How to Cold Call plus, download my Sales Scripts

Here is the thing, nobody really likes cold calling, even experts in it, to this I can attest, as I am an expert in cold calling, I have spent a large portion of my 28 years in my sales career, actively and willingly engaged in this particular prospecting activity!

You’ll notice I said actively and willingly engaged in this prospecting activity, and that is because I learned very early in my sales career, actively and willingly engaging in cold calling gets you where you want to go in your sales career and success quicker than any other prospecting activity. Cold calling will propel your capacity to smash your sales targets, it will result in you earning fat commissions and move you up the sales ladder of success faster than any other prospecting activity you can engage.

So, if this one prospecting activity is such a powerful propeller of sales success, why is it that salespeople just will not pick up the phone and actively and willingly engage this prospecting activity.

Well believe it or not there is an entire psychology behind what is known as Sales Call Reluctance

In fact, there is a book on it! Called The Psychology of Sales Call Reluctance: Earning What You're Worth in Sales 

Shannon Goodson and George Dudley, the co-founders of Behavioral Sciences Research Press, shared astonishing statistics in their book The Psychology of Sales Call Reluctance stating that call reluctance is the reason why:

• 80% of new salespeople fail in their first year.
• 40% of sales veterans are at threat of decreasing sales.

They stated that each year, sales call reluctance single-handedly accounts for over half of all failures in one of the largest professions in the world.

The point I want to make with mentioning this book, is this, Sales Call Reluctance is so commonplace that there is even a book on it!

And to share with you, that even I myself, who has no problem hitting a tele sales cold calling target of a hundred calls a day, can get hit with this anxiety if it’s been a minute since I sat down to bang out a cold calling session.

So, take a moment to acknowledge this truth. And then let’s move on!

The fact is, to be successful in any form of sales, you must be very intentional with the lens you choose to see your prospecting activities through.

The lens I have chosen for this video, is one where I will show you a modern, proven and effective approach on how to make cold calling easier and even enjoyable!

I know firsthand the level of opportunity only 1 day of actively and willingly, correctly, engaging in the prospecting activity of cold calling will bring to your sales success, achievement and commission earning targets.

A week or a month of active and correctly cold-calling is absolutely transformative to any sales career – no matter the industry nor the product! Ok let’s get into it!

You will have noticed a couple of times now I have used the word ‘correctly’.

That is simply because, so so so many real estate salespeople go about their cold calling sessions all wrong.

Very often cold calling in real estate is linked to a sales script, now albeit, the sales script is indeed crucial, if there are not several preliminary tasks carried out prior to reeling off a script, then it is likely the cold calling session will not amount to much.

When these preliminary tasks are not attended to, the poor real estate agent who has mustered up the courage to hop on the phone to engage in cold calling, is quite likely to fall short of the intended outcome, and the whole debacle is even more likely to confirm to this real estate agent that cold calling is just awful, reinforcing the call reluctance energy for the next cold calling session  - you can see how this vicious cycle perpetuates itself!

In this section of the post, we will focus on one of the most important preliminary tasks required, this task will ensure a cold calling session is effective in winning new listing opportunities. Then I will run through what a perfect cold calling session looks like, and of course I will direct you to where you can download the cold calling sales scripts I use in my own business.

Download my Sales Scripts as part of my How To Get Listings Master Course 👇🏼

By the end of the cold calling lesson, you’ll be fully equipped to actively, willingly and correctly engage in the prospecting activity of cold calling, which will powerfully propel your career to the next level of success.

The Golden Rule of 100.

To execute a successful cold calling session, you must first start with a list of 100 opportunities to call. This is a list you will have prepared and considered before you start your cold calling session.

In terms of real estate, this list could simply incorporate 100 homeowners from your local marketplace. Or better still, the list of the 100 opportunities should consist of all your prospecting target groups within your local marketplace, including, Local Homeowners, Landlord’s, Absentee Owners, Expired Listings, FSBO Listing opportunities and local small to medium sized Property Developers. If you’re not sure where exactly to source some of these leads and their contact details, refer to the lesson links in the How To Cold Video Lesson 👇🏼

Am I suggesting that you call all 100 opportunities? The short answer is, yes, however, some of you will not have time to do this daily. As a point of reference, you can expect it will take a full working day to get through a list of 100 cold calling opportunities

The point of having a list of 100 opportunities in front of you is firstly to capitalize on the fact that you have pushed through any call reluctance energy, and you are now motivated to actively and willingly engage in a transformative prospecting activity that is cold calling, and, to ensure whilst you’re backing yourself and real estate sales career like this, that you have a long list of opportunity in front of you, to keep you inspired and engaged.

