Many sales people shutter when they hear the words “cold calling.” That is despite the fact is that cold calling is still one of the fastest ways to grow your real estate business. That alone should be enough to start calling. So, why aren’t more real estate agents doing this? Well, there are essentially three myths that keep many sales professionals from cold calling:
3. Nobody answers the phone anymore
This is reminiscent of the “fear of rejection” syndrome that plagues many sales people. This fear is the number one reason that prevents many sales professionals from initiating contact with a potential prospect. Instead, they wait for someone to call them first. However, prospects do answer the phone. On average, approximately one-third of calls are answered. The more calls you make, the more opportunities you will have for finding homeowners interested in selling their property.
2. They don’t want to hear from me
Some sales people believe that cold calling died when the National Do Not Call Registry was enacted. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. In reality, the list weeds out those who are not receptive to those types of calls. That’s a good thing. Also, you’re not really selling them anything. You are simply helping them find a solution to their housing needs. If you can express a sincere desire to help a homeowner solve their housing needs, you will have a customer for life from a cold call.
3. It doesn’t work!
There are many sales professionals who are convinced that cold calling is outdated and doesn’t work. But those who have mastered cold calling have grown to love it and make it part of their well-rounded marketing system generating several new listing appointments each week. In a Baylor University cold calling research study conducted in 2011, participating real estate agents received either an appointment or a referral for every 59 calls that were answered. Cold calling works, but it does take practice, tenacity and self discipline and you need to quickly get over the fear of rejection. Also, it is a good idea to have a script to follow as a guideline. It helps to maintain call control — an important element for effective cold calls.
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