AgentLocator Live Dials and Expert Talk, June 1, 2022
In this week’s Live Dial Session, Beverly is helping Paisley. Paisley thinks she is coming off too strong on the phone, which might be scaring her leads away.
If you are interested in learning Beverly’s secret hack of knowing how to always ask the right questions in the right way, then dive in right away ??
Transcript:
Paisley: 0:04
I was doing really well come, like, November. Maybe November, December, January, February, and then March, April, May, I fell off the wagon. I have not been following up with people like I should have been. I started delegating one of my agents to be calling for me because I wasn't calling my buyers, so I gave her those on a referral basis. So, yeah, so, now, I just need to get it together. I wouldn't mind; like the last time I was trained on calls was two years ago at my last brokerage. And I, kind of, just, I think I'm scaring people away. I'm coming off too strong when I do make calls, and I don't like the, I don't think I'm coming off desperate, but I don't want, like, there was something on the call last time where you guys are, kind of, like, instead of saying: Are you pre-approved?, ask them how they've been, are they comfortable with their budget? Like, what's their budget in mind? And what did their mortgage lender say that price would be on, like, their pre-approval or something?
Bev: 1:12
It was: What are you looking to spend a month on a mortgage payment, and do you know what price of a home is going to put you there?
Paisley: 1:20
Yeah, that's it.
Bev: 1:22
Yep.
Paisley: 1:23
So, I just, I need to, like, make mental notes. And I'm going to make some notes, too, on, like, what I should be saying to people and what scares people, what doesn't scare people, and, kind of, build more rapport.
Bev: 1:35
So, let me ask you this, Paisley, because a lot of this comes down to what your objective is in the phone call. When you sit down to make phone calls, what is your primary objective that you want to see happen?
Paisley: 1:51
I want them to answer their phone first of all.
Bev: 1:53
Good answer.
Paisley: 1:59
I want to, kind of, understand where they're going with things, like are they looking to buy in the next month, or six months, or a year? Or, you know what I mean, kind of get a feel for…
Bev: 2:12
Right?
Paisley: 2:14
Sorry?
Bev: 2:15
Or if not, even at all?
Paisley: 2:16
Yeah, like, I do think a lot of people lie on their phone calls because they're just busy or they already have an agent. So, I kind of just want to figure out if they're legit or not and what their time frame is so that I'm not overwhelming them with listings and calling them but, kind of, know, like, where I should be on the - what is it called? Basically, how often I should be in contact with them, right? I don't want to overwhelm them. And I also, if possible, I want to set up an appointment with them if they are, like, legit in the next three months.
Bev: 2:49
So, that being your objective, which is absolutely spot on, is to find out where they are in the process, right? Like you said, a month, three months, six months, like where are you on this timeline? My question to you is: What do you need to know from your leads to know their timeline?
Paisley: 3:14
Well, if they have a house to sell because that's going to take some time to figure out, you know, a listing appointment and stuff.
Bev: 3:22
Yep.
Paisley: 3:24
If they have kids because usually, people don't want to move when their kids are in school. Family situation, like, why are they moving? That's about all I got right now.
Bev: 3:42
So, what is there about what you just said that is salesy or pushy if you're asking those questions to find out the answers to those?
Paisley: 3:52
Sorry. You broke up there for a second.
Bev: 3:56
What is it in what you just shared with me that would be salesy, or seem pushy, or seem to be too much?
Paisley: 4:06
I feel like people just, if you don't have a rapport with them, they don't want to share their personal lives with you.
Bev: 4:11
Let me ask the question in a different way.
Paisley: 4:12
All right.
Bev: 4:14
So, you shared with me that the most important thing to find out from them is: Do you own? Or basically, do you rent? Like: What's your current situation? Do you have kids? What's your family situation? What's, maybe, your job situation? As you were talking to me about that, those are all the same questions that you should be asking the people because you know exactly what you need to get on the phone call. You just told me. So, it's easy for you to conceptualize: I need to find this, this, and this, but what are those questions that are going to take you down that path to find out those answers? There's nothing salesy about it. There's nothing pushy about it because how can you be pushy asking a question? Now, if someone comes to me with a Big Mac, is like: Do you want a Big Mac? And are, like, shoving it in my face, that's one thing, right?
Paisley: 5:05
Yeah.
Bev:5:06
But there's no real way when you're asking a question to be pushy. Unless you're like: Hey, give me your credit card. Like: Can I have your credit card? Like, asking for the sale. But when you're asking those questions about: So, what is your current situation? Do you own a home now? Do you have to get rid of that home to buy a home? What's the reason you are going to buy? You laid out the entire script just on telling me what's important to find out.
Paisley: 5:39
Yeah, I guess. I just, I guess, I might get nervous on the phone.
Bev: 5:45
And here's why. When you go to; well, let me ask you this. When you go to an event, and there are a lot of people, and a lot that you don't know. So, there's no safe zone for you to go to. Say you're going to a community event, and it's a business networking event. You don't know one single person in there.
Paisley: 6:07
Just happened yesterday.
Bev: 6:08
What?
Paisley: 6:09
I just did that yesterday for the first time.
Bev: 6:12
And when you walk in, what are your first feelings when you're walking in not knowing anybody?
Paisley: 6:18
Why did I come?
Bev: 6:22
Because: Okay, why did I pick up the phone? Why am I calling leads?
Paisley: 6:25
Yeah.
Bev: 6:26
Right? So, what happened when you went in, Paisley? You're nervous, right? There are some nerves there, right?
Paisley: 6:34
Well, I went; one of my friends met me there. So, I was fine. But if I didn't know anyone, which I definitely looked at some people that didn't know anyone, and I was like: Oh, you poor soul. Because it would be overwhelming for me to show up somewhere where, like, I'm in a different city that I don't know. I hope I'm at the right place. I have no idea if I'm at the right place. It looks like I am. Imagine you sit down, and all of a sudden, it's the wrong speech.
Bev: 7:00
Yeah.
Paisley: 7:01
So yeah, so I don't like doing that kind of stuff.
