Many investors have spent countless hours and dollars choosing the best marketing strategy possible. What they neglect, however, is the process of handling the leads that result from said campaigns. A good campaign will get your phone to ring, but if you don’t convert calls to deals your marketing dollars will not be well spent. If you want to get the most out of every call, you need to know what to do when your phone rings. Here are five tips to help you convert leads into deals:
1. Dedicated phone number/email address: When doing any type of marketing, you need to make a clear distinction between personal and business calls. One of the ways to do this is to establish a dedicated phone number for your marketing campaign. Many leads are lost based on how you answer your phone. If you direct all calls to your personal cell phone, you have no idea who it is and what it is in reference to. With a dedicated marketing phone number, you can track all the incoming calls, and you better be ready to act. This also gives you the option of using an answering service. Every time you miss a phone call, you greatly reduce the chances that they will call you back. An answering service can screen incoming calls and help you never miss out on a lead. Someone that talks to a real person is much more likely to be receptive when you call. Don’t run the risk of losing a deal by having people only call your personal cell phone.
2. Script: Every time your phone rings, you need to be ready to act. Having a script prepared is a good start. The key is to talk like you would in a normal conversation, but have an idea where you will take the listener. Your script should be a list of talking points or questions that you want answered. The order you ask them should be dictated on the caller’s responses. The initial call is where you will get most of your information from. The caller is typically the most receptive and willing to talk. They will also ask you plenty of questions, so you should be prepared to answer some of the more obvious ones. Don’t shy away from answering what is asked, but try to keep the conversation on them and the property. By the time you hang up the phone, you should know whether or not you want to further pursue the deal. If you fail to get this information on the first call, you will end up wasting your time and spinning your wheels.
3. Get contact information: Your script should result in as much contact information as possible. If this is one of your first marketing campaigns, there is an instinct to get the caller off the phone as quickly as possible. All this does is waste time and money. Regardless if you think there is a potential deal there or not, you need to get as many different contacts as possible. A deal that doesn’t look great today may be appealing a few weeks from now. In addition to a cell phone number you need to get an email address and possibly a home phone number. Find out when the best times to reach them, are and the best methods of doing so. If you don’t have their contact information, you will never know if a deal can be had.
4. Schedule an appointment: If you like what you hear, you should schedule an appointment on the initial phone call. The sooner you can see the property and get yourself in front door, the quicker you can make a decision. This also puts you at the front of the line with other investors. Even though they called you, there may be other investors calling them. By sitting down with the seller and developing a rapport, you strengthen the chances that they will work with you. It also gives you a chance to see the property for yourself.
5. Follow up: If you have missed a call and your answering service spoke to a seller, it is critical that you follow up as quickly as possible. The longer you go without calling back, the less likely the seller will be open to speaking with you. Every time you market your company, that should take priority over everything else you do. This means dropping whatever else you have going on and working with incoming leads. Even if the deal doesn’t sound great, you should still take the time and find out for yourself. The answers they give may be different when they know they are talking to an actual investor rather than an answering service. Every call that comes in has to be followed up with.
There may always be a touch of panic when a new call comes in. Embrace this excitement and remember the end goal. You are not looking to solely generate call volume. You are looking to get deals. Be ready to act every time your phone rings.
