Your questions...

[Scott.Hack]

What questions are you using in your drip, or on the phone that seems to be getting a favorable response from people?

I've had mild success asking people for their email address so I can send them interior photos when they call the "info hotline" call capture system.

[DMG]

I must admit I have not been consistent on the web follow up, not like I should anyway. That being said the one e-mail that has produced the most results to date was one I found here on the forum. It was very quick & simple which is opposite of what I was normally doing - went like this:

"Good morning,

Thank you for signing up on our web site www.DerrickMonroe.com to search for properties.

I wanted to see if you need any assistance today? If you tell me what you’re looking for such as beds, baths, area, price range I can customize a search for you and send properties via e-mail for your review, just let me know. Thanks and have a great day!"

That got me 10 times the response anything else did.

[SCP]

Once I setup a saved search for a user and see they are visiting regularly, I will send out something like:

Hi first name,

Have you been receiving the listings I am sending you? I want to make sure you staying up to date on what is happening in the real estate market. Part of my job....

I have noticed some good response from this.

[Pete968]

"Good morning,

Thank you for signing up on our web site www.DerrickMonroe.com to search for properties.

I wanted to see if you need any assistance today? If you tell me what you’re looking for such as beds, baths, area, price range I can customize a search for you and send properties via e-mail for your review, just let me know. Thanks and have a great day!"

That got me 10 times the response anything else did.

This is a good piece. Straightfoward and obliging,`not pushy'. Thanks for sharing.

[Mitch]

Scott - The key to floor calls or any inquiry calls is to keep them on the phone.

One of the first systems I developed when I got in the business was my Floor time calls. I did my research and found that only 2% of all floor calls are converted to customers and sales. I was floored...no pun intended.

I spent 30 days listening to other Agents botch floor calls and then implemented my system. The result was in my first year, 36 sales, 28 were floor calls.

Without going through the entire system, remember that if you give them the info they are calling for immediately, it's very difficult to get an email address.

Try breaking the ice with some small talk while you are "looking up" the info they called on. Find out what they are looking to buy and plug it into your mls system. Once you give them the info, let them know how many homes match that criteria and ask them if they would like you to send the list to you.

I have used this a billion times...ok, not a billion, and I probably had an 80% success rate. My agents are well trained in this. Some do great and others don't listen so well to our training. All of our Agents have had floor call sales.

If you would like a copy of my phone call sheet we use on our leads when we call, feel free to send me a PM and I'll send you a copy.

I hope that helps a little.

[Tim Shepard Destin]

For Drips, I use a lot of one line questions. They are enormously more successful than the wordy, informational, emails. The best ones are:
1. I am curious to know how your search is going. Write me a note when you have a chance.
2. Are you still actively looking for a home? You can keep receiving the email information as long as you would like. Do you want to play with your search crtieria a little bit? Let me know if you would like to do this!
3. How is the home search going? Can I offer any assistance?

I save all drip email responses to a folder in outlook. That way I can see which ones are most effective and continually tweak the content. The three above are my best performers for the past year.

As far as telephone conversations go, you have to know what your goal with that caller is so I'm going to define it here.

YOU ARE ONLY TRYING TO GET THAT CALLER TO COMMITT TO YOU AS A REALTOR. YOU ARE NOT TRYING TO SELL HIM A PROPERTY IN THIS FIRST CONVERSATION!

Mitch gave you some good advice which was, keep them on the phone for a long time. I'll take this one step further and add "have them do most of the talking, at least for the first 10 minutes or so".

The best way to get them to talk is to ask them open ended questions. While they are talking, you have to be listening carefully. While you are listening, you need to identify at least one area that you are either an expert on or that you can make a strong connection with them.

My favorite questions are:
1. Why are you looking to move? What is it about this house that caught your eye?
2. What's your lifestyle like, in other words what types of activies, schools, amenities, etc. are important to you?
3. What's important to your spouse or other members of the household?
4. Are you familiar with any neighborhoods or cities in the area? What's your experience with those?

I don't ask all of these to everyone but based on my "read" of the caller, I'll ask some of them. These questions get the caller talking and make it much easier to prolong the conversation. Based on what they say, I'll frame another question and they'll talk some more.

After, I've asked 3 or 4 questions, they've typically been talking 10-15 minutes. That's when I start demonstrating my expert knowledge of different neighborhoods and cities. I do this by matching specifics of what they said with characteristics of different neighborhoods or homes.

I always make it a point to bring up a couple of neighborhoods that don't fit their criteria. In my opinion, it is more important to tell them about neighborhoods that don't fit, than it is to tell them what does fit. This is what establishes your authority as an expert and sets you apart from other agents they may be talking to.

Establishing authority is fairly easy to do. However, you must reaffirm this authority at least once more during the conversation. My favorite comment is along the lines of, "Based on what you've told me about your family, lifestyle, and budget, I saw this house on Shepard Street, in Destin Florida that would be perfect".

This reaffirms my authority at their specific level. They know that they will be better off with my services because I just showed them how I can help them.

Keep in mind, that this caller, has probably already talked to 5 or 6 realtors and they feel like they hit the jackpot by talking to me. The next time they see a sign in a yard, or an advertisement in a magazine, they will call me for additional information instead of calling the number on the ad.

That's what I mean by getting them to committ to me.

[donnalong]

This is an initial email we send out that seems to get a very good response.

Hi name,

I noticed you have been searching for homes in our area. Please feel free to use our website Columbus Home Show all you want. We have it there as a service to you. On the site you can save a search that will send you listings coming on the market that fit your criteria on a daily basis - or let us know and we can set this service up for you.

If you are seriously trying to find a home in our area, we would be glad to use some additional search tools we have available. This will allow us to do a more specific and comprehensive search on your behalf.

My wife Donna and I have extensive knowledge of the area and will be glad to help you find that perfect home. We enjoy what we do and will put our experience to work for you to make your home purchase a successful and pleasant experience! We can help with everything from locating financing, to negotiating the offer, to the close, and beyond.

We love to negotiate on your behalf. I hope you will let us help you make a wise decision and a good investment! Wayne and Donna 706-325-5000
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