AgentLocator Live Dials and Expert Talk, November 17, 2021
Highlights:
8:38 - 12:27
Peel the Onion
When you’re talking to your leads on the phone, consider each of the questions you ask as a tool to peel another layer of the onion - your leads’ motivation, objections, their current situation and plans. Only this way will you be able to prioritize following up with your leads correctly.
20:02 - 21:06
Get Rid of Bad Thoughts
Even with years of experience under her belt, Beverly has to fight against her inner voices that keep telling her she shouldn’t be calling her leads. Her tip: stop obsessing over what your lead MIGHT be doing and thinking. Because most of the time, you’re wrong.
25:44 - 28-24
How Real Estate Changed and What You Need to Do to Stay Ahead of Your Competition
The real estate business has changed. And with so many people out there having a real estate license, you need to develop a value proposition that will induce trust with your leads In this video, Beverly explains how.
29:16 - 34:27
An Important Conversation Hack for New Agents
If you are new in the real estate business, you might lack the confidence to talk with leads. Especially if they ask you about your experience. Beverly gives a great tip on how to answer such questions
36:04 - 37:13
Find Your Real Estate Voice
When you start cold calling, you’ll probably listen to other people’s tips about how to structure your conversations. However, to be successful, you have to find your voice - your way of asking questions that will get results but still reflect your values as an agent. Beverly explains how to find your real estate voice
47:38 - 48:42
Learn How to Plant Seeds in Your Leads’ Minds
The chances are that your leads won’t only be talking to you regarding their property needs. They’ll be talking to many agents. Beverly shows you how to ask questions that will make your conversation memorable to the lead.
51:36 - 53:36
The Hidden Dangers of Having a Script
Ditch your script for listening. Beverly stopped using scripts when she realized she was only focused on them instead of being focused on what the person on the other side of the phone was saying.
Transcript:
Bev:
Okay, so I'm in. All right, at the end of our hour, I want you guys to really feel like you have something to take away that's going to benefit you and that wealth after, what is going to be what you're looking forward to get out of this hour? That's for you, Jeffrey, and Dahna.
Jeffrey:
So, I'm looking to get a little more confidence actually speaking with people and kind of understand how to combat the nose. And I guess just to feel more comfortable overall, with calling people.
Dahna:
Well, I've heard that do a few of these before. And I'm always taking away some nuggets. So I'm, you know, I'm always open to learning things. And every call brings a new opportunity to learn something. So I'm here to grab some nuggets and see how I can, you know, perhaps, utilize the English language in a more creative way or actually get to dial people. That's, I mean, I think that's our biggest challenge as well, right? But actually, I had last week; the batting average was pretty high last week of actually making contact. So I was pretty excited.
Bev:
What would you say is the biggest rock in your shoe?
Dahna:
I am getting a call. You usually have a short one because they weren't prepared to have, you know, real dialogue, you try and keep on the phone, but they're basically ready to hang up, call me back in two days, and they give you a specific time. And then you're playing chase. You're chasing them for like a week. I think that's probably my biggest point of frustration. Because when I get them live, I'm like, Oh, my God, I'm so excited. And I want to glean as much information to help them as I can. But it is just trying to get that reciprocal commitment, I guess, for lack of a better word.
Bev:
Yeah, it is. We have to remember that the law is in the numbers, and not everybody is going to be interactive, unfortunately. And just move on next. Even if they're, I'm driving, I can't talk, and you're like, well, why did you answer the phone? Right? I'm at work. I can't talk. Well, why did you answer the phone? I've even got I'm in a funeral. I can't talk. I'm like, "You got to be kidding me!". So it's remembering and keeping in that toolbox that I have to know questions. What is the main thing that you have to know? Because the most important thing is, we don't want to keep calling back people that don't really care. And they aren't going to be buying in the next one to three years. Right. So it's that quick question. Because people will say, Can I call you back? Do we know they're not gonna call us back? Well, you don't have to call me back. I just really fast question do you plan on buying in the next year? And you can usually always keep that engagement unless it's just a hard, hard ask just to hang up. So just having that main question in your back pocket when they cut you short. So what we'll definitely and that's why I'm like, like, if I can solve the biggest rock in your shoe out of the gate, then everything else is going to be all fluff. Jeffrey, you were talking about just having better conversations, being able to have more engagement. And I think more quality conversations in being able to ask the right questions, right?
Jeffrey:
Yeah, that's correct. Because I don't always know what to say when I'm calling someone. I just feel like I'm freezing up. So Dahna helped me with that. The other day, she gave me some tips on what I can say to kind of start the conversation and keep it going a little. But I still need to work on combating the noise. And when someone says to me, I can't talk right now, going back, later, just like what to say next. I just say, Okay.
