When it comes to sales, some people just seem to have the ‘golden touch'. There are agents who seem to be able to convert ‘leads' into appointments, while others struggle. I had an opportunity to observe this time and again as a manager. Jerry, in my office, seemed to be able to convert ‘floor time' calls into appointments with ease. (Floor time, as you may remember, is a scheduled time when agents answer inquiry calls from consumers). George, on the other hand, seemed never to get an appointment while he was assigned floor time. In fact, George accused me of giving Jerry "all the good floor time". From Jerry's conversion rates of calls to appointments, it may have seemed like it. However, we simply rotated floor times with all the agents. No one got any better ‘floor time' than any other agent!
Why did Jerry convert calls to appointments, while George struggled? You would know the answer if you just listened to each man on the phone. Jerry immediately established rapport, asked great questions, and answered objections masterfully. He followed up immediately. He had awesome sales skills. George had no skills, seemed not to care much about the caller, and acted as though he was doing the caller a great favor simply by answering the phone!
A ‘lead generator' is anyone or thing that generates leads for you. There are two types of lead generation:
Pro-Active: You go find the lead (like calling on for sale by owners)
Re-Active: You wait for the leads (like lead generating companies, floor time, and open houses)
Too often, agents like George blame the re-active lead generating source for lack of quality of leads. On the other side, lead generating sources feel that agents don't convert enough of the leads provided. Instead of blaming each other, we can take positive steps to assure that you can screen your leads effectively, and turn good leads into appointments. Now, both agents and lead generating sources are happy!
The First Principle: Follow Up on the Lead Now!
A web site lead costs $215 to generate, on average. Yet, a majority of real estate agents don't even get back to a ‘lead'--ever! Why? I think there are three reasons:
1. Agents mistakenly think that the lead will be theirs forever—that there's no time sensitivity to answering that lead
2. Agents believe there's no competition for the lead
3. Agents don't know the cost of a lead—in both time and money—so they don't treasure that lead as if it were gold
With the instant information age, you can't just get back to a lead three days later. The consumer today expects to get a reply quickly. I'm constantly amazed when someone thanks me for responding quickly about a product or a question about our coaching. Our standard for answering product and coaching inquiries is within the day. What's your standard for answering lead inquiries? (Which require much faster responses, in my opinion, than my ‘leads').
· There's Competition For That ‘Lead'
A few days ago, I was visiting with my cousin, whose daughter just went into real estate (she's twenty-two). She has immediately put technology to work, creating an awesome database and contact management system. She's selling up a storm—and making the agents in the area mad at her. Why? Because she's getting to the consumers before the other agents do. They thought they ‘owned' those consumers'. But, my cousin's daughter is proving that no one owns the consumer. She's demonstrating that those who put technology to work effectively today capture the consumer's attention and loyalty.
The Second Principle: Give the ‘Lead' Its Value
If you've ever spent time generating your own leads, you know what this means. As a new agent, I knew about two people in the area. Because I had no built-in network, I did every kind of lead generation known to man. I worked all the time. I learned by all my mistakes how to generate leads—and the value of a lead. Purchasing a lead is so much easier than generating your own. But, you must treat that lead like the potential gold it is, so you'll be the Jerry of sales, not the George.
The Third Principle: Develop Your Sales Skills
Following up on the lead immediately shows you value the lead. But, that's not all. It takes specific sales skills to turn that lead into an appointment. In my coaching program,
· Set Your Sites And Raise Your Skills To Mastery
Our high accountability training program, Advantage, is helping new and newer agents capture the sales and organizational skills it takes to convert leads more often. But, training is only the start. It takes coaching to master any skill, along with your determination to get really good at lead conversion. Decide today your standards for performance, what you want to master, and how you'll go about it. Now, you're on your way to becoming a top producer!