This list of 100 cold calling opportunities must always be sitting at 100.  

To facilitate the energies of ease, motivation, and effectiveness in your cold calling activities, you must ensure your prospecting cold calling list always comprises of 100 potential opportunities.

A fatal mistake is letting the number of opportunities on your list dwindle to less than 100. As you work through a typical cold calling session, you might find as you work through the session, 15 people where a no, and 15 more asked you to call back in 3 months or 6 months, this will mean your list for tomorrow is now down to 70 active cold calling opportunities.

It’s a rookie mistake to then just work through that list of 70 without topping it back up to 100 before your next cold calling session. An expert and proven approach is to get that list of opportunity topped back up to 100 before your next cold calling session.

To excel at cold calling always engage in the Golden Rule of 100. 100 opportunities, just waiting on you to prospect to them.

As you regularly engage in cold calling as a prospecting activity, it will become easier and easier to keep that list topped up, as the work you’re putting in earns you compound interest in more improved cold calling listing opportunities - let me explain.

As you work through your 100 opportunities in your cold calling list, inevitably, in your session, there will be ‘no answers’ … at the end of the cold calling session, these ‘no-answers’ get moved to the next cold calling session.

You’ll have some no ‘thank you’s…. which will need to be replaced on the list of 100 at the end of your session, with new prospecting opportunities from the homeowners, landlords, absentee owners, expired listings, FSBO listings and the small to medium sized developers in your local market…

And, from you’re cold calling session, you’ll also have some ‘I’m interested, but not quite now, could you call me back in 3 weeks / 3 months’ type of responses.

It is crucial then, that these opportunities, these warm leads, are documented into some sort of calendar, planner or sales management system.

You will find as you continue to collect these warm leads throughout your cold calling sessions, the energies of compound interest take effect, these leads will continuously keep adding to your list of 100 opportunities. It becomes easy to maintain a healthy list of 100 opportunities to cold call from your local marketplace.

In simple terms - document every sales call and opportunity and make follow up your number 1 priority!

Let’s now look at the 4 step action plan to an easy and enjoyable cold calling session which results in many listing presentation appointments booked!

Step 1:

Create a safe and private space for you to carry out your cold calling session.

This particular one is much more important than many recognise or even realize!

If we refer back to the book, I mentioned earlier  The Psychology of Sales Call Reluctance by Shannon Goodson and George Dudley, it details a number of factors which add to the energies of call reluctance a sales person may feel when heading into a cold calling session. Those being

1. The natural fear of rejection
2. Neurological predisposition which refers to a Rejection Sensitivity (RS) Modelthat claims some people are more vulnerable to rejection than others
3. Corporate culture

So how does this tie into the importance of creating a safe and private space for you to carry out your cold calling session?

Well to say it plainly, when we engage in the prospecting activity of cold calling, we absolutely are going to get rejected, which in truth, we know, not one person enjoys.

Having a quiet, safe and private environment prepared for your cold calling sessions will allow a space where it is easier for any uncomfortable energy around rejection which may arise throughout the cold calling session to dissipate more simply, rather than being further irritated by the energies of embarrassment which may arise when attempting cold calling in a more public form such as the office floor. Having this crafted space negates the need to manage competitive office environments.

Step 2:

Proper Planning and Preparation prevents poor performance. Sit down to your cold calling session, with a list of 100 cold call opportunities, details prepared, ready to be called.

We have already detailed the golden rule of 100. And it is here it takes its place in our 4 step action plan to an easy and enjoyable cold calling session which results in many listing presentation appointments booked!

There are 2 further valuable action steps I can impart to you with regards the golden rule of 100. And they are as follows:

1. always prepare your list of 100 cold calling opportunities the night before
2. Dedicate the last 30mins to 1hour of a cold calling session to a recap session, we you will go over your list and work for the day. Detail the following

• Who needs immediate follow up material sent out?
• Who needs a calendar invite sent out to confirm a verbally agreed face-to-face meeting?
• Who needs to be diarized for further follow up?
• Who needs to be replaced and updated on my list? (When you do this right, you will only ever need to find 100-cold calling opportunities once, with proper maintenance of the list, when managed correctly it will just need topping up after every cold calling session)

A top tip is to document all sales calls in some sort of sales management software. Being able to click into that info the next time you talk to a prospect and to be able to remind them of what was discussed between you in a previous conversation, will demonstrate your ability to understand and prioritize the potential sellers needs. No matter the decade, that standard of salesmanship is still unbeatable!

Step 3:

Get CRYSTAL CLEAR on the purpose of your call and the offering within it.