Bev: 7:04
Yeah. Because it brings back those not-so-good memories, right? You're like: Oh, I don't like this feeling. I'd rather run from it, right? Picking up the phone and making phone calls is even worse than that. And here's why. You were able to walk in there and look at people and really make a judgment on if you want to talk to somebody, if it looked like you wanted to talk: Oh, that person looks like a really cool person I want to get to know. I want to go talk to that person. When you're on the phone, you have no idea what you're calling into. You can't prejudge anything. You can't see anything. You're literally going in blindfolded. And that's why it's so difficult for us to get over that phone phobia, is what I'll call it because you never know what you're going in on. Because our eyes can't see it, and a lot of us are visual people, especially as salespeople, we're visual people. So, prejudging that phone call by, you know, it makes me nervous just to, you know, just that they're not going to answer the phone, or I'm not going to know what to say. So, we already have that feeling of discomfort. And would you be, is that feeling of you walking into the unknown, like you did yesterday, and sitting down and picking up the phone, is it the same, kind of, ish feeling?
Paisley: 8:43
No, I think I'm, kind of, over the phone phobia because they can't see me either.
Bev: 8:20
Okay.
Paisley: 8:21
And they're not going to remember who I am. Because I don't, when I call, I don't say: Hi, I'm an agent. I say I'm calling from my website name.
Bev: 9:00
Okay.
Paisley: 9:01
It's more so, once I do introduce that I'm an agent because I say: Well, if there's anything; I know you laughed at people, well you didn't laugh at people, but you can laugh because people always say that it's like: Let me offer you anything you want to see. Click. Right?
Bev: 9:15
Yeah. Yeah.
Paisley: 9:17
So, when they see that they are looking and everything, I say: Okay, well, if anything stands out to you, like, I'm going to be sending you these, let me know. And we can, kind of; like, sometimes I talk to a mortgage agent. Sometimes I haven't. But essentially, I'll introduce myself as an agent by the end of the phone call, but just so that they stay on the phone with me, I don't introduce myself at the very beginning because real estate agents have a bad name for being salesy and wasting people's time. But if I was making calls in front of people like my colleagues, I would be sweating pretty bad. I don't like that.
Bev: 10:01
And why?
Paisley: 10:02
Why? Because…
Bev: 10:04
Your dog's making my dog bark.
Paisley: 10:08
I'm sorry. It's my neighbor who's always outside. Only when I'm on calls, he's outside.
Bev: 10:16
Oh my Gosh, it's so funny.
Paisley: 10:21
Yours sounds a lot smaller than mine. But yeah, I'm usually okay, once I get into the role of making calls. It's just, like, starting that first one and getting into it is not always easy.
Bev: 10:36
It's not. Because it's that, like, initially showing up. And then you get there, and you're like: Oh, I got a text message. I'll have to make phone calls.
Paisley: 10:47
Yeah, yeah, exactly. Or, like, calling and just being like: Hey, is this person going to waste my time or not? Or, like, is it going to be worth the phone calls today? I know that sounds so bad. But it's so easy to be like: No, it's a nice day. I'm going to go cut my lawn instead. I've literally done that twice now.
Bev: 11:05
100%. And, you know, this is a good spot to lead into why that organization of why the call filters are set up is so vital. Because it is so easy to do exactly what you just said, to get overwhelmed and just go; it's like walking into your kid's room that's, like, clothes are completely out of the closet and out of the drawers and all over the floor, and you don't even know where to start. And it's like peeing in the ocean, right? You pick up a shirt, you, like, fold, like, a pile, and you still have the whole room yet to clean up. It's, like, never-ending. And the call filters are really designed for us to be able to remove that overwhelm, or remove that feeling of - I don't know where to go. Because when you have, and I always use the GPS analogy, when you sit down, plug in the destination, it says 550 miles, and there's no turns, exits, or any veer offs, 550 miles, a mile at a time, takes a long time to take off. But whenever you're looking at five miles here, 50 miles here, 25 miles here, it's palatable, and you feel like you're getting there faster, but it's the same amount of miles. So, the call filters do just that. They break it down into increments of priority. Because to your point, Paisley, when you sit down, you want to be able to sit at your computer and know, if you get a hold of somebody, it's going to be a higher quality lead than anybody else in your database. And the only way we can do that is to design the filters to bring the priority leads to the top so that you're not filtering through and, for lack of a better term, cherry-picking who you're going to call. Because we spend more time going in to look at: Oh, let's see who's over that $2 million mark. I'm going to call these five people, right? We spend more time looking and preparing than we actually do the action of the phone calls. If everybody was right there, you could: boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
Paisley: 13:23
Yeah, I stopped going out of my way calling people. I mean, I shouldn't do this because I don't know if that's, like, a legit thing. But anyone with a budget under $300,000, I can't do anything for them right now. There's nothing I can do. I'm already driving around like crazy for one person because it was a referral. And it's just; it's exhausting for everyone involved.
Bev: 13:49
Yep. And how we, though; now, is that pre-conversation or post-conversation that you determine that $300,000 lead?
Paisley: 13:59
Well, if I've, what I was doing is if I haven't gotten a hold of them, I'm not going to keep reaching out to them if it says 300,000.
Bev: 14:09
So, how many of those do you legitimately have in your database?
Paisley: 14:15
No idea because I have been so out of touch, and I'm just being honest.
Bev: 14:21
So, question. This is going to be; it's going to be a funny question. But do you like the sales racks whenever you go to a store?
Paisley: 14:30
No.
Bev: 14:31
You come to the store, and you're like: 99. You're like: I am going to the bargain rack. Yeah?
Paisley: 14:39
Oh, the sales section.
Bev: 14:41
Yes. Or even an end cap. An end cap, it's, like, the special.
Paisley: 14:48
Yes, sorry. I thought you were saying the sales reps. And I was like: No, I hate all of them.
Bev: 14:52
Oh, yeah, I know what you mean. But the price of the sales, right? If they have today's special. Oh, what's today's special, right? You're automatically going to get gravitated to that.
Paisley: 15:07
Yeah.
Bev: 15:08
Do you think that people that are looking online get gravitated to that one $300,000 property on the market that's like: Oh my God, what the hell do you buy for 300,000? I got to see that.
Paisley: 15:21
True.
Bev: 15:22
But how often do you actually buy the sale? How often do you usually buy the end cap?
Paisley: 15:32
Not very often.
Bev: 15:33
But you buy something in the store that you went in to get. So, those $300,000 leads could, in essence, be million-dollar people, but we don't know until we've had the conversation to find out why they were looking and what they were looking for.
