If you want to be very successful in selling and leasing commercial real estate, there is an important skill that is a must and must be personally mastered. If you don’t develop this core skill, you won’t be able to achieve average performance in any market. You will fight every time the economy changes. So what is the meaning skill that makes all the difference? Read on if you dare.
As a seller, you have the choice to do the best you can for yourself or, alternatively, to be like everyone else. An unfortunate fact in real estate is that many sellers fail to take the right action and then consistently and persistently follow through every day into the future. Only a small percentage of those in the industry will actually do what I am about to detail.
In any real estate market, you and you alone are responsible for the results you achieve in listings and commissions. Yes, you always have to work really hard when the going gets tough, but the market is still there and people still need you. The trick is to find them and connect with them in a meaningful way. You have to do the right thing that pushes the opportunity towards you. It is your pipeline.
You’ve heard what I’m about to say many times before, but only a small number of agents actually get the message and do what’s required (probably 1 in 10). The secret to your success as a real estate agent is making lots of cold calls to new prospects every day. It goes without saying that cold calling should never be just a numbers game. The quality of your calling process should be raised through continual practice. The more you practice your voice and your words, and the more you make the calls, the more opportunities you will have.
This is the one skill that will make a significant difference in your career. Everything else is in the layer of secondary negotiation skills, knowledge, and professionalism. This is the easiest thing that everyone says they have. They think that these three things will bring them business. Incorrect!
As the head of a real estate office, I’d rather have someone who is 100% committed to cold calling new prospects every day, than someone who says they are professional, know the market, have been in the local area for 30 years; And the list goes on. You know what I mean.
I want the ‘action’ based person that really drives new business. They are few and far between.
In this market, new business does not walk through the door. New businesses have nothing to do with the agency, the economy, the financiers, the government, the boss, or your competitors. New business is about you; what you think and what you do. It’s that easy.
Prospecting and cold calling are the only important skills that drive your commercial real estate business. Nothing else matters at the primary level to generate inquiry. Certainly, when you generate a new inquiry or find a prospect, then professionalism and knowledge become a secondary issue that you must have to be competitive. However, the underlying fact is that knowledge means nothing without customers.
Only you hold the ‘key to the door’ to future opportunities and more customers. The key to that door is the telephone; sits at his desk. Make friends with this business builder and master it.
Cold calling new prospects and suspects should be a daily event on your real estate business schedule. You should take around 2 hours every day to dedicate to the cold calling process, no matter how successful you are. Understand that when you stop this prospecting, your income decreases and eventually stops. That’s when you blame the world, the dog (poor dog), the family, the competition, the government; the list goes on.
Understand that this cold calling prospecting process will be very difficult for you in both routine and approach. If you’re like the average salesperson, you’ll find every possible excuse to do the task tomorrow and put it off today.
If the task was this rewarding, I’d think more people in the industry would do it. Unfortunately, when a task becomes difficult or requires diligence, roughly 90% of salespeople won’t do it to the required level, following through on a regular basis every day in the future.
Only a very small number will actually do the required practice and take steps to connect with potential and suspicious customers on a daily basis. These are the real estate agents that generate significant income and a significant listing opportunity in any market. In this tough market they have no problem; they just work harder at prospecting.
Agents who go through the prospecting process on a regular basis know that the people they talk to are likely to say ‘no thanks’ and put them off, yet they will build a relationship on a call for future contact and another database cold call. Contact. It is these relationships that underpin the listing process and trust that is required in commercial real estate. You have to talk to someone about 3 times before you build trust and get a date.
Your success in the cold calling process is based on how you see what you do. If you see it as a numbers game, you’ll be wasting a lot of time. You must develop your effectiveness of method and technique. You must develop a significant positive attitude towards cold calling, understanding that many people you call will not require your services when you first speak to them.
The good news is that salespeople who master the cold calling process will generate significant income and be at that high level of industry performance. So what choice do you have? You can do this, or you can leave it.
So how many calls do you need to make each day? About 50 and it will take you 2 hours. You have to prepare the night before and have your list of contacts ready to call as soon as you enter the office.
When you make these calls, you won’t be talking to 50 people; you’ll reach about 15 people, and of that, you’ll likely find 3 or 4 who have an interest in what you’re saying. They then become suspects and break into your database or maybe even a meeting. It’s just a simple equation.
You can see cold calling as the key that unlocks the door to your revenue in any market. You will have to significantly discipline yourself towards the process. Focus on cold calling and be successful. It’s your choice. When you do this, everything changes for the better.