Envelope Real Estate Brokerage Inc.’s Philosophy of Working with Buyers and Sellers
Most frustration and confusion in real estate come from needing to know EXACTLY what you will do with someone when they respond. You’ve got all these e-mail replies and phone calls for all these requests for information, and you don’t know what to do next!
The reality is that you probably don’t know the first thing about ANY of them.
If you’re going to have a high-volume business, how you handle prospects will determine how high-volume your business can be. There are only three possibilities when someone comes to you as a prospect. They are either going to buy NOW, they’re going to buy LATER, or they’re NEVER going to buy. And NEVER is OK — you want to know quickly. Once you realize those are the only possibilities, the game’s name is to find which category they fall in.
You’ll need a couple of things to set this up. One is a simple way to record the leads that come in, and the second is a process to measure them. A process (system) is essential because it eliminates the THINKING aspect, and it’s the THINKING that kills lead conversion. Thinking adds indecision to a system, adds variation, and creates a delay while you figure out what you will do THIS time. When you have a SYSTEM for finding the best leads, you can let the system do the work for you and let the cream rise to the top. It starts with identifying what you’re looking for in a GREAT client.
The whole objective of a call is to decide the next step to take with someone. It starts with your attitude for this call, and you are qualifying THEM even more than they are qualifying you. To remind you, our objective is to find 5-star and 4-star Prospects. The ones willing to engage in a dialogue, are friendly and cooperative, know what they want, are moving in the next one to twelve months and would like us to help them.
Those five parameters are in that order for a reason. If they don’t meet one of the 5 or 4 -stars, there is no reason to discuss how we help people get what they want. 5-star & 4-star prospects are uncovered, NOT created. They either ARE a five or 4-star prospect, or they’re not; only amateurs try to convince or persuade; telling isn’t selling.
What qualities are you looking for in someone you want to work with? If you can identify the characteristics and know what you’re looking for, it’s easy to separate the great from the not-so-great. You’re looking for someone who meets five essential criteria, and if they meet those five qualifications, you’ll want to do whatever you can to help them.
1. Willing to Engage in a Dialogue
If you’re going to work with someone, they have to be willing to communicate. You’ll notice that some prospects will leave their phone number for you to call them, they’ll call you, or they’ll respond to your e-mails. Someone who doesn’t do one of those three things is NOT willing to engage in a dialogue. The real test is, are they responsive? If you try to reach someone by phone, and they don’t return your calls, or you don’t have their phone number … it will be hard for you to have a successful working relationship with them.
- They Are Friendly and Cooperative
Life is too short to deal with acidic people. People who are short with you, evasive, shady or otherwise untoward, are not worth the trouble. You can tell a lot about someone by how they talk to you on the phone or reply to your emails.
- They Know What They Want
GREAT prospects know what they want — and they have realistic expectations. They have an answer to the question, “What are you looking for?” How can you possibly help someone who doesn’t know what they want? Or a dreamer? Holding your prospects up to those first three filters will eliminate many immediately.
- They Are MOVING in the next 1-12 months
Contact them less frequently if a prospect meets the first three requirements but only moves once they retire in three years. Most prospects you talk to will buy or sell in the next six months. The question is, will YOU be the one to help them? Once a prospect has passed the first three tests and they tell you they will be moving in the next 12 months, it’s a good investment of your energy and money to help them until they’re ready.
- They would Like us to help
Most of the time, people start with a prospect by bombarding them with all the services they can provide without knowing anything about them. Again, telling isn’t selling; we have two ears and one mouth for a reason. Know the answer to the first four questions; once you know the answer to the first four criteria, you’ll know what kind of service to offer them. If they’re going to buy now, you might want to offer them our Value Proposition and invite them to your Buyer Presentation.
If they’re going to buy in six months or a year, you should offer them information on the new homes that come on the market until they’re ready to start looking.
So, What Does This All Mean?
Top Realtors do not work with those who have little DNA.
D = Desire
N = Need
A = Ability
Sometimes, our self-esteem & ego necessitates that we try to help everyone. However, using up valuable resources to help the unqualified means diluting the attention of a qualified client, and you end up becoming a less efficient professional! We have been bombarded with the line ‘that the client is always right.’ You have a choice: will servicing this client bring you the net profit you need to pay your bills and increase your net worth? Will this client make a decision?
This helps you in the day-to-day business by giving you a new attitude that you do not have to work with every client, freeing you up to change people’s lives who deserve it.
