Fear Of The Calls
I want to market to motivated sellers(which I havent done yet), but fear that my exit strategies or my answers may fall short of seller needs.
I have great credit and a very demanding/long hours full time job but I realize these sellers are my best bet for good deals. Again my fear is possible inability to quickly act on needs of the seller.
Should I wait till I am a full time investor or is it okay to letter/bandit sign and work from there? OR should I try to build a wholsale buyer list first and how should I do that? I don't want to shoot myself in the foot before I get too deep.
On a side note my market as far as reo's is so close to market here in Harrisburg area that realtors and REO's just seem soooo thin. Maybe some of you guys/girls local could chime in.
Sorry for the rambling
Bri :-o
no opinions?!
Do what you can now. It's the deals now that are going to get you out of your job.
What's the worst thing that can happen when someone calls??? They laugh at you? You sound stupid? You don't know an answer and tell them that you'll call them back?
If all of those things happen, It will be the best education you can give yourself.
Did you successfully ride a bike the first time you touched one??? You will make mistakes. The difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is the number of mistakes. Successful people have LOTS more of em'. Sometimes we need to act more like we did when we were kids.
Good advice Dave. Its amazing how much of this job is just doing it.
I know it can be intimidating to talk to strangers on the phone. Especially when you don't feel like you have all the answers. Relax.
I built a telemarketing operation once when I had a Mfg. company. Our target market was college chemistry and biology departments. So we got one of those CD College guides that they publish for students trying to decide where to go to school and we sorted the schools by size and started calling at the smallest schools. The idea was that not many people called there (so they were more willing to talk) and even if they bought they couldn't buy that much stuff so if you blew the phone interview it didn't matter that much. After a hundred phone calls or so we'd let the sales people move up the chain to the bigger schools.
It was great training. Got people over their fear of the phone. Remember each call you screw up is one more lesson learned.
Hey,
If you screw up a call...if you stutter and sound like an idiot...if you have long pauses and then have to admit you don't know the answer...if the caller screams at you and hangs up the phone, the NEXT caller does not have an idea all of that happened. These guys don't talk to each other. You never have to worry about that.
When I was a broker and we had a big sales pitch, I would line up all of my best clients/customers by order of how much they could invest. And then I would put two or three little guys in the very front of the line...I would pitch those guys first and work out the kinks/fears/questions and then go for the big money. You can do the same thing.
Phone choke "FEAR" strikes most investors at one time or another. You will know the symptoms: a quivering voice, a dry mouth, shaky hands, and a brain that goes utterly blank while you're on the phone with a homeowner.
To protect your self against phone choke "FEAR", using a script may be the solution. Scripts can put you at ease and help make it through the call with a homeowner. Below are eight methods to help you create killer scripts for your real estate investing business:
1.Don't be too rigid. A natural script may sound like an oxymoron, but a well-sculpted script can flow organically. The reason a canned script sounds so stiff is because the person delivering it didn't write it. One way to beat wooden script delivery is to customize your scripts so they come across with your unique personality. Use a template, and make a new version that you are convertible with.
2.Get to the point. You have less than the time of a TV commercial to establish a connection from the moment your homeowner picks up the phone, you have 20 seconds to "reduce tension and create interest." Your number-one aim should be to "rapidly create curiosity" to start rapport building and lessen anxiety.
3.Be a movie star. When you watch a good actor in a movie, you don't think of him reading lines. A talented actor nails his part; the words sound natural, and there's no evidence of a scripted performance. "That's what superstar investors do".
4.Learn it, live it, love it. You must "know the script cold" to prevent fumbling from point to point. Investors should practice reading the script aloud, rather than just to themselves, until it sounds like their own style of speaking. Use a recorder and play it over and over till you perfect your script.
5.Don't ask stupid questions. Research in advance to avoid posing irrelevant questions. Asking a question that doesn't fit a prospect shows a lack of preparation and eradicates credibility. Example: How much do you owe? This simple question can kill the call dead if it does not apply.
6.Skip trite language. Avoid launching into a conversation with the threadbare "How are you doing today?" This phrase is cliched, and everyone hears it as a signal for a sales call.
7.Look for leads beyond the call. Making a deal is not the only goal of an investor call. "Sometimes, moving the relationship along a step so you can be closer to making a deal on the next call is a better approach than trying to make the deal right away."
8.Hush up. Don't be in such a rush to deliver your message that the property owner cannot get a word in. Though you're working from a script, a call is a dialogue, not a monologue. I encourage scripts, or "call outlines," that are interactive and give property owners the floor often. The more you learn about a homeowners needs, the more you unearth opportunities to make a deal.
Be prepared for the call. Some things to remember are:
[*]Before the call, alert family and friends in order to avoid interruptions (knocking on your door, turning on music, etc).
[*]Avoid babbling or lapsing into trite language to stall for time while you think. Instead, say,"Let me think about that", and be quiet for five seconds.
[*]Talk into the phone using your mouth, not your chin.
[*]Stand up. You'll sound better.
[*]Smile. It will reflect in your voice.
[*]Take notes, and refer to them when you need to during the call.
[*]Think before you talk; we're often conditioned to "think out loud" on the phone.
[*]Say that you are interested (if you are) in the property, and that you would like to visit with the homeowner.
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great answers guys! I haven't started talking to sellers yet but I have started calling other investors, wanting to know if they worked with wholesalers, what type of properties were they looking for, etc and I was/am very nervous with that! It wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be but I could have done better and thankfully I picked up several pointers here to get me moving along.
Thanks!
Ginnie
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