Paisley: 15:48
Yeah, they could have other connections, too, brothers, sisters.
Bev: 15:51
100%. And, you know, a part of adding to your objective on a phone conversation, Paisley, is truly, it's our job, how do I want to say this, it's our job to educate and give the tools and the bonuses we get to close on somebody. Because really, truly, our everyday process should be all about educating people in the real estate market, in the housing industry, in what's happening with sellers, in what's happening with buyers, and as we're conveying what's going on with the market, as we're giving them our expertise, knowledge, to equip them, to position them to win, whether it's a seller at a high number, or a buyer that we've negotiated really, really well and they didn't incredibly overpay. The bonus is we get to close these people that we're educating. Instead of looking at these people, like: I don't want to waste my time with you. It's: How can I help you understand the market and see if you'll fit into the market, to see if there's a marriage that you and I could actually come into a relationship with and meet your expectations?
We're so focused on: If I call this person, they better be worth my time to make closing. But if I say: You know what? Everybody's going to be moving at some point in their life. Am I going to be the person that's going to fit into their life when that time comes? Because it could be in 30 days, and it could be in three years, but then our only other job is to find out from them: How can I fit in your life, right? I would really like to be part of your life and your journey in the home-buying process, whether it's 30 days or 30 years. 30 years is a bit much, but you get my point. Whenever we change our scope and our mindset to: I want these people to have a really good experience, and there are so many bad agents out there, they have to use me. What can I do to earn their business? I didn't convince them to use me. What can I do to earn their business that they're going to want to continue this relationship? How often would you like me to check in? When I check in, what would you like me to update you with? That takes the guesswork out of it for us. But I will tell you this, Paisley. It's easy for me to say this because we forget very, very quickly this part of the journey and how much we love helping people; whenever that person that we just spent two freaking days and two gas tanks of gas, and they ditch us, and we find that they went under contract with a new construction two days later.
Paisley: 18:51
Yeah.
Bev: 18:52
Right?
Paisley: 18:53
I've had that happen now.
Bev: 18:57
So, you can see how quickly we forget, and we go back to, I don't want to call it desperation mode, but our tune changes because we're like: You… Like, I spent two weeks with this last person, like, just loving somebody. Like, just, if you don't like what we're doing, just tell me before we get to the finish line, right? Like, or not get to the finish line. And this is, I'm going to say this has to be one of the most perfect life courses that anybody can be on is in real estate and sales, to really learn about people and learn about ourselves. And that's why I said: It's easy for me to sit here and say our job is to talk about, to equip, to help people, and the bonus is the close because a lot of times we do get kind of sh on. And then it makes what we used to love to do, it makes it the job, and then it makes it about the money because then we start, our minds can't help it, we start then exchanging our time for the lack of money that we're receiving because of how much time we're spending on people, and they're not getting, we're not getting the word back. And that is what makes us anxious. That is what makes those phone calls different. Because we're looking for that paycheck. And we're looking for that close. And we're looking for that person because we haven't had a closing the last three or four months, because we can't get our four buyers under contract, because we're doing our job ten times over what we should only be doing once.
Paisley: 20:40
With all those agents out there that also make false promises, right?
Bev: 20:44
Yep.
Paisley: 20:45
And then they're like: Well, this. And I'm like: Well, that does not happen. And then later on, once they're in contract, they find out that they just ditched them and just have them under contract, and they have to use them and won't release them. But they lied about their availability, their commission, getting paid, like, getting paid after their sale, stuff like that.
Bev: 21:08
Well, and that's why I made it my duty that I had to save every person on my website. And that's when my game changed because my conversations changed. Because I knew if I did everything out of that space of empathy and my job, I don't give a sh what you do, I don't care when you buy, I just want to make sure that you're educated, that you're making your decisions based upon the information you've received, and not because you feel loyal to somebody. That's my job. If you go, and you have a bad experience with somebody, I can't help that. If you have a bad experience with me, I don't want you to, so I'm going to ask you and our buyer agency, this buyer agency agreement is not for you to sign, for you to commit to me, so I get paid. This is for you to be able to hold me accountable because when I have this signed with somebody, you are my only client. And I want, I may have five other clients. But I want you to feel like I'm your only client. And by you signing this paper, it's holding me accountable to promise what I'm telling you I'm going to be doing. So please, if anything, if there's ever any reason why you would want to cancel this agreement because I don't live up to that, please tell me so I can be better.
Paisley: 22:32
No, I've told people that before, too.
Bev: 22:35
And my point, Paisley, is nobody else is doing that. So, it is; honestly, you're doing your community a disservice by not calling the people in your database and telling them that and saving them from a horrible experience. Because there ain't no other agent out there that has empathy and cares as much as you do, or you wouldn't be on this call right now.
Paisley: 23:03
Yeah.
Bev: 23:04
And that's what changes the game because you're like: Oh my God, I got to call these people. I got to save them because if they go with XYZ competition, oh my God.
Paisley: 23:15
Especially right now with all the things not closing.
Bev: 23:18
Yeah.
Paisley: 23:19
No idea. Oh, I just lose my deposit. I'm like: No, you lose your deposit plus the $200,000 that you cause damages for that seller, which is insane for us anyways. I don't know about over there. But in Canada, in Ontario.
Bev: 23:36
And that's where buyers beware, right? Buyers need to know. And I don't even mind talking to people on the phone that are already under contract.
Paisley: 23:45
Oh, you will? Yeah. I always say: I'm, like, sorry. I can't say anything. You need to talk to a lawyer.
Bev: 23:50
So, you haven't heard my story. And I am forced to repeat because we have a lot of people on today, and this is definitely worth the repeat because this is a real-life truth. I had a lead come in. I called her, asked her if she wanted to see the property. And she says: Actually, no. I was looking in that development to see what the sales prices were because we just put a contract on a property. And I said: Okay. I said: Did you find what you were looking for? She says: Yeah, no. She said: The one wrote almost 320. And I pulled the subdivision up, and I said: What did you find? And she goes: Well, I really haven't found anything yet. I just saw this one that was on the market. And she goes: I was just wondering. She's like: Can I ask you a question? And I said: Sure. She said: Is $400,000 too much to pay for this home? And I said: Which home is it? I pulled it. And I said: I can't tell you what's too much. But do you; I said: When you wrote your contract, do you have an appraisal contingency? And she says: What do you mean? Now, here's why I can talk to her. She came into my website with her phone number, her email address, and her name. I call her. She's asking me questions. That's okay. I did not call her to steal her. Like, it's not like calling a home that's actively on the market, right?