Bev:
Okay, great. Just a fast question. Do you plan on buying in the next six months to a year? Okay, great. Do you actually want to talk about the home buying process? Because if they don't, I know I'm not gonna call you back. I know you're not gonna call me back. And I just didn't know where to put you.
Beverly:
Hello Ray.
Ray:
Hi Bev, how are you?
Ray:
Long time no see, right?
Bev:
I already asked Jeffrey and Dahna like what they want to take away after this hour? What is the main takeaway that you would like to leave this hour with? They? Yes. I learned something.
Ray:
Well, from you, the God of bone, a week can learn everything.
Bev:
What is most important?
Ray:
I want the most important thing to me. Hey, I was talking to the team. These guys. Well, for Jeff, for example, Jeff is new. And he has some kind of hesitation I saw. And I felt, Dahna. She's been in sales before. So she knows the trick. And she's actually pretty good. You can even judge her. To be honest with you. Amir is not here. I don't know what's going on. Cyrus was supposed to be here. He's not here. But for me, what is important, this guy's to get more familiar with? How do you approach it? How you? How do you how you get them to talk to you? To be honest with
Bev:
Jeff, how long have you been making phone calls?
Jeffrey:
Since Okay, so Friday. Oh, yeah. So what I tried to do the most because I always, didn't really feel comfortable calling people right away, I tried to get them through text and email first. And if I was able to arrange a phone call, then I would call them. After the team meeting that we had on Friday, I started calling people like crazy. So I've probably made at this point 35 to 40 phone calls. And I reached about five people.
Bev:
So I'm gonna ask this question. And we're just going to use you as kind of the training right now. Because this is, this is so so awesome to be able to capture this moment and ask you these questions. When you think about sitting down to make phone calls, what is this self-dialogue that you have in your head?
Jeffrey:
Oh, my God, they're gonna pick up; what do I say next?
Bev:
It goes on after that.
Jeffrey:
Okay, so then I just say to myself, you know, what's the worst is going to happen? Just do it. Okay, so I do it. And I hope for the best sometimes I mess up little, sometimes I don't.
Bev:
And how long do you feel it takes you from call to call to call?
Jeffrey:
So now that I have a bit of a rhythm set up, I have maybe 20 seconds between; I kind of look to say, okay, where did this lead come from? Have I mentioned them before? How old are they? And then I have different minor scripts that I use depending on if they're new or old or really old.
Bev:
Okay. And then the next question I'm going to ask is, What is your intention? When you're on the phone with the lead?
Jeffrey:
To find out whether or not they're going to be buying or selling and in the next six to 12 months?
Bev:
Okay, so I'm going to say yes, there's no right answer. There's no wrong answer. But I think the industry has pushed so much speed to lead and get the appointment. And what that's done is it's forced us to have an expectation when whenever we're making these phone calls. And when I look at the number one objective when we're making phone calls, as is finding out where they are in the process, whether it be right now, next week, next month, next year, five years from now, doesn't matter. Where are you in the process? And how can I fit into that part of your process? And what can I do now to earn your business no matter where you are in the process and look at it as more of a building of the pipeline. And once in a while, getting bingo and going wow, okay, you want to go right now. All right, let's go, let's sit in a car. But for the most part, the biggest majority of all of these leads are going to be a long-term process. They're not going to be right now. So if we're coming into the very first phone call, as that intention of where are you in the process? What do you need from me? What can I be doing for you in the meantime? That way, it lowers that expectation of feeling like we failed because we didn't get the appointment. So, I'm looking at it more as I'm going to be in real estate, November of 2023. So if you're two years out, what can I be doing with you to earn your business over the long term. And that's where the tagging system comes in, as well as the tasking system. Because we have to be really good at determining who qualifies for time on our calendar by the answers, they're coming back to us with our questions. So you never ever have to worry about what to say if you're asking the right questions. Because you ever talk, you ask the question, let them talk, ask another question from their answer. Because all it is is peeling back the layers of that onion to get to the timeframe to get to the urgency. So when I look at making phone calls, my brain says, I want to know what your current situation is. So I can get a perspective of your urgency. Because if you own and you've only been in your house for six months ain't going to be much of urgency unless you really hate your neighbours, or unless somebody just died. But other than that, if they've moved in, it's been they've been in their home for five years. What's the reason for the move? I'm pregnant, and I'm getting ready to have a baby, and we don't have another bedroom. Oh, When are you due? When do you want to be in a home? That tells the story. I'm renting? Am I month to month? When do you want to be in your home? I'm renting. I'm in a lease term. So we're peeling back those layers, dissecting what would have to happen for you to make the move. And I really feel looking at agents that are out with buyers. If you do not know what their plan B is, you're wasting your time. Because how many times? And Ray, I'll ask you this because you've been in real estate for a while. How many times? Had you ever been out with a buyer? And they're looking for the right house? And then they're like, nah, I'm not going to move right now. I'm gonna wait a year; I'm gonna wait two years.
