I have online leads coming in. The phone number and email is good but these people I call are so defensive. Like I am trying to sell them something. When they BUY the seller has to pay me not them... How can I soften these people up? I left a lot of voice mails and they hate picking up their phones. Email response is horrible and they check without responding...Well it has been 4 days since I got these leads but still I have not heard one response. The most interested one of the leads I got said we are not planning to go with a realtor. Sorry but I am new and my scripts are not that good so maybe you can refer me to a site with good scripts so i can practice and not stumble
...thanks..

What kind of leads were they ?

Where did these online leads come from ??? were they random searches that turned you up, or were they people that went directly to your site as a result of your marketng (either on line or elsewhere) ?

Best advice I can give and keep in mind I am coming from the lending side. Be prompt, if your leads are coming in real time, do not hesitate, contact them immediately. Be personable, talk to them like you have known them for years. Be yourself. Personally, I have never liked or used scripts. I think they are very impersonable and no one likes to feel like they are being read to. Just my 2 cents.

Scripts are just guidelines. They include information you should relay to the client at the appropriate time in the conversation when it will do the most good--when the seller is in a frame of mind to receive the information. As soon as your clients meet you and talk to you for a few minutes, they will relax and start asking you questions. You will then be much more comfortable, and providing your client with info will be, as AZLender said, just like talking to someone you have known them for years.

It sounds like from your post you are frustrated and aggressive that you want them to do business with you now.

The reality of internet leads is these people are in a buying and selling cycle of 6 months to a year off.You fill up your leads pipeline on a continual basis,then you will start to generate closings every month based on you have different leads at different points in the cycle.

Don't try to hard sell them which whether you are trying to or not is probably what they are perceiving on the other end of the phone.When talking on the phone imagine an old friend you want to get ot know that you haven't seen in years.Imagine they are standing in front of you smile and show your enthusiasm over the phone the people on the other end can really tell a difference.

At first contact they just want the info you promised them not let's go look at houses,remember very few online leads are NOW leads.The best practice is too call people and hone your skills and listen more than you talk.People have to listen to everyones crap all day long ,so if you shut up and just listen to what the consumer has to say they will see you as someone who cares and a breathe of fresh air.Think about it if all you did was talk,talk,talk do you think they would want to see or talk to you again?

Also record yourself and see how you sound on the other end of the phone you'll probably be suprised that you sound way different than you thought you were coming across.

good luck my friend

If these leads are coming from Homegain or one of these type services, then it is likely that the people were not aware that their name is being given out; and no wonder they are defensive. I got a seller lead one time from Homegain (I did not sign up with them) The person said all they did was get on a website to see what her house was worth. They deceived me, leading me to believe this was a valid seller, and they deceived the seller by giving out her information.

I definitely think you are on the right road wanting to get more comfortable talking to people, and of course you have those "new agent jitters" that we all had and still have in certain situations.

It's hard to listen to the leads if they won't call you back and talk to you, isn't it. But soon it will all start falling into place. Don't consider these leads as a major lost opportunity. Just think of them as a practice session, do the best you can, and after each one, ask yourself at what point you lost them. Then revise your script (or whatever you want to call it) and practice how you would handle that same situation next time. There are as many scenarios as there are buyers.

All you are trying to do is find a comfortable way to explain things to the buyer and to answer their questions. It's not like Realtors want to slam dunk unsuspecting buyers into a house that won't work for them. We are bound by all kinds of rules, regs and standards, plus most of us don't want to be associated with that kind of behavior.

You should be fine. One thing that will help you in this business or any selling business--don't let anyone get into your head and influence you to begin hating the client. They are all we have to sell to, and some of those who disrespect Realtors have their own story to tell. It's very hard to work somewhere when you hate your boss, and in real estate, the clients are our bosses.

Good luck. Keep us posted.

Darlene

One other thing, and this is most important, BE CONFIDENT IN YOURSELF AND YOUR SERVICE. Let this shine through.

What has been posted so far (for the most part), has been good advice.

However, I think as a general philosophy, it is a bad thing to depend on leads from an external entity.

First, I have found internet leads to be the least reliable of leads.

Second, if you rely too heavily on external sources for leads, you end up being to reliant on something that you really cannot control.

Clearly, this is just a personal preference, but I like being the source of my own leads. I find that once I have gotten that first face to face contact and a lead - the following interactions are relatively painless.

Now internet leads I get from my own website are a totally different animal than the ones we all get offered from these lead firms on the net.

I find the leads from online third parties to have an extremely low conversion rate and by in large demand way more effort to convert when you can get them that far. Just does not come down to a good use of my time when it's all said and done.

Maybe I just got involved with a bad online lead generator and someone out there is handing over very high quality leads.

Good Luck,
R

Rebel Broker is right on, great point. What he stated applies to the lending side as well.

Most of your leads are from people who had no idea they would be confronted by an Agent.

You have probably found that a significant percent were from teenage suffers playing on net or just some bored INTERNET suffer who looked to get something free like a valuation of their home with no intent on selling or buying. Many of these are people who made the mistake months or a year or more ago gave their information to an INTERNET site.

Your leads are very poor quality as will any such source and your not exclusive even if the source told you that you were and even if you paid to be exclusive.

Spend your money branding yourself and the people you contact will be far more approachable and your efforts will be far more effective. It takes time but all good things do. Short cuts like junk INTERNET lead aggregators are worthless. They on only want your money.

Dee posted this on another thread. I thought it sounded nice:

"This is a courtesy call from (your name at whatever realty office). We show that you're (using the xyz service) that we provide. We wanted to follow up to answer any questions for you and make sure you're getting the information you need." Then...if they're responsive, go through your buyer questionnaire. Update your contact manager regardless. I use Top Producer now and have a drip email system in there. When a user signs up, they're automatically put into the campaign by Top Producer. We just need to call to see how we can help.

Here are the scripts I was using before:

"Hi. This is ____________ with CS & Company. You signed up to receive e-mail updates from our website as new homes come onto the market that meet your criteria. I just wanted to make sure the service is working like you expected."

You can follow up with the following questions:
"I notice that your search criteria is fairly broad, and I imagine your search returned an overwhelming number of homes. May I help you narrow your search criteria to help you find the homes that most closely meet your needs?"

"I see that you are relocating. Are you familiar with the area?" "Would you like to receive a relocation packet with information on the area?"

Don't forget to ask if it is OK to follow up or keep in touch.

This is just me, but I would have hung up on you. You need to build rapport first.

If a lead comes in by e-mail, respond to it BY EMAIL. Gen X'ers hate having random people they don't know call them on the phone. Give them whatever it was you promised in order to get the lead in the first place, then stay in touch with them regularily through e-mail (a drip campaign). Make sure these e-mails provide information that is valuable to them, eventually they will trust you and contact you. Remember, an online lead takes 2-24 months before they transact so you have to be in it for the long haul. Personallly, I would have hung up on you too.

I read all the responses and I thank you all for taking the time to write them. First I don't pay for my leads my broker has a really good website that generates leads. I think leads are good but I need to find a way to work them. I agree with the last response by smacleen. Have you worked on leads by the way? I think I am aggressive calling them and trying to set up an appointment. I need to build trust and work in their best interest. So I will stick with email responses and drip campaigns. For sure this takes more time guess I am getting impatient because I have had one good response from 25 leads.