I got lucky. I know it. But being prepared means you increase your luck, right?
So I got a call yesterday about a property I was advertising. It’s a HUD home, and one thing I love about HUD homes is that any broker who is signed up to sell them is encouraged to advertise them. So I have been doing just that. And it generates calls.
I received a call about one of these properties and I threw the play book out the window and just started talking to the caller. Just talking about the property- how much work it might take, and by the way, do you understand the HUD buying process? No? Well it’s different and here’s how… And are you in front of your computer? Okay then, go to this site and where it says Ohio, click there, and by the way, my site is The Brick Ranch so you can see more photos there, and Oh! you just bookmarked my site? Great! Thanks! So here’s more information and….
Suddenly. After 10 minutes of walking the caller through the process, and pointing them here and there, educating and giving away all the information I could in that time period, it occurred to me that maybe they were working with a Realtor. D’oh.
“Are you working with a Realtor?”
“Well.”
Darnitall. I braced myself.
“We have a Realtor who is selling our house.”
Gah.
“But, ” her voice lowers, “we really aren’t happy with the job he’s doing, so we are looking for someone else to help us buy another home.”
Oh. Okay then. I remember this part of the script.
“Would you like me to email you a list of homes as they become available?”
“That would be great!!”
Perhaps the beauty of knowing scripts is that it enables you to do a better job of just being yourself.
Jeff Brown says:
Teri — You ARE your scripts. 🙂
May 10, 2009 — 10:22 am
Sean Purcell says:
Great post Teri. Out of the many things we can do on a personal level to improve our business, I don’t believe any compares to the impact of learning our scripts.
In any endeavor that involves a repeatable experience, practicing that experience will make us more successful. Does anyone dispute the first phone call with a prospect is often the same phone call repeated, but with different facts? Does anyone dispute the introduction to a prospect at an Open House is the same initial dance repeated, but at a different location. You could go on and on.
Athletes practice the same moves every day. Actors practice their lines every day. Why wouldn’t agents practice their “dialogues” every day? Teri, you just provided the unassailable answer. Thanks!
May 10, 2009 — 11:08 am
Sue Zanzonico says:
The flow was perfect. You engaged in conversation with her and were providing useful information and being helpful and…yourself. If you hit her up front with the question “Are you working with a Realtor?” before you ‘bonded’ with her, it may have put her off. She liked you …. you demonstrated knowledge and helpfulness (is that a word?) without expecting anything in return.
May 10, 2009 — 1:38 pm
Erica Ramus says:
Great job. You should always ease into ARE YOU WORKING WITH A REALTOR somewhere in the first conversation. It saves so much hassle later.
May 10, 2009 — 1:59 pm
Gail Tassey says:
I think Scripts are just sentences we practice to make us prepared when we are talking to someone about a subject, our moms taught us scripts when we learned Thank You and Yes, please. An answer to a set of circumstances. You are right, luck is better when one is prepared for it to happen to them.
May 11, 2009 — 5:01 am
James Boyer says:
This is so true Teri, when you know the content of what you need to say, and 2 or 3 really good ways of saying it, you can get your points accross in a highly effective and sincere way, and after all, when we know our stuff we truely are being sincere.
May 13, 2009 — 5:50 am