Jeffrey:
A lot happens. Yeah.
Bev:
And so we have to be prepared for that. Because that really lowers the value of our time. Because if we know that they don't have to move. And they have that one house that they want to see; you have the choice to say, all right, when I look at the top five things that I should be doing, number one, I need to be at the settlement table. That's where you make your money. If you're not at a settlement table, you need to be in front of a ready, willing and able buyer or seller. If you're not in a front face to face with somebody, you need to be on the phone with somebody. If you're not on the phone with them, you need to be prospecting to find out who is going to be able to go face to face. If you're not prospecting, you need to be doing your research to really be able to understand who is your market? Who do you need to be calling? Who's your niche? Where's your networking? Know your market know your numbers. So when we're face to face with somebody, notice I said really ready willing and able buyer, because it's so vital that we're spending time with people that there's no Plan B like I have to move. I am going to be out of this rental because they're selling the property. I'm having a baby, and we have no room. I'm downsizing; I can't do the stairs anymore. I have to be out; I have no option. Now, they may not have the credit, or they may not have the funds, but they have to move. And that's where we can dive deep in to find out okay, well if you don't have the funds, you're gonna be a rental. Right? The more we know about them, the more we can help them because if we don't anything about them, we can help them. So being very question-focused and being very focused on the overall outcome. Because let's face it, tasks suck. Nobody likes to do follow-up and nurture. It's just not fun.
Bev:
But as part of the job, it is the most crucial piece of the job. Because and here's what's great about it, nobody freakin does it. So if you do it, you're gonna win. Unless they change their mind, they're not going to buy; you are going to win. And this is where I've taken my phone calling to a whole new level because that was the piece that I was missing. Because I had enough right now, I didn't need to worry about tomorrow. But if you take your right now and you take your tomorrow's, you freakin double your business. But the only way I know I have a tomorrow is to ask the right questions to know; how do I follow up? And again, it's not thinking about what do I have to say? It's what question do I need to ask? And the number one question that I promised you always wins. What can I do to earn your business? What is it that I could be doing for you now? In regards to resources, in regards to updating you on the homes? What's the most important thing that I can help you with? While you're in this discovery phase? What can I do for you to earn your business? How often would you like me to check in with you? And they will tell you what's your best source of communication if when I follow up with you, they want me to call you, text you or email you. And I know I'm not a priority yet. So if you don't respond, that's okay. But if you don't respond, I just want to make sure that you did receive something. Can you just do me a favour and just hit received. Just so I know, because I don't trust my, I don't trust email and text going through because sometimes they just don't go through if you're in a bad area. But I just always want to be there for you. And I always want that opportunity to earn your business. This is a relationship that we are going to be fulfilling. And this is a big investment for you moving forward. I'm looking very forward to being so much a part of this process with you. Any questions that you have? And just one last question. Is there any other agent that, you know, that would prevent you from utilizing my services and me earning your business?
Ray:
Million dollar question.