Paisley: 25:19
Yeah.
Bev: 25:20
So, as we move forward into the conversation, I come to find out the home was at 320. 350 was the number. There hasn't been a home that sold over 350 in that neighborhood. They wrote a contract at 400 with no appraisal contingency, and they did not understand if the appraisal did not come in, that they would be liable for the extra $50,000. And she said; and I had to explain that to her. She says: What would you do? And that's where it gets dicey, right? I was like: I can't tell you what to do. But if I was talking to my mom, and my mom was in this situation, this is what I would tell my mom. We closed on her two weeks later because her agent fired her. Because her agent told her she needed to make up her mind and know what she needed, what she wanted to do with buying a home.
Paisley: 26:13
There are a lot of those.
Bev: 26:15
The agent fired her, but that buyer was still loyal to that agent.
Paisley: 26:23
So, was she under contract - firm, or was she conditional?
Bev: 26:27
No, it was submitted. The contract was submitted, and they were waiting for the date once they called highest and best. So, it was a Saturday, and they weren't reviewing the offers until Monday.
Paisley: 26:40
So, they pulled their offer?
Bev: 26:41
They changed it. And, you know, and then after that, they didn't take the offer. The agent sent her another property that they wanted to see. I'm following up with this lady. So, I got; I knew that she was going to talk to the agent about changing the offer, right? I called the lady back the next day. And I just said: I'm just checking in to see what's going on. She goes: Yeah. She goes: We changed the offer, and they didn't take it. I said: Okay. I said: What chance, do I still have the ability to earn your business? I was on speakerphone in her car. Her husband goes: Yes. And I started laughing, and he says: I am tired of our agent taking the properties that my wife finds online and then showing, and we're always late. He says: I need an agent that is going to find the property, so my wife doesn't have to.
Paisley: 27:43
Yeah.
Bev: 27:44
I said: Well, you found the right person. I had my agent send her properties. I said: Kimberly, we'll be sending you properties tonight. She'll be calling you back tonight. You go through them. Well, she never got back to Kimberly. So, the next day I called. I said: Huda; she's Indian. I said: Huda. I said: We sent you properties. What happened? She says: Well, the other agent sent me this property, and I went to see it. And she goes: I really think I want to write a contract on this. And I said: With her? She says: Yeah, I just feel loyal to her. She's done a lot of work for us, you know? Yeah. Okay. So, her daughter then went to see the house. Her daughter didn't like it, and she's not gonna write an offer on it. And that's when the agent fired her. She says: You need to make up your mind. I'm writing you offers, and you're not winning. You want to see this house. You want to write an offer. You don't want to write an offer. I can't work with you anymore. They were all townhomes, Paisley. We got her in a single-family home that she never thought she could have gotten into. And that's the thing, right? We got them the home of their dreams. They were crying at the settlement. I can't believe I got a home. I can't believe I have my own backyard. They never looked at a single-family home with the other agent.
Paisley: 29:01
Yeah.
Bev: 29:02
And that's what I'm talking about, right? When that passion changes so much, I cared about her. I didn't give a sh if she used me or not. I cared about her. And here's the thing, even if they would have gone to the settlement with that other agent, their next sale, their friends, their family who they want to refer?
Paisley: 29:24
You.
Bev: 29:25
Exactly. So, no conversation is ever a waste of time because you'll never know where it's gonna lead to if we're truly emitting. I don't even know if that's the right word; like, exuding the passion to help people.
Paisley: 29:44
Yeah.
Bev: 29:45
It's so easy to lose that, Paisley, because we get beat up in this industry. And it's hard to want to commit to people. It's hard to want to pour everything in people because they sh on you in a drop of a hat.
Paisley: 30:00
But if you keep it up, then you'll get referrals, and referrals are always best.
Bev: 30:04
Lifetime value of a client.
Paisley: 30:08
Yeah.
Bev: 30:10
And when we're doing what we're supposed to be doing, that lifetime value is going to be compound. And when you look at your database, and you look at the leads that you're calling, keeping that in mind, that no conversation is ever going to be a waste of time because even if they're not buying now, it doesn't mean they can't refer you.
Paisley: 30:34
100%, yup.
Bev: 30:36
But again, it's easy to lose sight whenever we get sh on two days. I mean, usually, it happens, right? Like three clients in a row. Listing falls through. They take it off the market. They're not selling it. You just have hundreds of dollars out in marketing. The buyer walks. They're just frustrated. They don't want to buy a house anymore. And then you have a deal fall through the week before settlement. Why are we in real estate?
Paisley: 31:01
For the rollercoaster ride.
Bev: 31:03
Well, but it pays off.
Paisley: 31:05
Sometimes.
Bev: 31:06
I said: When it pays. You could be in commercial real estate, right? And wait years for money.
Paisley: 31:15
No, I would never. No, not my thing. But no, when you get good clients, it makes it 100% because you build relationships. Like, I build personal relationships with a lot of my clients that they'll just call me and invite me over to go swimming out there. Cool.
Bev: 31:33
And don't you want more of those people there? You just don't know where they are yet.
Paisley: 31:36
100%.
Bev: 31:28
Find your new BFF.
Paisley: 31:43
Yeah. Yes, exactly.
Bev: 31:46
Alright. So, with that being said, I always have to ask: What has been your biggest takeaway just out of that conversation?
Paisley: 31:54
Consistency will find you the right people, and you're not going to win them all. But if you're just consistent, you'll get more out of it.
Bev: 32:00
100%.
Paisley: 32:03
That's roller coaster rides.
Bev: 32:08
Alright, I just resent a code. I don't know. Maybe it didn't resend. I have to refresh it because I doubt; I sent the code a while ago. I doubt that it kept. I have to log back in. It bounced me out, said I was sitting there too long. I just think it will be important for you to understand the filters, why the filters are, and understanding priorities. And while I'm getting in here, okay, you should be getting a code here. Do you get one through your phone?
Paisley: 32:47
Me?
Bev: 32:48
Aha.
Paisley: 32:49
Oh, yes. Do you want me to say it?
