Did you ever get frustrated with the agent in your market that you see killing it? You know you have about the same marketing plan as them, but their production is way higher than yours. You both been in the business for about the same time, but what gives? You are thinking to yourself:

“What are they doing that I’m not”

“I’m way smarter than them”

“I know this market way better than they do”

“What’s their secret”

“How do I beat them”

You can have two agents performing the exact same marketing strategies, but have entirely different results. Are you curious about why this is?

So for the past two years I sat back and studied what the underlying difference is and it came down to a very simple conclusion.  Marketing, prospecting, lead generation, or whatever you want to call it comes in two forms.  You can be referred business, which is what I call warm business.  These are super easy to convert.

OR

You can have cold business, which is a potential client that you came across from one of your marketing efforts.  The difference is that you didn’t know this prospective client before.

So what’s the difference between the two agents? Why is one getting such better results than the other and they are doing the same thing?

Approach.

Here’s how cold lead generation works.

You get a lead.  Either they called you (permission based marketing) or you cold called them (this sucks). Regardless of how you come into contact, you have someone on the phone.

The primary goal of any lead should always be to set an appointment.  So therefore you need to build rapport before you set a face to face.  Getting that prospect to agree to meet with you depends on if they think you are worth meeting. To be worth meeting they must LIKE You and think you can add value to them.

Your primary goal should be to get them to like you as soon as possible.  How is this done?

In order to get others to like you, you must understand how communication is perceived.  If you can master the skill of communicating effectively, you are 75% of the way there.

60% of all communication is based on tone!

30% of all communication is based body language!

10% of all communication is based on content or what you actually say!

I learned this from my coach, which is the only reason I know about it. Think about how important the first 10-15 seconds is with any cold lead you speak to on the phone? The initial tone you have sets the pace of the call.  It’s your first impression! The more energy you bring the easier it is to build rapport!

When you are meeting with people in person, your body language is super important. It’s the way you shake someone’s hand to the direct eye contact you make. If your body language is weak and displays no confidence at all then you are more likely to come off as weak or incompetent.   This is deep stuff!

Nobody remembers what the hell you say unless its really interesting. If you have great tone and confident body language you are 90% of the way to getting someone to love you.

Conversion is sort of like dating.  Think about your significant other or your first serious boyfriend or girlfriend.  You knew if you were attracted to them in the first 15 seconds based on what they said and how they handled yourself.  Yes looks help, but on the phone there are no looks. If your mate was belligerently drunk slurring their words you probably may have lost attraction instantly.  If they were Rico Suave, the opposite happened.

Setting appointments with potential clients is exactly like this.  You have to “attract” them within the very first seconds you open your mouth! When you are doing this on the phone it’s all about your tone!  Are you excited when you answer your phone like, “HELLO THIS IS MIKE WHAT’S GOING ON”

OR

Do you sound like Ben Stein from the dry eyes commercial?

As I studied the personality of different agents I noticed the one differences between agents who convert very well compared to those who couldn’t schedule an appointment if their life depended on it.

Here are the traits I found the conversion pros to have:

Serving- The initial tone they use when they answer their phone made you want to give them a hug. They were very straightforward and were looking to help people, not sell them. If your initial tone from the second you take a call is very positive they led to more appointments. If they were having a bad day, not so much.

Friendly– The agent upon their call back would be more focused on talking about the prospect’s dog than anything else trying to build a rapport. They initially focused on building rapport vs. trying to pivot directly to a real estate conversation.

Educator– They focused on helping the potential lead get the answers they were looking for first. They didn’t talk about themselves at all and focused more on helping them than personal gain. If the potential client asked a crazy question they told them straight up it was a crazy question.

No Script– I hate scripts.  it’ sounds super cheesy and many people know you are reading off something. The way to schedule more appointments is when everything comes off as natural.  There is no script in the world that can prepare you for a call for since you don’t know what someone is going to call about.  If you are going the cold calling route, then maybe you have an idea of what you are going to say, but it has to be value first driven.

Honesty– The agent told them straight up the truth and didn’t try to beat around a bush.  If the property they were inquiring was a piece or crap, they told the potential client it was a piece of crap.  No BS, just straight shooters.

Focus all your “scripting” on relationship building.  Once you adapt this mindset you can throw your script in the garbage. Remember that people don’t want to be sold, they want to be served. Don’t chase deals, chase relationships! The best way to sell is to not sell anything at all.

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Creating systems to keep business opportunities coming is very important to running a successful real estate business.

Would you be interested in learning more about adapting a cold marketing attraction plan in your business? Do you want to run a business instead of being run by one?

If you answered yes to any of the above questions, you may want to check this out…