Bev:
Then, you know, because our self-talks, when we have a great conversation with somebody, we're like, yeah, I nailed that one. I'm gonna be closing them in March. I followed up with them in two weeks because they were not looking at a single solitary property when they said they wanted to receive updates, and they've never opened an email. I will call back in two weeks. Hey, this is Beverly, I just wanted to let you know that I'm not sure you're getting my emails; you may want to check your spam box. If you have any questions, let me know. Send him a quick text. Hey, just look at your voicemail. I was just checking in to make sure you get my emails. Set a reminder for another week. Did they respond? If they didn't respond? Hey, just checking in. I left you a voicemail last week. Is everything okay? Is anything changed? Set another reminder. Two weeks from now. We're going to be a Christmas: Hey, I just want to wish you Merry Christmas. I hope everything is amazing. I hope everything is great. If you need anything, let me know. Send another reminder. I promise you you do not have to have them call you back. Be thankful. They're not answering the phone because they're not taking up your time. You are not yet a priority. They're not dating you yet. So don't take offence to it. Don't get pissed off at the process. Just go with it. Because what's gonna happen come February, they're gonna call you and say thank you so much for keeping in touch with me. I'm sorry that I haven't returned the phone call. I'm sorry. And give them permission whenever you do call them you don't have to call me back. Just checking in to see if you do have questions; you know where, you know, how to reach me know where I am. Every single person that I have been following up with for the last four months. This has been the process of the callbacks that I get. I'm stunned because they're truly thankful, and I talk in my head. That's why I always like to ask questions. I've been calling leads since 2008. I still have the self-talk; I still try to talk myself out of calling leads. I truly do. I sit down like, oh my god, I have called this. I have called this bitch 12 times, and she ain't gonna answer the phone. Yes, it goes through my head. And I'm like, no, no, no, I can't go there. old story, get rid of it, move on. Make the call. Because I spend more time self-talking, if I just did it, right. And then they pick up the phone; you're like, I'm like, Oh, my gosh. Dahna, how are you? Oh, gosh, it's been like a couple of months. What's going on with life? Oh, my God, this, this, this. And you know what? I have had a setback because this happened. With the self-talk that we tell ourselves, they probably already bought with somebody else, they probably already went with somebody else. Buyers are innately lazy. Our job is to make it easy for them. So if we're continually calling and we're continually following up, they're right there in the speed dial, you don't have to leave a text every single time just once in a while that just follow up your voicemail to text and I just I kind of ping pong it be very clear in your task. And what I love about AgentLocator is when you set the task, it pops up on the calendar, you hit the little calendar button on the top right. As long as you're descriptive and what you have to do. Because I'll even leave myself a task. Did they respond to my text? So I may send a text right now and set myself a reminder for tomorrow? Did they respond to my text? So you see it right there. And you're like, oh, I'm gonna grab this one real quick. It's all of us; we send them a text. Two weeks from now, did they call back and tell you to tell yourself in the text, or in the task, this time, leave a text, or this time, send a text, this time, leave a voicemail. Because what happens when you get in the moment of the conversation? I promise you this will happen. You're like, oh my god, I love this person so much. It's such. Come on. I can't wait to call them back. They're so cool. They're their dogs having surgery? What are their dogs doing? You set the reminder. You sit down to do your reminders to three weeks a month later, you're like, Oh God, what am I going to say to this person? What conversation am I going to have? But if you're very descriptive in your tech or in your task, how's your dog doing? How's mom doing?
It's very impressive. I'm gonna stop there for a second and see if there are any questions and see if there are any aha moments and anything that you all want to share.
Dahna:
Well, I was listening to you, and Beverly actually hadn't happened twice to me in the last less than a week. Some of the things you're talking about like the follow up the consistent follow-up. I had a lady I haven't talked to her since like June. But she said, just you know, keep touching base with me and talk to her on the weekend. And then again, yet I think it was yesterday. She's at the point of ready. She stopped were her words, but I'm ready. So she's now engaged. But I haven't like I said talk to her or had any consistent communication with her since.
Bev:
June. And the beautiful thing about that. Dahna is you've now cultivated. Alright, now lead. It's good. Right? Yeah, yeah.
Dahna:
And, then, interesting what you said. And right. I haven't had a chance to tell you one of those really old leads we were cultivating on the weekend. Last week, I actually got set up, and they were interviewing for agents. So your point of what you know what other agents do you know that would prevent me from becoming yours? I didn't have to ask that question. My timing was, hey; we're interviewing your timings. Perfect. Do you want to be part of the process? Well, of course, yes. And I talked to them for probably 45 minutes later on that day and have subsequently had text communication just to see where things are at. They haven't made a decision yet. So it was really interesting. Listen to you. I'm like, oh, manufacturing some of the stuff, so it does work, Jeff.
Jeffrey:
So I actually got to speak to a person the other day, and they confirm that they've been receiving my texts and emails. Of course, apologize for not responding. I have them actually set up now with a better search than what they had. And they agreed to have monthly follow-up calls. They're hoping to buy something in April, April-May.
Bev:
Beautiful. So you just created in April right now lead. Yep. And that process of earning their business is that ongoing piece because, in reality, there's so much access for all of these people to go online and just pull properties. But what are we gonna do above and beyond the competition to earn that? To earn it? You know, and that goes back to what Dahna was just saying, as far as I don't know, that I've ever heard of, of people actually interviewing buyers like that.