Bev: 32:50
Yep.
Paisley: 32:51
1367.
Bev: 33:01
And how have you ever worked the filters?
Paisley: 33:05
I think I saved some of my own filters. Yeah, I think I made my own filters, but I never really used the other ones.
Bev: 33:16
Okay. So, I'm going to share my screen.
Paisley: 33:19
I know Brandon taught me those a long time ago. I just never; I don't know why I never did it. But I never did it.
Bev: 33:24
You remember how we were talking about the GPS 550 miles with no exit, but if you break it down?
Paisley: 33:31
Yep. 100%.
Bev: 33:32
Realtors really break it down. So, let's just think about your leads for a second. A new lead comes in, which is going to be your highest priority lead because we got to find out where they are in the process quicker than later, right? That first 14 days, the first two weeks is also crucial because they're almost, kind of - sort of, just like a new lead, right? It's like we want to catch them out of the gate. So, prioritizing the leads and where we spend our time on our phone calls is what's going to be important because when we break the filters down, we want to take the guesswork out of it for you to be able to jump in and call ten people here, five people here, twenty people here, and know that you're always hitting your top priority leads. Your top priority leads are new coming in, to going 15 days, 16 days old. Are they still utilizing the tools to look at the emails that are coming through? Are they looking at the properties? Are they being active once they come in? Because what happens if we're call-heavy in those first two weeks, and let's say we have six to eight phone calls with them in the first two weeks, they haven't answered the phone? What's the likelihood of them answering the phone if we keep that call volume up? Pretty slim.
So, once they move out of that two-week window, they're going to go into a once-a-month window. And then how you differentiate those leads is: Who's active? Who isn't looking at anything? Because wouldn't you rather call the people that are responsive to your emails and paying attention to the homes that are on the market, right? So, we're differentiating part of our database based on: these people are actively engaged and they've registered the last one to thirty days. Are these people; they may have registered three, four years ago, but they're actively engaged. I haven't talked to them yet. They're going to go into this pool. You're always working on the leads that are actively engaged. Now, what happens is we like to set reminders on everything so that we forget nothing. But then our reminders just become our database because we have reminders on everybody. But if we've never talked to them, what's there to remind us?
If we're trusting the system to say: Hey, this person's a high priority, call this one. We don't have to set that reminder. So, that other piece of your database is having the conversations to determine who does qualify for time on my calendar because I'm going to treat that just like I would a listing appointment or a buyer appointment because they've qualified for time on my calendar, because they do have a home that they are wanting to put on the market as soon as the university's over, at the end a season, or right when university starts at the beginning of the season, whatever. And they're not yet ready because they have a lot of things that they want to do. And maybe in two months, you're going to be going to look at their home to give them an evaluation. That's something that qualifies for time on your calendar, or somebody that is relocating, or somebody that you just had a really good conversation with. And they're like: Yeah, I want you to check in every couple of weeks. Yeah, I want you to check in every month or so. And if you feel that if you do everything you need to do to get them to the settlement table, you have a 70% chance of closing them. 70% chance or more. So, then you treat your reminders much more differently than just: I got to check in and see if they were looking at properties and see if they log back in. It's a very different dynamic of a follow-up. So, the filters that AgentLocator so lovingly; basically, I had a template of this, this, and this, and AgentLocator went in and made it even more easily sophisticated, let's put it that way. So, it just automatically happens for you. You don't have to think about it. You're always going to be calling your top leads. And I'm going to ask you, Paisley, if you have any questions and if this is helpful to go through. If it is helpful, then I want Crystal to, kind of, go through and explain the filters.
Paisley: 37:58
Yeah, it's helpful.
Bev: 37:59
Okay. So, Crystal...
Crystal: 38:03
So, your #1 - 0 Calls Logged is for all your leads that have come in, that their pipeline is indicating that we have not made contact with them yet. We have a good phone number potentially, and we have never logged a call on them. So, right now, you're sitting at 114 of your leads where you might have made a call, but you did not log it, right? So, we're not tracking our activity to know when to call them again. So, this list you want empty all the time, it should always be at 0.
Bev: 38:31
And this is the beauty of the filter. As you admitted, there's not been a lot of follow-ups going on in here, and probably the agent that you're sending it to for referral, she's probably not in the system using the system. Is that correct? Oh, she paused.
Crystal: 38:55
She's muted herself.
Paisley: 38:57
Sorry, I'm screaming at my dogs. I'm sorry.
Crystal: 38:59
It's alright.
Bev: 39:00
The agent that you're referring these leads to, is she working in the system, or are you just giving her the leads with the phone numbers?
Paisley: 39:07
So, I had Tori on there. She was working some sellers because we had a campaign over for Hamilton. And my buyer-leads girl Angela, she was working them in the system, but I was checking hers. She would have a tag that says Angela on them. She was writing all the notes down in a notebook, and I was like: No, you need to write them down in the AgentLocator because if I don't see that you're calling them, I'm going to start calling them.
Bev: 39:35
Yep. Okay. So yeah, that's like the number one, right? So, out of these 114, how many of these leads do you think she's gotten? Have you given her everyone?
Paisley: 39:50
No, she's maybe gotten like 20. I can see how many.
Bev: 39:55
No big deal. So, let's just go with 25. So, out of those 25, I guarantee you, she's talked to at least five people. And at least five of those people have bad phone numbers. So, that takes you down to 104 right there. So, it would be imperative to cross reference with her to get the proper notes in here, so you're not double working and find out who has a bad phone number. And the other piece of this, if these genuinely, let's say, 25, right? Let's just go down to 100. Out of 100, I would expect 30 of these to be a bad phone number. Get him on a bad phone number campaign, let it roll. You're now down to 70 leads. Out of the 70, you can expect to have about 20 conversations.
Paisley: 40:48
Out of 70, 20 conversations?
Bev: 40:50
Aha.
Paisley: 40:51
Wow.
Bev: 40:54
Because these leads have been sitting here. They haven't been called.
Paisley: 40:57
Yeah.
Bev: 40:58
When I call my list of people that registered over the last 14 days, and I'm on call four, call five, call... I mean, it's; I can go through 25 dials, and two people answer the phone. But when I sit down, and I dial this list of 114 people, with my experience of knowing leads, I would have 20 conversations.
