“I’m telling you… if I would have stayed in front of that prospect more, I would totally be their broker right now!”
A phrase we hear ripple through the inner circles of brokerage offices. It’s candid, but it’s real. One of the hardest things for sales professionals to do is walk the line between following up, but also not being a nuisance. This can be hard because following up is not a one-size-fits-all. It’s often a complex dance between meeting prospects where they are at while also maintaining a proactive cadence of facetime. This balancing act leads to a question, how much is too much follow up?
The article this week tackles the practice which brokers can follow that provides value for their prospects while also maintaining healthy facetime to procure business for the pipeline.
Listed below are the action items brokers can be implementing to enhance their follow-up process:
- Your connections are an asset, have a structured plan for maintaining them.
- Segment how you prioritize people. Examples include: timing, location, property type, activity.
- Have an effective way to set and track follow up activity (This is why we created OS Prospects. To give brokers an easy way to set and track follow up activities).
- Follow up with material that separates you (market updates, conversations about their recent trip, funny videos that made you think of them). Add value!
The way you follow up in the prospecting process indicates a lot about how you will perform as a broker. As someone who has spent considerable time following up with brokers, I can speak from experience that prospects appreciate those who are organized and value add.
“It was character that got us out of bed, commitment that moved us into action, and discipline that enabled us to follow through.” – Zig Ziglar
Happy prospecting!
Charlie Coppola
Finally A Follow Up Solution That Works In Commercial Real Estate
In commercial real estate brokerage, you must prioritise your connections with people and activate the follow-up activity or plan. In that way, you are more effective when it comes to your use of time and your creation of new business opportunities. Your time is your most valuable resource so use it well.
How can you do this? In your database or spreadsheet, ensure that you categorise the people that you are talking regularly. Know the real estate status of your prospects and clients and track their property challenges. Conversations lead to that.
Top agents need top cold calling skills.
Indexing Conversations
A simple indexing process will allow you to work on the right properties and the right people in the best ways possible. Simple conversations always will enable you to move on the opportunities at the right time.
You can prioritise people by:
• Timing
• Location
• Value
• Property type
• Activity
• Portfolio
Take notes when it comes to current conversations and previous discussions. A simple question or comment will allow you to take an active matter further into a listing or transaction in a timely way.
What is the concern here? Understand that you will be talking to a lot of people regularly, and on that basis, your conversational notes are the only way to track and measure opportunities.
Select Your Priorities
So this process of prioritising things becomes a primacy in your canvassing activities at the beginning of every day. You simply go to your list, and decide what actions are more important than others and particularly the conversations that you have had previously with critical people. Your feedback channels are so important in our business.
The Career Kick Start Course in Commercial Real Estate by John Highman.
Timing Of Calls And Contacts
You make those telephone calls or create those conversations at the beginning of your day before you get into other cold calling and canvassing activities. Attention to detail is a crucial element of canvassing activity.
Each day you can on average have perhaps 5 to 10 current conversational matters to follow up. That is how you build your real estate business with relevance surrounding real estate client concerns, challenges, and critical facts.
- The follow-up process is critical to progress in commercial real estate, and on that basis, you can lift your conversions and grow your opportunities faster. Given that you will be talking to a lot of people in an ongoing and constant way, the tracking process will help you tap into the right people and lift your conversions.
- From every connection or conversation, ensure that you take another follow-up step with an email, case study, a letter, or a text message as appropriate. Most agents don’t do this well, and on that basis, you can stand out as the agent of choice and the thoroughly professional broker in the location.
- As you go further into this process, you can split your connections and conversations up into property types, locations, value, and timeliness. From that activity, you will know who to focus on and why.
So the message here for you to work with is that of following things up professionally. Be available at the right time and in the right way for the people you consider as clients or VIPs in your real estate business.
Build a top of mind awareness with these clients in their property situation. Provide unique and exclusive solutions that they can understand and appreciate you as being relevant and profoundly practical for their property challenge.