But I am like, wow, what's your value proposition? And that is what really sets you apart when you can really start having conversations and questioning their experience, right? And that's where that buyer presentation really comes in handy. And you know, all right, so we're in 2021. Going into 2022, in the days, in my opinion, of that actual appointment to come into the office has really become diluted through COVID. And through what's going on with the market dynamics, like, there ain't no time to sit down and have that meeting, if you're up against multiple offers, and you want to see this property that has to have offers by Thursday like you got to go. But if your value propositions are right on your tongue, in those conversations on the phone, we can always be talking to them about it in 2021. And it seems like everybody has a real estate license, you know? Right. So do you know how many closings the average agent does a year? And they'll be like, No, five, five closings a year. So they're so the average age is only working with five clients a year. So they're not making a whole lot of money. And be I don't know what you do for a living. But if you only showed up for work five days in the year, how great of a resource would you be for your company. So my job is to make sure that we're not only going to be there to help you negotiate your biggest investment. But we want to help you save 1000s of dollars. Because choosing the wrong agent can really cost you 1000s of dollars. I don't want you to buy a house that has a faulty air conditioning unit, and you buy the house. And two months later, the air conditioning breaks, it's gonna cost you 5000 $7,000 To replace the air conditioning.
So, Dahna, we run into that, having those little things in your back pocket to be able to add that value, especially even today we get a lot of I have an agent. Jeffrey, have you run into that at all? I have an agent.
Jeffrey:
Yes, I ran into that yesterday. Um, so I was talking to her about her search. And she said that her husband is working with an agent. So all I said was okay, well, thank you for letting me know; I'll keep you set up with the emails. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out.
Bev:
Jeffrey, would there be any possibility of something that I could do to possibly earn your business?
Jeffrey:
I feel like that's not allowed with RICO. Because we can't do anything to interfere with other agents’ clients.
Bev:
The question is did they have something signed?
Jeffrey:
I didn't ask that.
Bev:
Exactly. Right. It may be too late. But would there be anything that I could do to potentially earn your business? And she'd be like, I don't know. Well, let me ask you Do you mind if I just check in with you in a week or two? Because what we're finding out in the market today is there's a lot of licensed agents out there. However, most people are finding the homes on their own, and the agents are not really finding the properties for you. And I want to make sure that you are 100% confident that that agent is going to be able to position you to be the best offer when you're going to be up against multiple offers. So can you just keep that in your back pocket and just make sure maybe interview your agent and ask your agent how many contracts they've written and how long they've been in the industry, and how many homes they've sold in the year?
Jeffrey:
Because I bash fire on me, though, because I'm only six months into the industry if they asked me those numbers, well, let me say the action is rehab.
Bev:
Exactly, you are on his team; those are now your transactions. That's why you're on a team.
Jeffrey:
And Jeffrey, that's a really good point. Beverly, I actually ended up leveraging that during that interview call because they asked me point blank, well, so like, what are you know, what are the transactions? Like you said, you're part of a team that says, Well, we're called the top 100 teams for a reason. We, you know, amongst us, blah, blah, blah. So it was a collective answer; I should have been a politician with the answer.
Bev:
Yes, use the leverage of the team, and say we all collectively work together as a team. And we are aware of everything that's happening with all the transactions because we all know. And that is the most important thing for me, to help you to understand that this industry is really understood as one person does everything. However, the best experience that you could get is a real estate company that works like a doctor's office. Because in reality, I can't be all things to all people I can't be. And I don't know how your team works. But I can't be out at a listing appointment. And finding your property at the same time. So we have allocated agents that are listing agents, we have allocated agents that are buyer agents, we are that's our specialty. So whoever you're talking to, that's your specialty. And just change your lingo. So collectively, know your team numbers because that's what you're going to utilize. And when somebody says, well, how long have you been in real estate? Oh, my God, it feels like forever. I've been looking at homes, and I've bought my home. And I've sold this home. And yeah, we've all been in use the collective number of how long all the years of everyone in the team has been in real estate because their experience has now become your experience. Because you have everything in your back pocket. And this is the piece when I was asking the questions in the very beginning. This is that piece that prevents us from asking the right questions and being confident in the conversation that we're having. Because I'm a brand new agent, they're, they're totally gonna die me out. And they're gonna know that I'm green. We need to remove that. And lean on the team experience and be able to say, this is what it is. Do you all have team meetings? Yeah, every Friday, and you go over your numbers, you go over the collective numbers of the team?
Jeffrey:
Not really.
Dahna:
Okay, we're getting there. We're getting better at it. Yes. Yes, we're getting much better at it. I mean, you saw that last week. Right, Jeff, when we started.
Jeffrey:
A little bit, we're also a bit of a newer team. So my understanding is it's under a year old. I think the team may have come from April, like, started from April.
Dahna:
Yeah, we are. We're brand new because we recruited you. Well, he recruited me at the end of May, and you in June. So we can he's just come over in the spring to this to the brokerage. So we are a new team, we're still working it out.
Bev:
That's awesome. And that is and that that's an important piece, how many sales? How many listings, how many buyers? And really be talking about in those meetings of what was your biggest like, like I asked you, Dahna, what's the rock in your shoe this week? Right? What's the rock in the shoe with this transaction. Because with every transaction, there's something to learn. And that's where even if it's not your personal transaction, now it is part of you; it's part of your transaction because you are aware, and you guys are going through the motions. So it's a collective number.
