You might think you know how to talk to potential customers, but today’s market presents different challenges. Avoid these three things in your first contact with a buyer today, advises real estate broker and coach Jeff Glover.
If you’ve been doing this for a long time, I know you’ve heard all the common things to check before working with a buyer. Things like making sure they get pre-approved, they’ll meet you in your office to consult a buyer, or making sure you don’t waste your time by seeing if they have an agent.
It seems that from day one on the job we have been told these three rules over and over again. I’m here to tell you that times have changed in the way buyers respond to these three requests, therefore, in our transactions of over 400 buyers a year, we skip these three on the first call:
1. Ask if it has been previously approved
We don’t do this on the first call because you don’t have to be tough with someone you’re trying to convert. You can always get this information on the second call with them. Instead, ask them who the lender and/or bank they work with. This will tell you everything you need to know without turning it off.
Once you meet them, tell them they need a photo or PDF of their pre-approval if they fall in love with something today, because you can’t make a show without it.
2. Ask if they work with an agent
There is no value in ordering this in your Initial Conversation with the buyer. Instead, leave a question like this for a follow-up call to remind them of the appointment, after the offer is confirmed, or during a buyer’s consultation. but under number In the circumstances you’re asking at the same time you’re trying to make a great first impression because you’re basically objecting to them. They know that if they say yes, you will hold back and they won’t close a date or they won’t follow up with them.
Answer their questions, make a great first impression, ask them questions in return and close a date. Worry about who (if any) they will work with next.
3. Request a meeting in order to consult with the buyer
Conventional wisdom is for traditional markets, and as you know, this market is not traditional at all.
Don’t skip the buyer consultation, just don’t focus on it during your initial call. Today’s buyers have already seen homes, written offers, rejected, and buyer tiredness. The last thing they want to force them to do is meet you in your office to “talk about what’s going on in the market”.
Instead, you focus on closing for first impressions during your initial call, and on your confirmation/remind (or follow-up) call, bring up things like a buyer consultation.
I know the above goes against what you and I have learned, but if you try it, you’ll see how effective it is to go in a different direction than the rest of the audience.
Jeff Glover is the founder of Live Unreal Companies, the parent company of several real estate-related businesses, including Michigan’s #1 home selling team, a real estate brokerage consisting of more than 600 agents, and a mobile app for home buying. He is also the number one coach in real estate production in the country, having sold more than 100 homes annually in the past decade.
