How to Talk to Realtors
No, not like this.
The phone rings. You answer, and if it's a dear friend or a valued mentor, for example, you immediately relax and look forward to the stimulating conversation you're about to have.
On the other hand, if it's an insurance agent or a stockbroker, your internal reaction is more likely to be something along the lines of, "what does he/she want?"
You're a loan officer. With the recent rise in interest rates, any refi business you may have been doing has become a shadow of its former self. You want more business, and purchase business is the only part of the market that seems to be growing right now. So naturally, even if you're not particularly looking forward to it, you know it's important to your business to make contact with Realtors. So you make a list, and you start calling.
When they answer the phone and find out it's you, are they delighted to hear from you, anticipating an interesting conversation, or are they thinking, "what does he/she want?"
I want you to know that it's possible to have Realtors looking forward to your call. But first, you have to set the stage.
If you call Realtors "cold", they will suspect you want something, and that what you want is for them to either give you a referral, or an appointment so that you can make your presentation, state your case, and win their future business.
However, what if your call is preceded by a series of e-mails and/or blog posts, or articles on your website that they have read and found to be both useful and interesting? If you have aroused the Realtors' interest in continuing the "conversation" that you have begun with them through your writing -- to the point where they fill out response forms and ask you to contact them -- now we have an entirely different set of circumstances – and a very different attitude on the part of the Realtor.
On the other hand, if it's an insurance agent or a stockbroker, your internal reaction is more likely to be something along the lines of, "what does he/she want?"
You're a loan officer. With the recent rise in interest rates, any refi business you may have been doing has become a shadow of its former self. You want more business, and purchase business is the only part of the market that seems to be growing right now. So naturally, even if you're not particularly looking forward to it, you know it's important to your business to make contact with Realtors. So you make a list, and you start calling.
When they answer the phone and find out it's you, are they delighted to hear from you, anticipating an interesting conversation, or are they thinking, "what does he/she want?"
I want you to know that it's possible to have Realtors looking forward to your call. But first, you have to set the stage.
If you call Realtors "cold", they will suspect you want something, and that what you want is for them to either give you a referral, or an appointment so that you can make your presentation, state your case, and win their future business.
However, what if your call is preceded by a series of e-mails and/or blog posts, or articles on your website that they have read and found to be both useful and interesting? If you have aroused the Realtors' interest in continuing the "conversation" that you have begun with them through your writing -- to the point where they fill out response forms and ask you to contact them -- now we have an entirely different set of circumstances – and a very different attitude on the part of the Realtor.
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I've worked with loan officers with done exactly that: they have taken the time and made the effort to provide useful and interesting content to real estate agents in their market.
As a result, whether a Realtor is calling the loan officer, or the loan officer is calling a Realtor, there is an immediate recognition, and a respect for the loan officer that you wouldn't otherwise expect. |
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Once the Ice is Broken ...
Now, you can have a conversation that both of you want to participate in. But how does the successful loan originator manage this conversation so that it leads to something more?
If you're lucky, you've had business conversations with people that stand out in your mind as special, memorable. What was it about these conversations that made them so good?
If we assume it was the person you're talking to who made the difference, I think we can also assume that this person didn't do all the talking. In fact, the conversations you tend to remember the most, are ones where the other person sort "drew you out". They got you talking by asking interesting questions that that made you think, and then they made you feel interesting and important by listening carefully to what you said. They made comments that moved the conversation forward; they asked you questions based on what you had said that made you think some more and made you want to share what you are thinking, because you could tell they really cared what you thought.
And this is the kind of conversation you want to have with a Realtor.
In a very good book on sales called "Let's Get Real or Let's Not Play: Transforming the Buyer/Seller Relationship", authors Mahan Khalsa and Randy Illig explain that, while your "technique" is very important in selling, it is not nearly as important as your intention. Your intention is your goal, your desire, and your motivation for the conversation you are about to have. If your mind is on getting an appointment, whether you realize it or not and no matter how smooth your technique is, the other person will sense (even if they're not consciously aware of it) that you are trying to get something from them. The conversation then becomes a power struggle, which most of the time you will lose.
However, if your intention is to find a way to be of service to that Realtor – in other words, if you are sincere in your desire to be of service to that person – you will be much more likely to have a successful conversation, even if your technique is not flawless.
Your intention is more important than your technique.
In the free online seminar I will be giving on August 15, I will also be going into much more detail about how to have the kind of conversation with a Realtor that leads to an appointment because the Realtor wants to get to know you better, and not because you somehow "tricked" them into agreeing to meet with you. I hope to "see" you on Thursday.
If you're lucky, you've had business conversations with people that stand out in your mind as special, memorable. What was it about these conversations that made them so good?
If we assume it was the person you're talking to who made the difference, I think we can also assume that this person didn't do all the talking. In fact, the conversations you tend to remember the most, are ones where the other person sort "drew you out". They got you talking by asking interesting questions that that made you think, and then they made you feel interesting and important by listening carefully to what you said. They made comments that moved the conversation forward; they asked you questions based on what you had said that made you think some more and made you want to share what you are thinking, because you could tell they really cared what you thought.
And this is the kind of conversation you want to have with a Realtor.
In a very good book on sales called "Let's Get Real or Let's Not Play: Transforming the Buyer/Seller Relationship", authors Mahan Khalsa and Randy Illig explain that, while your "technique" is very important in selling, it is not nearly as important as your intention. Your intention is your goal, your desire, and your motivation for the conversation you are about to have. If your mind is on getting an appointment, whether you realize it or not and no matter how smooth your technique is, the other person will sense (even if they're not consciously aware of it) that you are trying to get something from them. The conversation then becomes a power struggle, which most of the time you will lose.
However, if your intention is to find a way to be of service to that Realtor – in other words, if you are sincere in your desire to be of service to that person – you will be much more likely to have a successful conversation, even if your technique is not flawless.
Your intention is more important than your technique.
In the free online seminar I will be giving on August 15, I will also be going into much more detail about how to have the kind of conversation with a Realtor that leads to an appointment because the Realtor wants to get to know you better, and not because you somehow "tricked" them into agreeing to meet with you. I hope to "see" you on Thursday.