Dahna:
Just a little share, you know, you're talking about the face-to-face; I actually set up a face-to-face and had one on Friday. I have a brand new lead. And it was they you know I said hey, do you want to meet you want to do something? No, you know what, we really want to meet you. And they're first-time buyers, and this is going to be they're not going to be ready to like April May. So I know this is going to be a long dance. But we set the foundation so solidly. We talked about the buyer rep agreement, and they're nowhere near ready to sign that right away. But one of the causes from the husband, he's like, I'm so glad you brought that up. Because I'm so tired of talking to agents who like, well, I won't work with you until you, you sign the agreement. I said, Well, that's not really fair. Because you don't know me yet. I don't know you yet. Let's build a relationship. And know that yes, I'm going to ask you to document our agreement, because we need to do that, you know, before we even put an offer, but I'm confident that we'll be able to do that sooner rather than later, blah, blah, blah. And we just set we did the whole I mean, you know, that yes, we did our my value statement, we talked it all through, and they were sitting in the office just coming to the REMAX office was so huge for them, because as first time buyers, they're like little kids in a candy store, like where do I look? Um, so it's really got them focus now, which is really cool. And then we saw an example property on the weekend, just to kind of do some fact-finding. So I couldn't have scripted this one more, and they're like a lead that called in registered like three weeks ago, was like, whoa, I'm going to try to model this.
Bev:
And that's beautiful. Because that's, that's how we end up finding our voice. Because every conversation, when we have those little wins, we're like, oh, that question worked great. I want to incorporate that into my next conversation. And that conversation worked great. So I'm gonna incorporate that. And then you just find your way, your niche, the same thing that you say every single time. I sound like a broken record. I mean, I drive myself bananas because I'm like, okay, hey, Don, it's Beverly; I just saw that you were looking at homes. And once you are in Zimbabwe. What exactly are you looking for? I'm just looking. Well, if you were to make a move, what does that look like for your timeframe, right? It's the exact same thing. When you find that voice, and you find that comfortable place of asking questions, it just comes out naturally. And that's why I love categorizing my leads of all these people I tried to contact. I've never spoken to you. So all my job is is to find out where you are in the process. And what are those questions? What is your current situation? And Jeff, if you haven't heard me before, the biggest piece and the most important timing of this process of calling a lead is those very first few seconds. You know, they say that you have like, so many seconds, whenever you meet somebody to make that impression. Well, the phone is even less time because they're looking at it as a number that they do not know. And their defence is already up, and they're gone. Why do I want to take this call? Or am I gonna hang upon it? So the shorter your intro can be, the more engagement you'll have from that lead. And the less hang-ups you'll have. And I say less because you still have hang-ups. But identifying the lead with why exactly they came in. So with AgentLocator, you can see what they Googled, or you can see the location and say, Hey, Jeffrey, this is Beverly; I saw that you were looking at homes in Toronto, just wondering where are you in the process? Oh, I was just looking at something. I'm, I'm just looking left? That's awesome. That's great. Do you have a timeframe in mind that you'd like to maybe be in a home? No, not really. Well, let me ask you do you own or do you rent? I own a home. How long have you been in that home? For years. So what would have to happen for you to make that move?
Grandma has to die. Waiting on my investment, waiting on a settlement, right? So that way, you have an idea of what has to happen.
So that way, you have an idea. So you quickly identify, they don't care who you are, what website you're with, or what company you're with. We have to quickly go at why you're calling them. And that will help with the hang-ups. Because if we call and we're like, Hey, this is Beverly, I'm with blah, blah, blah. And Dr. Don did that. Like who are you? We create our own objections. So I like to see you go right to the jugular. I saw you on Facebook; you clicked on an ad to receive listings that are under $100,000, whatever, right? You were on an ad, and you were looking for the value of this of a home 123 Main Street. Did you find what you were looking for? You Googled homes for sale and such and such. So you're going to get more of no, that wasn't me. Because people will do that, that wasn't me. Well, let me ask you. Is this your email address? Yeah. Who did you piss off yesterday? Who's using your email?
Oh, that was my sister. I'm like, Oh, you're the lucky recipient, she left your number, what's your sister's number? Because now you got a captured person that's pissed off that sister gave the numbers I'm gonna give sister's number because she gave my number. So just you have a list of my questions, right?