This is very easy to do, once you created your list of 100 cold call opportunities as you will be able to pair your offering to the target group. Taking the time to get clear on this will give you more precision on the intended direction you wish to take the call.

You’ve probably heard me say a million times that I learned to sell in the mid-90’s and I was taught by those who were the Kings and Queens of selling in the 80’s. In 80’s, 90’s and early 2000’s selling was all about the hook and persuasion tactic, and mainly this was because at this stage, us salespeople where the gate keepers of the information the person required to satisfy their purchase need.

For example, if a person wanted to invest in a new vacuum, they would need to find a salesperson to explain all the benefits of this vacuum or that vacuum. Since we are now, well and truly living in the time of the information age the general population is literally overwhelmed by the constant incoming streams of information.

The general population is also far more educated in the last 20 years. In today’s world, people are educated, informed and busy. When a salesperson wishes to engage with today’s population, it must be with information that is real and relevant, and it must be infused with an energy of authenticity and integrity.

So, what does that all mean when it comes to cold calling for listing opportunities within your local marketplace? It means for each group on your list of 100 cold calling opportunities, you as the local real estate agent are 100% crystal clear on your reason for calling them, you’re clear on the offer which you intend to communicate in that call and the outcome you wish to achieve.

Linked to the banner below, you will find downloadable scripts for cold call prospecting to each group in your marketplace, these are the scripts I use myself in my own real estate business.

And to clarify before we move on to point 4, the outcome you wish to achieve no matter who you are cold call prospecting to is either of the following options:

• (Best case) To meet at their property to chat about the property as a listing opportunity
• (More often, most likely, and also a best case) they share their email address for you to provide them a detailed market update on their property.

To get a copy of the market update I send out to my potential clients after my cold calling sessions and to get a template for use in your own business - click on the banner below 👇🏼

To script or not to script – that is the question

Seen as we have just mentioned scripts, I thought I would add this point in also, before we move on to point 4.

The simple answer to the question, to script or not to script, is YES but also NO.

It is almost impossible to read a script word for word on a sales call due to the unknown factor of the potential client’s response. If a salesperson, spends their opportunity to speak with this potential client attempting to box them into the answers they require to make the script work, then the salesperson could very well miss the potential clients real need, simply because they are not listening, they are orchestrating.

With that being said, I believe script prompts and script checklists are excellent tools to bring the best out of a sales conversation, and yet let the conversation flow more naturally, allowing the relationship between the real estate agent and potential seller begin to form in a more modern sales dynamic.

Again, the link to the downloable full scripts, along with the script prompts and script checklists is accessible via the banner below 👇🏼These are sales scripts I use in my own business to list and sell 50 properties each and every year,

Step 4: Make sure you collect their email address!

Remember, cold calling, is a significantly powerful tool to open doors for us to win new listing opportunities and to massively transform our real estate sales success and careers.

However, as it is a cold call, it is first only opening the door. We need to get through the door if we are to turn this listing opportunity, into a listing appointment and successfully signed up listing!!

Now of course the very best case scenario is the potential seller on the other end of the phone agrees to a meeting at their property to chat about the property as a listing opportunity, however 9 times out of 10 most likely, on a first call where they are receptive to our contact they will share their email address for you to provide them a detailed market update on their property.

It is also most likely as soon as they hang up the phone from you, within 5 minutes, they will be so busy with their life, that they will have completely forgotten the charming real estate agent they just spoke with.

Its imperative you collect as many email addresses as possible throughout your cold calling session. Within 24-48 hours following the cold calling session, ensure to send that potential seller a detailed market update on the local marketplace with regards to their property. It is worthwhile to send this document whether they said they want to sell or not. Why is that?

Firstly, it is to solidify the contact you have just made with them via the cold calling session.

Secondly, this will give you an opportunity to impress the potential seller with your ability as a local real estate agent and with your knowledge of the local property marketplace

Thirdly, so you can then add that potential seller to your email database where you can ensure they receive regular and relevant content from you, which keeps you top of their mind, as the local go to real estate agent for the area.

Click the banner below to find where to access the exact market update I send to my own potential sellers along with a downloadable template for use in your own business.

Ok team! That brings me to the end of today’s post, I hope this post and my 4-Step action plan, will help you see cold calling prospecting through a lens of motivation and willing engagement!

I know firsthand the level of opportunity only 1 day of actively and willingly, correctly, engaging in the prospecting activity of cold calling will bring to your sales success, achievement and earning of fat commissions.

A week or a month of active and correctly cold-calling is absolutely transformative to your real estate sales career!

Team, all the resources mentioned in today’s post can be accessed here 👇🏼

Email me at [email protected] if you have any questions