Converting a phone call into a successful sale depends so much on the salesperson’s skill. Although your client may not be ready to buy a house tomorrow or in a week’s time, follow-ups shouldn’t be done to a point that your sales prospect will get irritated or pressured.
Get over your reluctance and start calling these people with these 5 useful tips in mind:
1. Don’t Wait
The old adage “time is of the essence” couldn’t be more true. You have to assume that the client is talking to another broker and, thus, you’re in a race to give him or her a better option. According to an article published in Forbes, you have a very high chance of reaching your prospect if you call within the next 5 minutes from online inquiry.
Remember, the property inquiry was made online and was simply forwarded to you. The longer you wait, the lower your odds are to turn the client into an actual homebuyer. Moreover online marketing specialist Lou Lynch said that waiting longer than 5 minutes to call a prospect has a 46 percent lower rate of qualification than those called in under 5 minutes. He added that a call made as soon as 30 minutes after submission reduces your conversion ratio to over 100 times.
2. Check Your Lead’s Preferences
Before you pick up the phone, check your client’s preferences to remind yourself what the prospect is looking for: number of bedrooms and bathrooms, location, price, etc. This will give you insight into the buyer’s needs, allowing you to prepare a list of properties that you have just been published or even those that are not listed yet.
Offer useful tips and advice on the area your prospect is currently looking at. This will make you look knowledgeable about the market, giving you an edge over the other brokers they have already spoken with.
3. Carefully Choose What You Say
Avoid talking about yourself, your company, and your accomplishments so much. The client definitely wouldn’t want to hear about any of these. Instead, you can rephrase your introduction by focusing on how you can be of service to the client.
Also, don’t scare potential clients away by striving too hard toward making an appointment. If the client is amenable remaining on the phone, you can gently ask him or her qualifying questions, such as his or her tentative move-in date or whether he or she has already spoken with a lender.
4. Offer Something Extra
You can give your client a printed market report, e-book on property buying, or a catalog of the property he or she is eyeing and other similar properties your client might consider choosing instead. Even if your prospect won’t read them, no one can resist anything that’s FREE.
Most of the time prospects are impressed on salespeople who go the extra mile to provide something extra to potential clients, simply because they feel that the latter were able to deliver what they have promised. You can also offer your client email alerts or e-newsletters when there are new listings that match his or her criteria.
5. Ask Permission to call back.
Before you close your call, ask permission to follow up by making your prospect agree on a specific time and date for your next call. Politely nudge your prospect to commit (“How does next Tuesday, 10 am, sound?”). If it doesn’t work, get the prospect to establish a time and date. Setting up a deadline is a simple but very powerful tactic to keep your client engaged.
Contacting your clients via email instead? Here’s a prospecting email format you can use to catch their attention.
