The cold calling process in commercial real estate agency is essential if you want to be a top agent. It takes far too long to do it any other way. This then says that you should take on the challenge to improve your market share and listing opportunities through establishing your call prospecting model. Here are some tips from our Agents Newsletter.
The good thing in our industry is that many of the people that we do business with are local business owners and managers. It is very easy to find them in the telephone book. Start making calls using the business telephone book. It is the easiest way to get started.
Your success in the process comes from two simple facts. They are:
- You must keep up the call momentum as a daily activity
- You must practice what you say and do in the telephone call
If you do these two things, the market and the opportunities will open up for you significantly.
Commercial real estate agency is all about getting to know more people and building trust. The sooner you can do that, the better it is for you as a local property specialist. That is why this prospecting model works.
Far too many agents rely on the real estate office brand and the office location to bring those leads. The reality is that only a small amount of business will come to you that way; everything else needs to be self-generated.
Here are some tips to help you in your call prospecting model and system:
- Understand your market both in size and type. Set some clear boundaries in which you can prospect with focus.
- Understand why people should talk to you and take your services. That being said you must be a specialist in something and most particularly a property type.
- Get to know your property type and location in great detail. This information will be critical when it comes to meeting with prospects and pitching for listings.
- Find the right people to talk to. When you understand that you are talking to the right decision makers your prospecting efforts become more direct and successful.
- Keep up your momentum every day. It takes time to establish a call prospecting model, so be committed to the process.
- Set a regular time each day to make your calls. Essentially you must establish this new habit in your business day. It takes about 4 weeks to set a new habit in place. Every day for 4 weeks you will need to make the calls without fail. Do not talk yourself out of it. Hold yourself to the process.
- Practice your dialogue and understand your thinking in the call process. For some weeks you will want to do something else thinking that you are only getting limited success. When you get a few successes, the prospecting process takes on a new meaning.
- Track your results every day so you know when things are improving (and they will).
- Be prepared for many people saying ‘no’ to your offering. That is quite ok and will give you the opportunity to move on to others.
Challenge yourself to establish a call contact model. Understand that the results will come over time, and seek to improve your call skills through practice. The property market will soon show you some fresh listings and clients.
You can get more tips like this in our Agents Newsletter.