Paisley: 41:19
Okay. Well, she has; I just say the filter on this one, and she only has one lead on here that has not been called.
Bev: 41:28
Okay, there you go. You got 113 leads in here. Guaranteed 30 are bad phone numbers.
Crystal: 41:34
You need to get her to go in and log all her calls. Now she's got some homework to do. Because how is she supposed to know when to call them again?
Bev: 41:41
Yep.
Paisley: 41:42
Well, I basically have kissed those leads goodbye, and that's why I'm not sending her anymore right now. Just to see, right? Because I stopped to train her, too. It's not really fair to be like: Hey, call these people. So, is she allowed to do these calls, too?
Bev: 41:57
Yeah, absolutely.
Paisley: 41:59
Okay. Because maybe I'll get her to do these because, I mean, if you've never done calls before, because she actually did work for a brokerage or did calls. But I mean, even for myself, when I started calling people, I know, I'm basically throwing all the leads away until I get good at what I'm doing.
Bev: 42:16
Well, and I never look at it like I'm throwing anything away. It's really looking at it as we get to be in the training field. And if you're meant to have a conversation with somebody, you're meant to work with somebody, you really can't screw it up.
Paisley: 42:30
Yeah.
Bev: 42:31
Because like attracts like. You're going to attract people that are radiating that same energy that you are, so you can't really screw anything up. It's just, you know, at what level of energy are you emitting out there to how many other people you're going to be attracting. That's all it really is. When you're looking at the law of numbers, the more confident person that's just calling because they love having conversations with people is going to have a much higher conversion than the person that's sitting there looking to put someone in their car. Because it's a mindset thing. I'm building a pipeline through time, throughout my entire business, and I'm stacking the value of my business versus I want that penny; I want that million dollars today instead of a penny a day. So, you know, as far as these conversations, there's golden here, and don't ever kiss a lead goodbye until they tell you, until they die or until they bought, or tell you to kiss off a lead as a lead.
Paisley: 43:40
Yeah.
Bev: 43:41
And honestly, sometimes what, we're closing leads that we've had 7, 8, 9 years in our database that we'd never worked with before. You never know where people are in the process. And, in my opinion, the average is around seven months, based on most of the closings that happen in the databases, because nobody else ever follows up to really know what the total lifetime value is of your lead. But there is, people don't; I mean, there are five years, six years, seven years people in here, there's one year, two years, and especially right now and today, you're going to have a ton of people that got beat out of this last market and just gave up, and they were, they just started renting again. So, come next year, they're going to be out in the market. And depending on where that market is, the person that stayed following up and the person that stayed in touch is the one that's going to win. And I can promise you this. It ain't going to be the agent they were working with this year. Like, I can guarantee you that because we don't follow up. It's going to be the one that makes it convenient for them. And if we're not consistently in our database, we're never going to accidentally get to be the convenient one for somebody in our database. And that's what it really comes down to, if you ever called somebody, like: Oh my Gosh, I was getting ready to call you, you know? I mean…
Paisley: 45:13
Yeah, yeah.
Bev: 45:15
Yeah. And it's like, I don't know, I'm the energy freak, but it's just out there. It's: Why did I sit down and make calls today? I'm so glad I sat down and made calls today. I wouldn't have met you if I hadn't made calls today.
Paisley: 45:31
Yeah, I think once I have this training, like, more under wraps, like, how to use the system and everything, because this agent has switched brokerages with me. She's going to be coming on in the next week or so, or two. I'll probably end up setting her up in the office and doing phone calls with her. And then we can at least give each other advice and tips. And then, we can follow up together.
Bev: 45:57
And to this whole point, once you have one call in here, you're going to be eliminating every single phone call you make out of here. Not only that, and nobody's ever, they're not going to fall back into a particular filter if you're having those conversations and contacts and if you're moving them into bad phone numbers. So, the only; what you need to understand this system right now is Call that lead filter, Need to make contact - I call that lead filter. Crystal, based on the amount of leads because I saw she has like 391 leads or something in her database; in a normal database, what do you usually find when it's worked consistently, in the - Need to make contact? Because these are leads that have never been spoken to.
Crystal: 46:51
What would it normally look like?
Bev: 46:53
Yeah.
Crystal: 46:55
If somebody was in here every single day, like, I've got, it varies. But maybe 20 at most. I have one guy that does $1,000 a month solo, and all his filters are empty daily. And it doesn't take them long, because he's consistently in there. So, yeah, you're looking at maybe 20 because, really, you're number two should only be the leads that have registered in the last two weeks.
Bev: 47:24
That have one call.
Crystal: 47:25
That had one or more calls. Because if you're consistent in there, you're more or less going to be getting them to answer by the sixth to eighth call attempt. And if not, they're going to fall into non-responsive and move into your number four filter to call them weekly.
Bev: 47:38
Exactly. And that's what I wanted to make sure we all understood, too. Out of these 104, Paisley, again, 30 of these are probably bad phone numbers that shouldn't even be in here at all. Because they probably weren't recognized because usually what happens is on that first dial, the third-party dialers don't recognize a bad phone number. It'll just ring, and ring, and ring, and ring, and ring, and ring. And we just go to the next call. We just go to the next call, and we're not really verifying it by dialing it to see if it is indeed a good or bad number. So, once you eliminate the conversations that you're having, and you eliminate the bad phone number, you don't have that many people that you have to follow up with that actually do have a good number. Does that make sense? So, have you ever heard the term: How to eat an elephant?
Paisley: 48:35
No.
Bev: 48:36
Do you know how to eat an elephant?
Paisley: 48:37
No.
Bev: 48:38
One bite at a time. Because if we tried to eat the elephant in one bite, we would never be able to digest it. So, I'm not telling you to go in here and call those 114 people in that first filter. Make it a game, and set yourself a goal of 5 leads, or 10 leads, or however. Make calls you want to make based on what your goal is for tomorrow and the next day. Just set yourself up on three days, and see: Okay. I want to call 10 leads today. And time it, okay? It is 2:51. Here's my first dial. Your every call should be 4 rings, 23 seconds. So, with no hang time in between, that's literally, like, 10 leads, that's about, like, two and a half minutes. Oh, somebody answered their phone? It might take you 10 minutes to call 10 leads. But then tomorrow, 2:51, I ended it, 3:01. Tomorrow, I'm going to call 10 more and see how fast I can get through that number. Okay, the next day, I'm going to call 20 and see if I can beat my 10. Because then you don't give a sh if they answer the phone or not.
