The #1 skill needed to succeed in RE- Cold Calling!

Do you feel uncomfortable when picking up the phone to call a stranger? A lot of people feel uneasy calling up a stranger and asking them to do something for them, it is something I struggled with when I was younger. Since I started my multifamily investing journey, I realized the number one skill needed to succeed in this business is not analyzing numbers, or property management although those items are very important, the number one skill needed is cold calling!

When one sees cold calling, you mostly see it associated as a wholesaling strategy that is used to call potential sellers to get off-market deals to either wholesale them, flip them or implement whichever real estate strategy you utilized. However, this is not what I am talking about here, I am talking about the ability to cold call people that you need to help you in your business, whether it’s a loan officer for a potential loan, a handyman to get something fixed, or a realtor to get on their mailing list. So how do you call up strangers and get over that uneasiness?

Long lost friend

In my first job, I had a co-worker that was great with working the phones and we were not telemarketers or in the sales industry for that matter. We were two engineers working at a company and we needed to work with other team members from across the country to get our problems solved. Every time he would call someone, I thought he was talking to somebody that he knew for years. When I asked him, how long he has known this individual that he was talking to, he said I never met them before and this was the first time he was calling them. I asked him what his secrets were? He responded that he pretends that the other individual on the other line is his best friend or a longtime friend from back home. I thought that was interesting and so I began to employ that trick and it worked like a charm. When I started doing that, my tone was upbeat, I had a smile on my face and the high energy was so contagious that the stranger on the other line began to feel at ease, and connected to me and thus was willing to help me or point me in the right direction.

Common interests

Once you get comfortable with pretending the person you are talking to is your best friend, then you can employ this next trick. The next trick is that when the other person is talking, listen for clues as to potential interests that you might have in common. I called a loan officer recently that resides halfway across the country in Ohio, and as we began to talk I told him that I was currently working in Melbourne FL and as it turns out his son was planning on moving there in a few weeks and was in the same industry as me, so the conversation shifted from potential loan options to his son and the Melbourne area.

The conversation turn was more important than talking about the loan options because now I was connecting with him on a human level and that is more important than anything else, I think the cliché word that is used to describe that is rapport. Unfortunately, we were not able to find something that worked for my situation at the moment but I now had a connection that I could call for the next potential deal that would meet the requirements that I was looking for.

Active listening 

People love to talk about themselves and so once you get past the introductions and you make them feel at ease. Find a common interest to center the conversation around and once that happens all you have to do is shut up and listen. Once you start to actively listen, you will find cues as to which direction to take the conversation and also the appropriate angle to take to make sure that you receive the best possible response for your asks. Essentially you have to stand out from all of the callers out there that are calling for a similar problem. The more connected the person feels that they are to you, the more they will be willing to do whatever it takes to help you solve your problem.

Referral

When a conversation ends without getting the help that you needed, no matter what the reason is always ask the individual for a potential referral for somebody else that can. You never know who that person might know that can help you, similarly if you do receive the solution that you were looking for then make sure to refer somebody else to that person, this will let them know that you are thinking of them and bringing them more business.

There is this stereotype that millennials do not like to talk over the phone, they prefer to text or email because it’s easier, faster and you can avoid the potential awkwardness that occurs with a phone call but the downside is, you cannot build a human connection over a text or email, having a conversation is the only way to do it. I have a lot of contacts on my phone, that I have never met before in person but you would never know it from hearing our conversations and that is because I have taken the time to find that human connection that exists between us and although it may start with a pretend friendship, you can create real friendships, partnerships just by building that rapport with a stranger.