. Of the seven, only three have directly to do with sales. The other four are as follows: