There’s no sure-shot formula for how to do cold calling in real estate. Wholesalers have a difficult job to do, and making mistakes is a common thing. But if your agents are facing rejections quite often, it’s time to make some changes in their cold calling strategy.
Even if the prospects aren’t outright hanging up in the midst of the call, there is still a likelihood that some of them don’t pay attention. One reason for this could be that they genuinely don’t need your services, however, it’s most likely because of cold calling in real estate errors.
In this guide, we’ll be exploring the top 12 mistakes that real estate investors should avoid when cold calling in real estate.
1. Not Practicing Scripts
A lot of arguments rage about scripted calls. You may think that scripted calls can make your agents sound robotic and can even make the prospect lose interest in the call. However, the fact is practicing a script will minimize the chances of error and help your agents to stay focused on the goal.
So, provide them with a script and ask them to practice it. Also, the call recipients may hang up if it sounds like the agent is reading from a pre-written script. Instead, add a few points in the script that the agents should remember and once the conversation starts, the agents should respond accordingly.
2. Not Role Playing Your Calls
You’ve provided a script to your agents but that isn’t enough. To practice it, call agents need to role-play it with either themselves, their family, their peers, or anyone. Practice and role-play. The more they practice the more they’ll be confident with their approach.
3. Not Standing Up
One of the worst things that any call agent could do is to sound stressed, depressed, and sad. Standing up elevates energy and enthusiasm. Ask them to stand up and walk around, not for hours but at least every 15 minutes. Spend those 15 minutes standing up and they’ll sound better and more effective.
4. Wrong Tone of Voice
One of the most important tips for realtors is to talk like a friend to the prospects instead of someone who’s calling with a purpose. The tone of voice that you use during a cold call is critical. They need to show the right amount of energy. They should sound neither too enthusiastic nor too low, there needs to be a balance. The tone of the voice should convey that you love what you do and you are here to help your prospects. This way you would sound kind and optimistic to the prospects and this will get your prospects to open up to you.
5. Not Listening Actively
Prospects can tell whether the call agents are listening to them or not, even if they can’t see their faces. And if they feel like the agent isn’t listening to them, the chances of them continuing the call decreases significantly. The idea here is to stay natural, actively listen to prospects and respond naturally. This, in turn, makes the prospect feel more comfortable and allows them to open up with the agent.
6. Neglecting Objection Handling Skills
When an agent talks to a prospect, it’s obvious that they will make objections. Collect all those objections and write them down on flashcards and then write two responses for each of the objections on the backside of the flashcards. Now share those flashcards with your teammates and your agents. Practice those responses and every time a prospect throws those questions at you, be ready with the right answers.
7. Not Calling When You Should
This is crucial, the more people you call the more “Yeses” you get. And so there’s no room for procrastination. The weather can be bad, you might not feel like making calls, or whatever excuse you have, you need to make calls. So just forget the world, set a target, pick up the phone, and start making calls.
8. “Will Do It Tomorrow” Mindset
This is one of the most common mistakes that all investors or wholesalers make, they postpone today’s work to the next day. Procrastination is the thief of time, especially when you’re cold calling in real estate. You need to make the calls today. So stop waiting for later and do it today
9. Not Asking Prospects About Their Other Properties
Generally, when prospects say that they don’t want to sell a property, call agents to thank them, and hang up the phone. And there they miss a big opportunity. The prospect might not want to sell a specific property but there are chances that they have other properties that they want to sell. So before you hang up the call, ask your prospects if they have any other property that they want to sell. This one question might help the agents to get several deals.
10. Not Prequalifying
If you don’t want to waste your time and make the most out of a call, get all the details during the call. Prequalifying is basically based on four pillars, the condition of the house, the timeline for prospects to sell it, their motivation to sell it, and the price that they want. Gather all these during the phone call and this will help you to save a lot of your time.
11. Not Staying Focused On The Call
Cold calling in real estate needs focus. You can’t call someone and then just start thinking about something else. While on a call, you need to stay focused and listen carefully to what the prospect is saying. This way they will feel more respected and will open up to you.
12. Don’t Let One Phone Call Defeat You Mentally
Rejections happen and sometimes it can be more insulting than a normal no. The prospects have all the right to be mad at the call agents as they are interrupting their daily routine.
However, this shouldn’t stop you from going on and making the next call. Remember, rejections are part of the process. So don’t let any wrong conversation defeat you mentally.
These were the top 12 cold-calling mistakes that most investors and wholesalers make. Stop making these mistakes to boost the chances of getting more leads using cold calling in real estate.