Paisley: 50:12
Yeah, when I was trying to do, and I was talking to Brian about this, when I was trying to do the calls, she was saying I have to, like, reset my computer to do this. So, like, have my phone speaker, or microphone, or something is off. Like, it's not connecting. So, I don't know if they're mute. Yeah, they're completely silent to me, but they can hear me.
Bev: 50:38
We went through that. Do you want to cover that real quick, Crystal?
Crystal: 50:41
Yeah, it could be your sound settings. You just got to make sure, like, in your computer's sound setting, that you have your default speakers selected to the one that you want. There's also that little microphone in the top right-hand corner of the dialer.
Bev: 50:57
Yeah. Can you see it?
Crystal: 50:58
No, up at the very top right. Nope. Right. Nope. You had it open on the dialer. I'm pointing at my screen like you can see me. Yeah, by the URL. Go up by the URL. No, right there. Yeah. So there are some settings there, right? So, this is accessing, but you can manage that accessing your microphone and what have you. But the audio is going to be the output likely connected to your computer. So, you might just have the incorrect audio output.
Paisley: 51:35
I don't have that on my screen at all.
Bev: 51:39
You have to click on a phone number.
Paisley: 51:43
Yeah, but the microphone at the top? It just has a lock there.
Crystal: 51:46
Can you click on it, though, or not?
Paisley: 51:50
Yeah, it just says; I'm on Safari. Do I need to be on Chrome?
Bev: 51:53
Yeah, you want to be on Chrome.
Paisley: 51:54
Okay, maybe that's what my issue has been this whole time.
Bev: 52:00
That's like, if anybody has any computer issues, I always ask what browser they're on.
Crystal: 52:07
And you can get a headset which will help eliminate some of that because when you connect your headset to everything, or even your, like, it's your Apple earbuds will typically connect as well, too, right?
Paisley: 52:22
Yeah. So, maybe that's what I'll try now on because I was so angry when that happened. I was like…
Crystal: 52:28
Well, yeah. Just test the audio before you make a call. Because you can push the button to see if you hear it and push the button to see if it's, you know, taking your voice into, like, if it's actually picking up your microphone.
Paisley: 52:42
Okay. So, let me log on here.
Bev: 52:45
But while you're doing that, you know, don't feel like you have to set the world on fire tomorrow. It's kind of like going to the gym and, like, going to the gym all day on January 1. Like: I'm going to work out. You haven't worked out for years. I'm going to work out. I'm going to go there every day for an hour. And then by the second week, you're like: Okay, it's going to be a half hour, that's only 15 minutes. So, I mean, not at all. So, I don't ever suggest going in balls to the wall out of the gate. Just start off at 10 at the time, 10 at the time, and just get through it. And make it a game, and see if you can beat your numbers. See, and this is where your tracking comes in. Oh, my Gosh, I called 10 people. I had two conversations, and two were bad phone numbers. And tomorrow, I talked to five people, and only one was a bad phone number. Then you're really able to really break down how many phone calls does it take to get to somebody qualifying for a time in your calendar and going to closing. It's, kind of, that investigative stage of how many leads does it take to get to the center of a lollipop.
Paisley: 53:46
Yeah, I don't know. It seems that my microphone is shut off. But I don't know how to turn it back on.
Crystal: 53:53
It's your sound settings on your computer, usually. And you might have done that when you originally opened up the dialer, and you said: No, so you turned off the permission.
Bev: 54:04
Oh. That little drop-down box.
Crystal: 54:08
Yeah. And that's why that microphone or whatever might be slashed or locked is because you said no.
Paisley: 54:16
Yeah, but I never did it on this computer, and I never did it on Chrome. I just said: Allow Access. I don't know how to turn it back on. It says to allow the apps below to access your camera. Allow the apps below to access your microphone. I have that all on there. But I don't see, like…
Crystal: 54:33
Yeah, Google Chrome would have that. I'm just trying to see something on my own screen. If I open up the dialer…
Bev: 54:42
Oh, technology is a beautiful thing.
Crystal: 54:44
I know.
Paisley: 54:45
Would it be, like, AEServer? I don't know what that is.
Crystal: 54:49
Okay. So, you know where you have your dialer open, and next to the URL, on the right-hand side, you have a microphone. On the left-hand side, you should see a lock. If you click on the lock…
Paisley: 55:04
Reset permission?
Crystal: 55:05
Yeah, you can try to reset the permissions.
Paisley: 55:09
Okay, so I think microphone can ask to use your microphone. I'll turn that on. But it's still blocking. So, the player updates settings. Okay, reload because that would make life a lot easier. I used to have a dialer on my old microphone turned off. How do I turn it back on? That's what I'm not understanding is why isn't it turning back on.
Bev: 55:38
It might be an internal settings thing.
Crystal: 55:40
It's either in your browser or your computer sound settings, either your browser or your computer. And then you got to set the permissions on your browser for sound, and which sites have access to sound, and your microphones and audio. And then, on your computer, you also have to make sure you have the correct one selected as well.
Paisley: 56:02
The joys.
Bev: 56:03
Yeah, no, it's work. And this is where, you know, there are obstacles we run into, and this is my bow and arrow analogy. In order to hit the target with a bow, with your arrow, you have to pull back that pressure, tension, and friction in order to hit the bullseye. So, these are those times, Paisley, that we get tested, that we have to slow down to speed up.
Paisley: 56:28
It says it's allowing microphone, so that's why I'm confused when I open that up.
Crystal: 56:37
You try opening your browser in an incognito window. It'll re-prompt you when you open up the CRM and then see it, that might help fix your issue. And then, you know, it's in the settings somewhere.
Bev: 56:48
That's a cool little workaround.
Paisley: 56:51
This is my first time using, like, Chrome. And it just asked me if I wanted to allow microphone. I said yes. So, I don't know why it's doing that, then.
Crystal: 57:04
Yeah. So, if you do it, yeah. Because if a regular browser has just asked you once, whereas incognito, every time I open it up, it asks me every single time I open up the dialer, after a relaunch in an incoming, you know, window.
Bev: 57:19
Do we have anybody in the chattering, anybody in the Q&A, Crystal?
