That's what wearing a cat suit will get you! Good point Catz - I'm the worst about calling. Go Get 'em Girl!

He asked the universe for help, and you called!!  You are his answer and I know you will take care of him and his family : )  go get him, tiger.

"First to make CONTACT is the one who gets the CONTRACT." ePRO 101  :)

People experience the same thing we do when we can't reach someone. It is very frustrating. I know you will do a good job and it was a good thing for them and you that nobody else returned their call. Cat suit Anna? Nevermind.

Congratulations Cathy!  We all know what we should be doing but how often do we follow through?  This is not like cold calling, this person left their phone number.  They want someone to call!

Jana

I have always had a fear of the telephone for some reason.  My brokerage now gives us leads and we must make personal contact within 24 hours via either email or telephone.  Naturally, I was contacting only thru email and not really making a connection.  I was reprimanded for not "logging my telephone calls," so I started making them.  I am amazed at just how easy it is.  These are warm leads and people know who you are when you call.  Doh!  Thanks for the reminder, Cathy, and congratulations.

If you can make that call within the first 30-60 minutes, you will have a very good chance of getting that client.

If you can make that call within 10-15 minutes, you are practically ASSURED of getting that client.

The FUN part is when you get the e-mail, and I don't know about y'all but I am married to mine . . . and the note comes right in, THEN you pick up the phone and call that very moment to let them know you just sent a note back, and how can we help? They are usually blown away because MANY agents have phone fear and getting a human when you need one is not easy in our business, strangely enough.

A lead comes in on my sites, I give agent #1 15 minutes to respond . . . if she does not, agent #2 gets 15 minutes to respond. If they don't, then I proceed and let the client know they will be hearing from us shortly with a list of properties or answers to their questions. This is real estate magic.

I have the attention span of a gnat. If I don't get what I want first few minutes, I WILL call the competitor. I'm sure I'm not alone in that.

I have to admit ... I'm guilty of not calling people ... I'm an "e-mail person" and I know I may be missing out on some clients simply because they may expect me to call them instead of e-mailing. Stories like yours make me rethink how I work sometimes ... THANK YOU!

I have registration set up on my site.  I've called people who are amazed because they are still on the site... "oh, I'm on your site..I haven't even left yet".   Often times I get the "I'm just looking..but.."

and they go on to explain their situation.  Generally they aren't ready buyers but I set them up on the MLS notification system, get their home address from them and send them my relocation package.  I have many customers that have been 'cultivated'.  Some take a year to actually close.  But it keeps me going.  And those people recommend me to others they know that are looking.

Works for me!

I guess after 30 years of teaching, I have loads of practice "cold calling!" I had to call parents that I didn't know, and at first it was really hard.

I figure calling someone who left a phone number at my "no registration required" web site is a person who is asking for help. 99% of the time, they are happy that I called. Most of the time they are amazed at how quickly I called them.

The ONLY downside is hat they usually want to talk, talk, talk...

I, too, am guilty of emailing instead of calling.  When I followed up on leads myself, most of the time I would shoot out an email and once in a great while make the phone call.  If they are still on their system, they are surprised to get an email that soon too.  Even these days, I still hear the comment that out of ## emails requests they made, I was the only one who responded.  Now, 99% of my leads are given to my agents.  I find that agents tend to be procrastinators so I'm going to have to crack down like Candice ( aaarrrgggg...flexing muscles, gritting teeth - scaring everyone in sight - LOL!).  

Why Velda! Just hiss and give 'em a swat with your claws extended! lol

I think a great suggestion would be to provide a sort of script to follow. Usually, once you get past the "hi, my name is, my company is and you left your number on my websit  part..."

You ususlly get that spark of recognition and everything is easy from there.

Always emphasize:

How may I help you? and Did you find everything you need?

Cathy, that's the attitude I get from those do it yourself home sellers. I hate to make telephone calls, but do get surprised every once in a while that they are glad I called. Mostly from the older generation who seem to have a lot to tell me. It is Sunday and I don't feel like calling anyone, but after reading your post, I will stop playing around and do some WORK.

Geat post Cathy!

Sometimes the dead horse is not really dead and just needs to be kicked to be woken up.

[Velda sez: I'm going to have to crack down like Candice ( aaarrrgggg...flexing muscles, gritting teeth - scaring everyone in sight - LOL!)]

LOL and it's challenging to do, especially since I want them to be autonomous. They know it and love to make me feel guilty.

I've been told that I was rude, unpleasant and cruel and that was just THIS PAST MONTH, LOLOLOL!

But I have to care or I am done. They don't have to care as much but they will be compensated to the extent they do.

Candice,

In my past life, I didn't have trouble letting my staff know the whens, whys, and hows of getting their job done.  Afterall, they were just hourly working staff.  I have trouble understanding why I should have to do the same with "self-employed" people.  I don't run roughshod over my agents but I get upset if I don't feel like they are motivated to follow thourgh or if they are incurable procrastinators....that hurts our public customer service perception.  I give them plenty of leads but now I find that by giving them leads, they seem to think they don't need to do anything to generate business on their own.  I'm going to have to get more agents hired so I can share the love (leads) with more people and generate a "nice" competitive spirit (don't like the dog eat dog atmosphere though).

Cathy, way to go!  I believe it is so surprising when we call the prospect back and they are surprised that we call!  I had someone reach out to me via email and asked me "since you are the Lincoln Square Expert, my girlfriend is looking for a job.  do you really think you are the expert?"  shot him back a response loaded with questions.  He came back with the answers and all this detail about their relationship, where they are in their life, just because she wants to work part-time while going to school.  Yeh, well, I wanted to prove him that I was worthy of the question and have to places so far for her to interview.  Small potatoes but just like you, he was surprised that I responded.  

Thanks for sharing your story it keeps me focused.

Velda, you are right on! It's different, so different when you are an IC vs an employee  . . . AND also so different when you are an agent not a broker . . . and again different when you are not just a broker but employing broker with a company. The agents are a reflection of ME and my company. They do have a responsibility to uphold what I have built. And they have a responsibility to build their own business so that wherever they go next they will be okay.

I am very very laissez faire in theory . . . if it works for them, they can do it any way they want . . . BUT if I am sending them business they understand they have to handle it as I would. It works great when they do, too!   :)

Cathy--Yes, all of my practice calling parents who really really did not want to hear what I was going to say---even if I was planning to say something nice about their child.

I tried to call EVERY PARENT to say something good about their child. That way I could make contact with them on a positive note. Parents can get very very nasty on the phone!

Always say something nice.  Hey Sharron & Steve congrats on Solid Source.

Great Advice!  I have seen people who are very welcoming to you contacting them and have only been a P2 member for 2 months and already have 2 NEW clients because of calling!

Thanks for the welcome, Gloria!