Getting appointments from leads you generate online is a key ingredient to being successful in real estate and other services businesses for that matter. For many real estate professionals and business owners the phone is the “necessary evil” in the game. The evil mainly comes from the rejection that is faced, which is only alleviated by moments of glory when someone agrees to an appointment.
It can feel frustrating receiving online leads, that when you call them you can feel they are only interested in a few tidbits of information or you can tell they are “shopping you” with no intent to do business with you. Remember before you have a relationship with a potential customer it is natural for them to have their guard up. After all, whether you are a real estate professional, a pest control professional, plumber or another service professional there are plenty of “horror stories” that make it natural for a stranger to keep their guard up. Their hesitance doesn’t have as much to do with you as it does with the overall industry you are in and the fear they might make a bad decision.
The key to having more success (and fun) in your business is to ensure that you have more moments of glory and face less rejection. Focusing on four simple steps on each call will make your calls easier and will have more appointments coming to meet with you every day.
Step 1: Control the call
Too many times real estate agents and service professionals start selling on the phone because that is the training they received (or they simply don’t have enough leads and they do this out of desperation). When you start selling, your future customer turns off their ears because they are conditioned to ignore sales people. They have one thousand other things to do on their plate and you aren’t helping get that stuff done when you start telling them about your service or awards.
From those very first moments on the call, it is essential to make all of the information you share (or ask questions about) be about them and their needs. To make it about them you need to control the call quickly with questions, but they need to be the right questions.
Step 2: Ask Yes and No Questions
It is important to build some rapport with your prospect in the first 1-2 minutes of the phone call. Building rapport does not mean asking about their family or trying to find something in common. Leave those techniques for when you meet with them in person, your goal is to get them to come to your office.
Your first two questions need to be slam dunk questions where you get a “Yes” and your third question needs to receive a “No” answer so you can transition them into seeing how you can help. The questions don’t need to be complicated, in fact the simpler the better.
This pattern of “Yes, Yes, No” can work for real estate professionals or nearly any service industry. Take for example someone calling about a problem with their Air Conditioning system to an HVAC Professional:
- “Did you purchase this home with the air-conditioning system in place?”
- “Has it been working fine until just recently?”
- “Have you had it serviced recently?” or “Have you ever replaced a major component of the system prior?”
With these questions, the most likely response pattern is “Yes, Yes, No” as otherwise they really wouldn’t be calling. As soon as you get a “No” (after at least two “Yes” answers) that is your opportunity to add value.
Step 3: Acknowledge what they say
This is essential to building quick rapport. Don’t just blitz through three questions and figure you are going to get the appointment. Take the time to acknowledge what they say when they are answering your questions and use it to transition into your next question.
An easy example comes from the field of real estate:
Your Question: “Is this going to be your first purchase?”
Prospect: “Yes my wife and I want to buy a home”
You: “That’s great that you and your wife are looking to purchase a home. Have you had a chance to learn about first time buyer programs?”
This small acknowledgement of what they said makes it easy for you to get in your next question, getting closer to the close.
Step 4: Don’t use the word “appointment”
Avoiding the word “appointment” is one of the top ways to actually start booking more “appointments”. The word appointment conjures up too many bad thoughts like the Dentist or your Accountant at tax time. Make your offer to meet easy and you will get them to agree.
Instead of asking for an appointment, ask them “I would be happy to take some time to learn more about your goals and at the same time see how we can help”.
Skipping steps is not an option. Each one is essential to building rapport and getting closer to getting them to say “Yes” to meeting with you.
