In commercial real estate you have to make many cold calls every day. The people that make the most income and take the best listings are the ones that make the calls. Everyone else, and that is the majority, are earning smaller commissions and getting less listings. You have a choice.
It is interesting that many salespeople avoid the cold calling process and rarely do it every day. There are some averages which show that you need to make about 100 calls to get one good listing. The calling process creates a funnel of opportunity that revolves every day. Without you making it happen, the business will not come. If only more salespeople had the discipline to make the calls.
Taking the 100 call number, I recommend that the salesperson has a system of calling that allows them to call about 50 people a day. It will take about 2 to 3 hours if you are organised. Understand this, you will not be able to get to 50 people on the telephone, in fact you will only get to about 15 to 18 people, however of those people you are likely to get 2 or 3 appointments. That is where the business starts to grow. It’s all up to you.
When you get good at the calling process, and that will take about 2 weeks of struggle, you will be converting more appointments, and that will lead to listing opportunity.
To make the calling process work for you there is a base plan which should be considered:
- Plan your calls the night before so that nothing holds you up in the 2 to 3 hours
- Start your calls at the same time every day regardless of any other pressures.
- For the first few weeks of making the cold calls, do some practice each morning before you leave for the office
- Do not use a fixed script, but use your own words.
- Find a private area with no distractions to make the calls
- Choose a simple group of words that guide your conversation
- Get used to people saying ‘no’, as there will be a lot of that
- Make the call simply to see if they have a need, not to push where there is no need
- Only make appointments with people that have an interest in what you are saying – your time is too precious to do otherwise
- Keep a tally of calls made and appointment converted as you proceed, the numbers will encourage you
- Businesses in the area are a great source of call targets and you can get those from the telephone book
So if you are new to commercial real estate and you want to generate market share the best way to do that is to talk to many people each day on the telephone and then later in face to face meetings. Use the technology that sits on your desk to its fullest capability. Good hunting.
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