10 Tips for Phone Skills that Kill

Our job as Real Estate Professionals, whether you are a Realtor, home stager or other industry professional involves first impressions and being prepared for your daily dealings with anyone you come in contact with.  After all, anyone who owns a home, knows someone who does or is in the market to sell or purchase a home is a prospective client. So regardless of what you're doing or where you are, first impressions are key.

Now prospective clients who are in the market for a RE pro may have found you online (GREAT!) through your snazzy website, blogs, articles or other sites where you're on and they were impressed enough to contact you via email or phone. While email correspondence is fine it still keeps the relationship somewhat impersonal and eventually you will most likely speak to the prospect by phone (recommended if they leave you a number to reach them follow up with a phone call!)

But do your phone skills kill? 

You can take that either way, figuratively like the youngsters say or literally. Meaning are they a good or bad?

Over the last month I've realized how important my phone skills are again. They've become what I call my client's first tangible impression of me and my first live "interview" for the job. 

In fact, I have actually been told by two recent clients how important my phone communication was to my company, Home Star Staging, getting the job. 

You see, both clients had called other home stagers locally and eventually settled on me based solely on our communication by phone.  In these scenarios, I "killed" in a good way and my colleagues killed the deal in the dead way.

Here's a quote from one in an email I received after he had spoken to (as he told me) at least 3 other home stagers that he couldn't quite "connect with":

"Hello Karen, Thanks for talking with me this morning.   Your ability to quickly and effectively communicate what you do and how you do it is greatly appreciated.  Below is [my wife's] contact information and a short summary of our situation.  I am sure [my wife] will call or email you for a consultation next week."

This job has turned into one of my longest and most lucrative contracts as well most rewarding to date.  

The most recent call came this week from a Realtor who was calling home stagers in the Dallas,TX area for a client whose home has been on the market for several months.  He explained what his client needed and that he had "already talked to another lady who said she was going to come in and redecorate the whole place" and that is not, in his words, "what the client needed".  I booked a home staging consultation with his client within a day after our conversation and she's well on her way to getting the house where it needs to be for selling. I've also started a working relationship with the Realtor I plan to cultivate into more partnerships working with his clients before going on the market.

Here are my 10 Tips for Phone Skills that Kill (in the good way)

1. SMILE before you answer the phone - as silly as it seems smiling before picking up the phone actually helps the tone of your voice improve and it doesn't hurt your mood!
2. If you don't recognize the number don't answer your phone if you cannot freely talk. Better it go to voice mail and you hear the message from a prospect than answer rudely or hurriedly.  This is one of my biggest peeves!!! Why would someone answer the phone only to tell me that they "don't have time to talk and can you/they call me back later" NO! 
3. Make it a rule (unless you're in the middle of negotiations or other pressing business but let your current client know AHEAD OF TIME)  not answer your phone while with another client.  This is another huge problem with me.  It is the ultimate in rudeness to be in the company of someone I am paying to have MY time wasted by their phone calls. It does NOT IMPRESS someone that you appear to be busy!  Treat your clients as the one and only as a rule - not the exception to the rule.
4. LISTEN to the client's needs - don't assume you know what they want until you hear them out
5. Repeat what they've said if you're unsure and ask for more details if you need more
6. Be prepared with some pre qualifying questions of your own to see if THEY are a client you can help or have to refer them on. A pre qualifying question I ask is, "Where is the home located?"  If it's out of my area I am happy to refer and it frees me and the client from a long phone conversation better saved for someone who can help them.
7. Know your business and what you can and cannot handle
8. Don't overwhelm them with information they're not asking for
9. Always ask if they need additional information or clarification
10. Always thank them for their call

We're in a competitive industry friends and it's up to you to kill or be killed. It's always good to brush up on those skills. 

 Anyone else have some pointers to share?? 

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Are you selling a home in Plano, Murphy, Allen, Frisco, McKinney, Richardson or Dallas, TX? Do you need help and  expert advice on preparing a home for sale ? 

Home Star Staging is a qualified, insured home staging company and we are always here for you North Texas!

• Pre-listing property consultations
• Post list "trouble shooting" property consultations
• Owner occupied property staging (utilizing owner supplied furniture & accessories or including some of our own inventory)
• Vacant & investment property staging (Full and partial rental furniture packages, accessories and staging services)
• Is your office interested in hosting a home staging class or presentation? Just ask!
• Contact Karen at 496-964-0516 or Karen@homestarstaging.com