Ask the Right Questions with Cold Calling Real Estate Scripts
“I don’t know.” Three of the most feared words to string together on a real estate cold call. Using this phrase could indicate a lack of preparation on your part; a lack of previous thought by the prospect; be a default phrase used when in the hot seat; or a way of avoiding answering too many intimidating questions. Using cold calling real estate scripts is one way to avoid creating uncomfortable “I don’t know” moments – for yourself and for your prospects – as you’re power dialing your way through a real estate lead list.
Cold calling real estate scripts help you structure your calls in an intentional way and guide your prospects towards discovering the obvious answer – choosing to list their property with you! Julie Gurner, a doctor of psychology who also renovates and flips real estate properties, articulates a few of the questions that you can structure your cold calling real estate scripts around:
1. “I Don’t Know” – What’s Your Own Desired Outcome?
When you’re seeking opportunities to engage with a potential new client, you need to know what outcome you’re hoping to achieve. For example, if you have buyers seeking to live in a certain neighborhood, you may decide to call a lead list of all the homeowners in that area. Your goal is to gain an opportunity to meet them in person to do a pricing assessment and to book appointments.
After introducing yourself to the homeowner, perhaps your cold calling real estate scripts could say something like, “The reason I’m calling you is that [the real estate company] has buyers right now who are looking for homes in your area. If we had someone ready to buy your house, would you consider selling it?”
Granted, you realize that many of the individuals you call will not be interested in selling their home at that very moment. However, this approach or similarly written cold calling real estate scripts will allow you to be straightforward and honest while getting the information that you need from the potential lead. At that point, even if your leads say, “I don’t know,” you have achieved your desired outcome by simply planting the seeds for future follow-up conversations.
2. “I Don’t Know” – How Much Would Be Enough?
Sometimes homeowners just need a nudge to realize that they, too, can sell their house for as good a price as someone in their neighborhood has. The “I don’t know” of whether their house will simply sit on the market or not sell at all, can be incredibly intimidating to a seller. To leverage a recent sale, you can use any number of cold calling real estate scripts to demonstrate to these homeowners that there is a potential for making the sale and that you’re the agent who can accomplish it for them, too!
After introducing yourself, you could say something like, “You may have noticed [real estate company] recently sold the property down the street from you at [address]. I love seeing our sellers and new owners so pleased. I am wondering if you had thought about selling your home, too, if you could get a stellar price for it?”
Using cold calling real estate scripts like this one lets you sound genuinely interested in their response to your question. If they ask questions back about that sale, you can avoid awkward “I don’t know” responses by having the details of the experience ready to go: how quickly you made the sale, your effective pricing strategies for the area, anecdotes about the signing, or reasons for why the buyer wanted to be in their neighborhood.
Your answers should all lead towards booking a no-strings-attached appointment with potentially interested sellers who will invite you to come to take a look at their home to see how much they might be able to make by following their neighbor’s lead.
3. “I Don’t Know” – When Might You Be Interested in Selling?
Sometimes cold calling real estate scripts can be used to narrow down your cold list to a warmer list.
After introducing yourself to the prospect, you could say something like, “I’ve had a lot of success selling properties in your neighborhood, so I’m wondering if you know when you might be interested in putting your home on the market? Is this something you’ve already been considering or might be thinking about next year or in the next few years?”
This is like the first of these cold calling real estate scripts, but it focuses less on the “if” and more on the “when” questions. If the leads indicate a potential interest, you can then start asking questions about what they’re looking for in an agent.
You can then thoughtfully share information about yourself, including your number of buyers, the listings you’ve successfully sold in their area, how quickly your listings typically move and hopefully wrap up the conversation with an in-person appointment to help them establish a sales strategy for their home. When you’re confident in what you bring to the table, you just need to get leads around that table to listen to what you have to say!
Power Through Uncertainties
When you know what to say and how to avoid the uncomfortable “I don’t know” moments, real estate cold calling becomes far less intimidating. Once armed with the right cold calling real estate scripts, you need only a way to reach as many potential prospects as possible! To discover how a power dialer can accomplish this goal and help put you and your real estate company in front of the maximum number of potential sellers and buyers, contact Call Logic for a free demo today!