“Go to hell, stop calling me!” As real estate professionals we have heard a couple variations of this phrase. That was the exact phrase I heard from Chris, a Physical Therapist from Elmhurst, NY. Chris had a condo that expired on the market with a local company that I will not name in this email.
Chris, like many people who’s home didn't sell the first time around, was being bombarded with realtors calling him trying to obtain his business. I was one of those realtors. About 90% of real estate couches will tell you to go all “Wolf of Wall Street” on the prospect. They are going to buy or die… That may have worked in the 80’s but in the era of consultative selling we have to take a different approach.
The truth is that connection and relationship building is the key to success in real estate. It’s hard to build a relationship when the person you want to connect with starts the relationship with “Go to Hell.”
So, what did I do?
I showed empathy, I said “you must be receiving a bunch of calls from realtors trying to solicit your business huh? On behalf of my profession I apologize for the inconvenience. Have a good day."
Before ending the conversation he asked me what my name was, I told him Alexander Fazelani with the Ian Alexander Team with EXP. He then went on to tell me that 5 agents called him in the last 10 minutes alone. He stated that he was a Physical Therapist who just started his own practice and that he is stressed out with the never ending calls.
I could have tried to close again but instead I wished him success in his new career and asked if I could send him my information via mail in case he ever did want to list in the future. He agreed, I sent him out a letter and a card.
One week later I followed up with him to see if he received my information and he was in a better state. We connected this time and had some small talk. I found out he liked Brooklyn Lager Beer.
I could have gone for a hard close but I didn't. I decided to schedule another call with him in a week because I might be in his area next week with a 6-pack. He found it funny and agreed to my call. I ended up getting this listing and getting a $20,000 commission check.
I’m not saying this to impress you but to impress upon you that for every "Chris" there are about 10 other people that I couldn’t connect with. They will reject me, ghost me, block my number and even curse my mother. It sounds rough, and it is, but if you approach each sales interaction from a place of building relationships first, your conversion ratio and referrals will skyrocket!
Come to each conversation with 3 goals: to connect, help and provide value. If you come from that place you will always win. That is truly a win-win situation for a long term relationship builder.