Always go to fix your CRM command get a list of my questions. Um, I know, I know, we have the list of tags. And you know that categorization of, we need to be very diligent, the system is only as good as the person working it. So I love the tags because that's what's helped me ask the right questions because I want to know where to put you. If I don't know where to put you, I'm gonna lose you. So when we ask the right questions, are they renting? Are they going to be renting? Do they have bad credit? Are they relocating? Are they divorcing? Are they waiting on a settlement? Are they just looking? Or if they're just looking? Is it one or more years? Two or more years? Three years? Plus? Do they have an agent? Have they already purchased? Are they an agent? Are they wackadoo? And they're a bye, Felicia? So that way, we can start organizing them. So we don't have to call them back. Because the majority of your database is going to be tried to contact, and they stay in tried to contract until we have a conversation to be able to task them or tag them. So I look at it. And it's came up, I think, two weeks ago in the webinar. I'm like, Do y'all remember when Farmville was out back when Facebook started? And we had to schedule our harvest? Three hours for harvesting your strawberries, one day for corn, four days for soybeans, you had to logistically figure out on your calendar what am I going to be on it because if you didn't go harvest it, your crop went dead. And you lost points. And I'm like, Oh my God if I could make calling leads like a game, you're focused on the little points and the little wins more than your focus on the appointment. So when you start taking your tried-to contact leads and start grouping them. To your point, Jeffrey, you can quickly go through that list and not have to think about who you're calling. Because our worst enemy is what goes on in our head. And trying to figure out the lead before we make the phone call. I always thought that I had to read the notes. I had to. I didn't look at the properties they were looking at because I had to have an idea of what they were looking at. I had to look at Oh, the oh, that there. Oh, that this lead ain't worth that Jesus, they're looking at homes that are at such low value. I don't want to call them. I was literally looking for reasons not to call them. And that is what makes it non-efficient.
Bev:
I don't have scripts. I have questions: fixyourcrm.com. You'll get the questions there. And it's free. Um, yeah, it's just general questions that I asked on every single call. And my very first question is, what are you looking for? Where are you in the process? Or what's your situation? Those are my three main questions, depending on my mood, depending on the day, depending on how they pick up. And then, from there, whatever their answer is, I asked another question—just looking great. Well, what are you just looking for? If you found a home that you were looking for, are you in a position to buy? If you were going to make everything hypothetical, don't ever make them feel like you're trying to sell them something because that is their biggest fear. When you walk into a retail store, and the sales clerk says, Is there anything I can help you with? No, just leave me alone. We do not want sold to. So hypothetically, if you were to make a move in the future, what do you think that would be? And sometimes you get that highly they're gonna have to take me out of here in a wooden box.
There's your answer. They're really, truly just curious. They're not going anywhere. #woodenbox. No, that's really called the toe tag home.
But when you ask that question, what would have to happen for you to be able to make a move? They really can't lie to you. They really can't just make something up that fast. You're gonna get the truth.
Dahna:
Okay, I think you just helped me answer a question I was gonna ask because I have, like, I think there's two, in particular, there are serial searchers. And I can set my text message alarm by them every night of the week. And I look at my husband and going that's going to be Tom, or that's gonna be Tom, or I guarantee you, and he's like, well, which one was it? And I like I'll call I'll try to call or text just like, hey, how's it going? Just checking in. So I'm gonna I think if I get them next, I'm going to try that hypothetical. I'm looking forward to trying that hypothetical question.
Bev:
Hypothetically. Make a move.
Dahna:
Okay. That's cool. Like that one. And I always look.
Bev:
And I always look, you know… Do you know where you're going on vacation next year yet, Dahna? So you don't even care about talking about vacations right now? Right. But let me ask you what, where was the last vacation you went? Where was your favourite vacation that you went to?
Dahna:
Oh, I took a river cruise in Europe.
Bev:
Oh, my gosh, are you do you plan on going back to do that again? Yes, I do. You do? When might that be? I don't know yet.
Dahna:
On the budget right now. Yeah. There are other priorities.
Bev:
What has to happen in your life for it to be in the budget?
Dahna:
Okay, so priority.
Bev:
So now when you hang up that phone, you may go to your husband at night and go, do you remember that trip we took to Europe? Right now, I planted the seed in your head. And now it's on your mind. And now you're gonna be talking about it, and what happens what we focus on expands? So it's very intentional the questions that we ask because they may not even know yet until you kind of uncover that. And especially Oh, don't these people piss you off? It's like, well, I'll know the home when I find it. I'm just looking for that one home. Like, oh, my God. But what does that home look like? Well, blah, blah, blah. So let me ask you this. When you are standing at your kitchen sink, what do you see out the window? What's your view? Wow, right? You now have them imagining themselves in a new home. Because I promise you, they ain't not going to answer that. Everybody loves to dream. And if we give them permission to dream, we're creating an experience that they're going to remember your conversation because you just made them feel really good.
