I was recently speaking to an agent who had just started working some leads from his website.  He was excited that he was actually getting leads from his website, but he really needed to start getting some commissions.  When I asked him how many appointments he had been able to get in the last week he said,

“I haven’t got any appointments yet, but that’s ok, because I know most of them are just looking for now, so hopefully they will buy something later.”

Now, if I believed this, I would be bankrupt and I certainly wouldn’t praise the benefits of online marketing for the real estate community.  I didn’t blame this agent for his thoughts because it is one that I find common across agents all across the country.  Many of the “statistics” state that an overwhelming majority are “starting” their research online.  The reality is that some people start their research online and then can actually purchase very quickly! 

There are two main reasons agents are not booking more appointments from their websites.

  1. Mindset - They just don’t believe that the person on the other end wants to buy or sell today.
  2. Scripts - The agent doesn’t know the right questions to ask to get that appointment.

Let’s dive into these issues so we can start avoiding the pitfalls and start booking more appointments and earning more commissions.

Mindset

This is probably the most important one.  If you don’t have the right mindset when you approach your calls and e-mails, then it will be a HUGE uphill battle.  It is important to have the mindset that each and every call you return from a person that made a request on your website has the intent to buy or sell.  After all, they had to have some interest because they volunteered their information!  I find many agents get in the helpful mode with internet leads just giving them all the information they want, but never asking in return.  Empower your leads with information, but drop those calls to action that will empower them to use you for their real estate services.

Scripts

Here is the big one.  If you don’t know the right thing to say, then you end up just chit-chatting with the person and you just get to the point that “internet leads don’t work, they are just looking”.  After over 10,000 phone calls to leads generated from our websites, I have learned that you need to quickly control the conversation.  Here are 3 pointers to help you start getting more appointments.

  1. Understand that you can get an appointment on the very first phone call.  People want to get help to learn more they just are scared to ask.
  2. Don’t use the word “appointment” when you are booking a time to meet.  The word “appointment” conjures up ideas of meeting with an accountant (when you owe money) or going to the dentist.  Make sure they can see the benefits of meeting with you.
  3. Keep the conversation short.  If you are too helpful, they won’t feel the need to come in and meet with you.  I focus on staying on the phone call for less than 3 ½ minutes because it’s enough time to establish some rapport and get them to agree to come in.

Concentrating on just having the right mindset and controlling that first conversation you will find that you can have as many appointments as you can handle.  The only limit is how many calls you can get to in the day!

We have the real estate scripts that we use for our team on Online Real Estate Success. A few of our scripts are posted for FREE and if you want our opening script and more you can actually order the Buyer Objection CD that our buyers agents use to book appointments every day.

Related Posts:

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Why Lead Conversion is more Important than Lead Cost