Turn Calls into Cash

The phone rings. You answer. Darn, it's just another time waster wanting to know the address of one of those advertised listings or the price of a home with one of your company's "for sale" signs in the yard. Dejected, you hang up, convinced it was just another pointless call.

How often does this happen to you? Probably more often than you'd like to admit, right? But was it really a waste of time?

For many agents, the notion of taking "floor-time," "up-calls," or "duty-calls," regardless of what you call it, seems to be an absolute waste of time. Perhaps you just need to look at it a little differently.

You (or your broker) spend a lot of money, probably more than you realize, trying to get the phone to ring. It's why you market yourself and your listings. It's the nature of advertising to make the phone ring and convert prospective buyers and sellers into actual buyers and sellers.

More Leads = More Business. More Business = More Money.

Determine the True Value of a Lead

What if you discovered that every incoming phone call was worth $500? Would you look at the "Ring-Rings" a little differently?

How can you come up with your "lead conversion" ratio and the value of each lead? It's simple math. If it takes ten leads to generate one actual buyer, and the value of a buyer sale is $5,000 to you, then the value of each lead is $500.

Each time your phone rings, whether it's a result of your marketing or your broker's marketing, you have an opportunity to convert a prospect into a customer. If just one out of every ten leads (10%) is converted into an actual buyer—which translates into a commission of $5,000 to you—then the value of each lead is $500.

And if you could learn how to convert twice as many of these leads, you'd increase the value of each lead to $1,000. That's even better, isn't it? If only they'd tell you on the phone whether they're serious or not...

Separating Buyers from Liars

Have you ever asked yourself: "How can I find out if I'm talking to a BUYER or a LIAR?"

Here's a NEWS FLASH: they're ALL buyers to some degree, either directly or indirectly! What other reason would they have to pick up the phone and dial your number? Trust me: they're not just compiling data on how well you answer the phone!

Time for a reality check. Don't make the mistake many agents make by trying to get ALL of them to become YOUR buyers. It's not possible or wise to even try. Instead, use the opportunity to screen through enough of them until you find the RIGHT buyers for you. These should be the ones you've connected with by establishing a sense of RAPPORT and who have displayed some degree of MOTIVATION and URGENCY.

Look at it like this: you get an opportunity to pick which buyers you want to work with, if any. It's your choice, not theirs. If you feel there's a connection and they seem to have real MOTIVATION and URGENCY, then why not go ahead and let them apply for the job of becoming one of your customers? Nice posturing, isn't it?

Uncovering Motivation and Urgency

MOTIVATION is better described as your prospect's "WANNA" factor...or how bad they want to buy. Your job is to figure out if they really "WANNA" buy. For example, which of the following examples would you say is more motivated: (1) a young couple, no children, living in a two-bedroom apartment with nine months remaining on their lease, or (2) a family of four with another baby due in three months, living in a small two-bedroom unit on a month-to-month lease?

URGENCY, on the other hand, is based on the reality of their current situation. Look at it as their "GOTTA" factor. If they WANNA move but they don't GOTTA move, they might move. But if they WANNA move AND they GOTTA move, then they're much more likely to move, and of course they're more likely to BUY.

Consider the following scenarios: one couple with nine months remaining on their lease and the second couple with thirty days to decide whether or not to sign another annual lease with a heavy-duty early termination penalty. Which has more urgency?

Asking the Right Type of Questions

It would be great if all home-buying prospects would just tell you up front if they have the "WANNA" and the "GOTTA" factors, wouldn't it? But they won't. It just doesn't work that way. Your job is to ask enough questions—the right questions—to uncover the truth.

The next time your phone rings, and there's a prospective buyer on the other end of the phone, ask if it's okay to run a couple of questions by him while you're looking up the information he called about. Do this even if you have the information at your fingertips.

Then, instead of asking them the normal questions about WHAT they're looking for, try finding out WHY they're looking. Ask questions that will help you find out how long they've been where they are, how soon they need to move, how big a place they live in presently and how many of them live there. Then, if they pass the WANNA/GOTTA test, invite them to come into the office to meet with you and see if they pass the LIKABILITY test.

Turning a "Ring-Ring" into "Cha-Ching" is nothing more than separating the buyers that WANNA and GOTTA from those that DON'T WANNA and DON'T GOTTA. By focusing on their situations you're more likely to uncover their true MOTIVATION and URGENCY, or the lack thereof. Stick with the ones you LIKE that WANNA move and GOTTA move, and you'll be way ahead of the game. You'll not only be working smarter but you'll enjoy your work a whole lot more.