Best Practices for Contacting Leads

PrimeStreet 

Recently, the federal government announced and then paused new rules governing the ways we reach out to leads in the Real Estate Industry. While the new laws are delayed, it is still a good time for us to review best practices to use when calling leads. 

The goal is to reduce legal risk, but also create a more welcoming experience for our prospective customers.

A quick recap of what happened: The government was set to enforce new regulations requiring callers subject to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) to obtain a consumer’s specific consent to being called or texted using an automatic telephone dialing system or artificial or prerecorded voice technology.  That consent had to be specific to the caller and the subject matter of the intended call.

This rule was supposed to go into effect Monday, Jan. 27, but was “paused” at the last minute for further review. This pause does not mean the leads world is now the wild-wild west. There are still laws governing the way we make calls to leads- principally the TCPA.

As we all work to better understand what direction - if any - these new regulations will take, it’s good to take stock of some best practices. Remember, these laws apply to how we call people or text them on their phone.

The first is to know your lead source:

• Did this come from my site or a vendor? 
• Was the form clear as to what would happen when they hit “submit?” 
• Has this person on this list of people to call indicated in any way that they want to hear from a real estate professional?

If the individual has not invited a call from a real estate professional, the best practice is to consider reaching out some way other than by phone, such as by mail or email. If you must, call only those who are not on the do not call registry.

Assuming you have reviewed and approved the lead form and are comfortable that the prospect has indicated some interest in speaking with a real estate professional about their home search, let’s dig into how we do that.

The most important goal with a new prospect is to quickly establish a positive relationship and we start that by being clear and upfront about the call.

• Identify yourself
• Say why you are calling
• Say what this is about

Every time. This does not absolve you from following the laws, but a polite and clear greeting can go a long way to reducing anyone’s reluctance to getting an unexpected call. An example would be: 

“Hi, I’m Jane with Big Realty. I’m calling because you recently submitted an inquiry about a house search. I’d love to talk with you about your home buying journey. Do you have a few minutes now?”
 

Don’t get flustered if they interrupt. That happens in the real world- watch how this greeting adapts to it:  
 

“Hi, I’m Jane with Big Realty, I’m…”

I didn’t call Big Realty.

“Yes, I’m calling because you recently submitted an inquiry online about your house search.”

Oh, yeah, I did.

“I’d love to talk with you….”
 

If you’re thinking to yourself this all seems pretty obvious and basic, we beg to differ. At PrimeStreet we’re constantly doing secret shopping. Common outreach is:

 “Hi, are you looking for a house? I can help.” 

Or 

“Hi, are you still interested in selling {address}?”

If I have no idea who you are, why you are calling me, or what you want to talk about, I’m writing you off as a spam telemarketer call and I’m probably blocking your number.

One reason that common outreach fails so often is that this industry is notorious for having a long delay between an inquiry submitted and a response given. If it’s been two or three days since I clicked submit, at this point I have no recollection of it and, if reminded, might be a bit grumpy with you.
 

Which leads us to our next best practice: Answer online inquiries immediately. Within minutes is optimal. If you cannot do this yourself, contract with a service that will. Instant response does three big things for you:

• Avoid customer loss. If you don’t respond, there are others in the book.
• Start out on the right foot. I’m more likely to work with someone who is prompt, friendly, and professional.
• Manage your time. Someone who just clicked submit is ready to talk. If you aren’t, you could be spending hours playing phone tag in a few days. 
   

These best practices can be reflected in all of your lead nurturing cadences. Every message, every time- who, why, what.
 

“Hi, sorry I missed you! This is Jane from Big Realty calling about your inquiry to look at houses.”

Or 

“This is Jane from Big Realty calling about your inquiry to see houses. Can I call you at 6 this evening to talk about some listings?”
 

Notice that something is missing from the top example just above but can be found in the second example. We call it the “call to action.” 

Every message needs to invite a response and there are some good rules for that:

• Ask for commitment 
• Be clear about what you want them to do.
   

Sales 101 is you miss 100% of the opportunities you don’t ask for. People respect having both your and their time honored. 

“Can I call you at 6?” 
 

Right away, I politely need to know if this is going to progress. I give you the option to say yes and opportunity to set another time, or say you aren’t interested. I have given you a clear task- decide if you want to meet with me at 6 and as a professional, I can work with any answer you give me. 
 

There are other calls to action besides setting a call. 

“I found this listing in your area. Would you like to take a look? Link”
 

My options are to go look or tell you if I’m looking for something different. Either way, I have been asked politely for action and given a relevant and clear choice to make. Notice something else you gave me here- the option to communicate with you by text. There is a reason that the least-used application on smartphones is the telephone. Talking isn’t how most of us like to communicate. 

How can a call to action go wrong? Picture an automated text nurturing campaign, its call to action is “call me!” This goes out to 30 of your clients’ phones while you’re on vacation and they get voicemail saying you won’t be back for week.

Let’s make sure we can deliver on our calls to action. If you ask someone to call you, be there. If you say you’ll call at 6, call at 6. If you send a link, make sure it works and you’re around to respond to any questions. 
 

To recap:

We’re in a world of potential regulatory changes. We need to be aware of those and use our best practices when calling on new prospects. 

Prospective homebuyers are wary of phone calls from numbers they don’t recognize and on the defensive. 

When they do ask for a call, they expect prompt, professional service that starts with us identifying ourselves and reminding them why they want this conversation. Using best practices reduces legal risk, avoids customer loss, and invites prospects to engage in meaningful conversations.