It’s among the most basic of all the up-sell tools in fast food training programs. Too bad real estate agents often don’t get the same quality of training as a 17 year old fast food worker. Whether commercial, residential, mortgage, or any other sales call for that matter, it really translates to “How else may I help you?” I’m a commercial agent and that’s where my perspective is anchored.
Before I call a prospect, I need to know something about them; even if it’s simply what their business is or the size and location of their building. That helps me get the conversation going. Some folks can take a list of phone numbers and dial away. That’s just not my thing. A little bit of familiarity helps me organize my call list based on geography, business type, or property use and helps grow my knowledge from one call to the next.
My first contact with prospects is to establish myself as a resource. I want to be their ‘real estate guy’. “If you’d help me gather some market data, I’ll be happy to share my results with you. This info will be helpful in assessing your current location and making important decisions about your future success.” I want to get them talking. The more I know about the market, the more I can help my clients. I can call 50 prospects and get useful data from 40 of them, or do I want to suffer 48 ‘nos’ for 1 or 2 who will actually have a current or near-future need. It’s a lot easier to stay motivated with 40 good calls instead of 48 rejections if you’re only asking for business, today… Much more useful in the long run too.
I wrap it up by confirming their email for sending the survey results. I now know more about the property, the owner or tenant, and market conditions, and I’ve made a commitment to deliver results. The fries? “Is there any other information or service that I can provide that we didn’t talk about?” It’ll be different for each prospect, but you’ve gotta ask.
RSS Feed