We all know in real estate communication is everything and how we feel on the inside is what is coming out to people on the outside through your words, tone and energy. We all want the client to feel good when we communicate with them so it starts by us feeling good ourselves! You can’t be a lean mean appointment setting machine if you are someone who is sad, angry, depressed or totally stressed out on the inside because that is coming out in some way on the outside to the people you are communicating with.
So get right on the inside so you can be right on the outside and really attract, engage and make people feel good and feel like you are someone they really need to get together with! Let’s give you some more tips on becoming that appointment setting machine.
1. Know your customers pain and know their problems.
Examples: market conditions, past purchasing experiences. There are only two things in our lives that “move” people to take action and that is the avoidance of pain and the desire of pleasure. What are the buyers and sellers challenges? Fears? Frustrations? When you begin to share with the client about their pain they feel you really understand them and feel like you are in tune with them and want to connect with you and hear the solutions you can offer them.
2. Know your dialogues.
If you want to be good then you have to practice! The most in demand type of training in our industry today is role playing but it is the kind of training that is avoided the most and not practiced at all in our industry. I hear so many agents say “I hate scripts” “I don’t want to sound canned” Sorry but these are the same agents who don’t do high volume and are not great communicators in the industry and this just makes it easier on the rest of us. When you know what to say and how to say it, you can be more in tune to your customers’ needs.
3. Get to the point!
Example “I’m calling today to schedule an appointment…” I love the line “Why sell with blah blah blah when you can sell with blah?” or “If you don’t ask and get to the point then you don’t get!” So many times we find ourselves talking too much about "nothing" and actually forget to ask for the order or get to the point of the conversation. Have the courage to ask for the appointment and get to the point sooner than later. My favorite technique is the alternate choice close when you give the client two options for setting a time. “Would tomorrow at 2 pm be good or Friday at 1pm be better for you?”
4. Stand up when you are making appointments and keep your hands free of objects including when you are on the phone (use a head set). Your body controls your tonality and your emotional state. It is amazing when you stand and your hands are free and open what it does for you and your energy levels. People are engaged by your energy, passion and excitement and want to connect with you when you have that kind of enthusiasm. Standing keeps your body, breathing and mental state at a peak level and has a huge impact on your conversion rate for appointments.
5. On the phone = 20% effective sensory communication. You need to remember when you talk you are only engaging in one sense out of five. It is critical you speak clearly and slowly and be on point throughout the discussion. This is so important because you don’t have the non-verbal communication components now which make up the majority of communicating. They can’t see your body language, facial expressions, eye contact and hand gestures over the phone. All you have is your voice, tone and inflections to get the message across when trying to convert the appointment.
6. Get the fear out of the way with these 3 questions: For a lot of us it is uncomfortable talking to someone we just met so knowing what to ask and let them do the majority of the talking makes this part so much easier. Here are three excellent and engaging more dialog questions to get you past the fear and awkwardness of converting sales appointments.
1) What’s the worst case scenario?
2) What’s the most likely scenario?
3) What’s the best case scenario?
In addition to getting better at sales appointment conversion you also have to make sure you have the best environment possible for making those appointment calls so here are some great tips for creating the right environment for converting more appointments.
1. Appointment Tracker – Visual. Make it visual; think big appointment calendar.
2. Appointment Setting Shrine. Use a foam presentation board. Put pictures of your family, how much money you want to make, and even a mirror.
3. Eliminate All Distractions. Things like the voicemail light, messy desk, or having the Internet open in front of you can be distracting.
4. Stand Up Vs. Sit. You sound more confident on the phone when you are standing up versus sitting down.
5. Music. I like Van Morrison, but find something that works best for you.
6. Plant. Having a plant in your office can help improve your mood.
7. Get a good headset! I use a wireless Plantronics headset.
When you put together all these steps you can’t help but get better on appointment setting and remember, by removing the client’s fear it is easier for them to take action and for you to set appointments.
Here are some action steps for you to put this into reality.
1. Review this content daily.
2. Get your environment set for making appointments.
3. Practice the communication tips above.
4. Set those appointments!
Are you ready to take your appointment setting to the next level?
Strength and courage,
Wade
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