Crystal: 57:22
No, it's a fairly quiet group. So, I don't have any questions. They're all just taking it in.
Bev: 57:33
Jeez. Good for them calling their leads.
Crystal: 57:35
Yeah, everyone's like: Oh, man, I guess I should call. It's just; have fun with it. Like, you know, Beverly always says, and just be relaxed in your conversations. Like, you're just chit-chatting. If you don't get all the information, so be it. It gives you a reason to call them again down the road, something else to talk about next time, right? And, Al has his hand raised, so I guess you might want to ask here. Al, you can talk if you want.
Al: 58:04
Hi, there. Thank you so much for today. It was amazing.
Crystal: 58:08
No problem.
Bev: 58:11
What's your takeaway, Al?
Al: 58:13
What's that?
Bev: 58:14
What was your takeaway?
Al: 58:16
Oh, it's amazing. It's good to learn. I want to work with you on converting leads, and the way you, the conversation you were mentioning, and AgentLocator has been wonderful. I've been using it for quite a long time now. It's an amazing CRM. Still have some few things that need to be done on it, but it's amazing. My question to you is about how you're going to handle, on your phone call, today's trend on the interest rate.
Bev: 58:49
It is what it is. And, you know, asking the leads what's more important to them? Because I look at it this way. I never want my clients to get too caught up in interest rates and the price because what it all comes down to is what they're paying monthly for their mortgage and does it meet their expectation. And that's really the only thing that matters. The interest rates are what the interest rates are. We have no way of changing that. Prices, we really can't change the market. So, this is A and B, or A and Z. How do we bring them together? And does it make sense? So, I would just honestly encourage them: I understand interest rates are going up. However, it doesn't seem like it's going to get any better. It's going to continue to rise. So, let's look at what you're comfortable paying a mortgage payment monthly, and let's see if we can nail it there. That's the buying power. Was that helpful?
Al: 59:57
Yeah, absolutely. Most of them, they're asking, I get this question now, on a daily basis, that: What do you think? Markets will go, you know, what do you think will happen? And do you think the price is going to go down, or even when putting an offer on a property, they are suggesting a ridiculous number. Just because it takes into, you know, nonprofessionals involved in our job big time, who just, you know, tire kicker, had nothing to do with real estate, they just analyze the market the way they like, within their understanding. They're not every day in the market, but they just keep on predicting and call themselves professional. They're not, and they're even realtors. But everyone is predicting the numbers are going to go really low, the prices, how the housing market is going to crash. And, so, the moment I call someone just to follow up, for example, a new lead signing up on AgentLocator. I call them back and say: Hey, how are you doing? My name is Al, the whole thing. And the first thing I get asked: What do you think the market will go? So, I know they're going to ask this question.
Bev: 1:01:00
I would have fun with it. Say: You know what? I want to know what you think. What do you think the market is going to do? And just say, I don't know, I don't know. You know? It doesn't seem like the prices are ever going to go backward. And, just open it up as a friendly conversation, and just joke with them and say: Gosh, if I knew what the market was going to do, I'd probably be a millionaire because it's not about what I know what the market is going to do. If I knew what the market was going to do, I would have known what the market did, and I'd be a millionaire right now, but I'm not.
Al: 1:01:34
Yeah. Yeah, that's…
Bev: 1:01:36
Make a joke of it, make light of it, and put it back on them. And then you get a taste of when you put it back on them of where their head is.
Al: 1:01:45
Yeah, it has to be like that. It has to be on them.
Bev: 1:01:49
Say: What do you think?
Al: 1:01:50
Yeah, well.
Bev: 1:01:52
I'll give you my opinion after you give me yours. You're the expert. I don't; what do you think? And then, that's why I'm like: If I knew I'd be a millionaire because it's not about what I think the market's going to do, I would have known way back when what the market was going to do, if I could predict the market.
Al: 1:02:09
Now, well, eventually, we all know that the market has cooled down a bit. And I noticed two weeks before that the market started picking up again. And then, the news come up on interest rate again, and the market is, kind of, cooling down again. And I know that two weeks from now, the shop is gone, and everyone knows that the market will go back to normal. The Canadian market is pretty strong. There's always demand on real estate, and we always, like, it's always a hot market. If I would advise my clients to wait for the market, situation, and condition, do you think that's a wise thing or not?
Bev: 1:03:08
Ultimately, it's their decision. What, Mr. Buyer, what's more important to you? If you stay in your home right now and potentially wait, you're making a mortgage payment. I'm assuming they own. You're making a mortgage payment on a home right now. So, all of that money that you're putting down is going into the home that you currently have right now. Is it more important to you to stay here, continue to pay on this home, not knowing what's going to happen, interest rates, what's going to happen? Because if interest rates continue to go up as what seems to be projected, you're going to start to lose in principal because your home isn't going to go up in price again. So, are we wasting time over the next six months for the market to not move at all in price? Because if you're waiting for the interest rates to come down, you're losing money on your home. Because we know what we can sell your home for right now. If interest rates go up, market dynamics change. Not only are you not going to get more for your home, potentially, you could get less than what you would today. So, is it really about the interest rates? Because if we can find you a home that meets your monthly payment, do the interest rates really matter?
Al: 1:04:28
No, absolutely not.
Bev: 1:04:30
Does that make sense?
Al: 1:04:31
Well, yeah. 100%.
Bev: 1:04:34
So, make it about them. What's more important to you? Because, in essence, it's not about the interest rate. The world has told people: Don't buy high interest. It works, and you pay it off. Who cares, right? And here's the essence of a 30-year mortgage. Who the hell keeps a 30-year mortgage at the same interest rate they bought 30 years before?
Al: 1:04:55
Nobody.
Bev: 1:04:56
Exactly. It's only that interest rate until the interest rates change and you refinance.
Al: 1:05:04
Yep, it absolutely makes sense.
Bev: 1:05:06
Good. Yay. Great question.
Al: 1:05:09
Thank you. I always appreciate it.
Bev: 1:05:11
My pleasure. Thanks for jumping on. I got to jump, but it's always a pleasure. I will see you guys in a few weeks.
Crystal: 1:05:16
Sounds good. Awesome. Thanks, Paisley. Thanks, Beverly. Thanks, AL. Talk to all of you soon. Bye.