So what happens back to the vacation? When you start talking about vacation, you're thinking about it. Then you start doing a little bit of Google searching. Like, don't you have no idea where you're going to go next year, maybe even if you're going to take a vacation next year. But you're just researching what other rivers if I didn't go to in Europe? Are there rivers in Canada that I could go to and just stay in the country, and you're researching rivers? Well, you're still not there yet. Because you just got distracted, and you didn't get to finish the process of looking at all the rivers in Canada. So once you find that river, you're like, I think this is going to be it, but you don't book it. Because it's just innate nature. We just don't do it right away. But we're thinking about it. But damn, once you get that vacation booked, the countdown starts. And that's all we're doing with the home buying process. Where are they in that process? And what can we put? What information can we possibly get to them? Dahna, if there were rivers that were in Canada, would it be of interest to you for me to get that information into your hands for you to kind of just self-discover?
Dahna:
You bet. There are lots of rivers in Canada.
Bev:
This is dissecting which one makes the most sense that we kind of in the late your Europe experience.
Bev:
So now she's gonna be online tonight; look at the rivers. We have five minutes left, Q&A. Was this helpful? I know I didn't get into your dashboard; we always come back on. But was this helpful?
Jeffrey:
This was definitely helpful. It gave me a lot of information that I didn't think about and used in a different way to actually approach conversations. And I actually have your website now, just in the back that I can check as soon as we're done with this call.
Bev:
Fabulous. Fabulous. What was your biggest takeaway?
Jeffrey:
Oh, God, I'm probably the hypothetical. I am using that scenario. I guess maybe even being a little bit less. I don't wanna say pushy. But you changed my approach to be a little bit less pushy.
Bev:
Yeah, because he who asked the questions controls the conversation.
Jeffrey:
Yeah. And sometimes, you just don't know what to ask or how to ask it. And until we have these types of calls.
Bev:
Yeah. And it's just, and that's why I don't practice scripting. Because when I script, I'm not listening. Because when you hear what they have to say, that's what it really activates that next question to ask because you're like, Huh, that's, that's serious. Or that's peculiar, huh? Well, you're online, just looking. What made you come online? And look? Don't you want to know? Like, why did you get online? Why did you Google homes for sale, in... wherever. Just don't be afraid to ask it because it's not a lead that you had. You can't lose anything; you can't lose what you never had. So you really can't ask the wrong question. And a lot of my questions you'll see, I like to say that I back door—a lot of my questions. I'm not abrasive. Instead of asking, have you talked to a lender? Have you talked to anybody about what your mortgage payment would be on the price of a home? Instead of asking if you do have an agent, how long have you been looking? Have you been in any homes and then even at that will tell me about that experience. Because they are on your website for a reason, they didn't find what they were looking for. And there, if they have an agent, their agent has not explained to them very well. That they ain't gonna find anything else out there that you're not giving them stop searching. So they think you have something that their agent does not have. Yay, let them think it because you do bow your collective team experience and don't once discount yourself as I'm only six months younger the business throw that verbiage away. You've been in it collectively as long as your team has been in it, and you can collectively have that experience. So whatever experience you want to bring to that lead, I'm giving you all permission to bring it because that's all they want. They don't care how much you know. They want to know how much you care if you don't have the freakin answer Ray does. Right right. Oh, somebody that does. And don't be afraid to say you know what, that's a really good question. Let me find out for you because I promise you you know more than they do. Well, unless you have somebody that bought this already bought a home two, three years or two-three years ago and they've bought multiple homes, and they know more than you, you don't want to work with them anyway.
Because they're going to be a very difficult buyer. Guys, it has been amazing. You have to keep me in the loop on hypothetically how that's working.
Dahna:
Yeah, so we'll, but it won't be hypothetically; I will give you like the real deal. It's been a pleasure. Beverly, really love to have a chance to have some, you know, quality time with you. It's been great and really insightful. Thank you so much. Yes, thank you very much. My pleasure anytime.
Ray:
I'm saying I told you guys Bev is the best, no doubt about it. And thank you so much for your time, honestly. I really appreciate it. Crystal, thank you so much for putting this together
Crystal:
You're most welcome. We can try to get you guys looped in and maybe in a month and then maybe next December's whatever yet gosh, maybe December 3 week dial so gives you a month to kind of utilize these come back reconvene and then we can jump in and make some dials as well.
Bev:
That's the plan. Pag leads and whoever you want me to follow up with, whoever you want me to call if you have somebody that was difficult and you don't know what to do, tag them so that we can come to the table with real discussions.
Crystal:
Sure. Sounds good.
Ray:
Thank you so much. Take care, guys.