Before I write another word, I want to state, for the record, that I have absolutely no experience prospecting to expireds or FSBO's. So take what I say with the proverbial grain of salt.
And, please note... this blog is not meant for outgoing, extroverted, natural salespeople. You guys don't need my help! I'm writing for the Reluctant Salespeople among us - those who hate to take the risk of bothering or pestering anyone ‘cause that's just our nature (and no, we're not weak salespeople or scaredy-cats, we're just different from you).
Okay, enough disclaimers & disclosures.
If you choose to pursue expired listings and/or For Sale by Owners, here's a tip.
Go for quality, not quantity. No, I'm not referring to cherry-picking your listings (although you certainly may!), I mean that you should only attempt to list the homes of people you feel comfortable with. People you have rapport with. If you call up a FSBO and you can tell immediately that you aren't comfortable with him, just say NEXT. Don't fret about losing that particular seller to someone else, just move on. You don't need every listing in town!
I promise you, there are plenty of expireds and FSBO's out there that you will really connect with, and the good news is that these folks probably won't connect real well with the more salesy-types who aggressively pursue them. They'll appreciate your laid-back, non-aggressive style; in fact, you may be just the breath of fresh air they've been waiting for.
However, this said, I'm not letting you off the hook just yet with regard to your prospecting efforts...
When considering implementing a FSBO/expired campaign, ask yourself this question:
"Am I willing to make phone calls and knock on doors to list these sellers?"
If the answer is "No, I'll just bombard them with mailers," or even "No, I'll just mail them a letter and leave a voicemail during the day when I know (or hope) they're at work," then... don't bother. Find another way to build your business. To create the rapport that is necessary to make this campaign work, you have to talk to the people.
This is why I never did FSBOs or expireds. I knew I didn't want to call anyone or knock on any doors - I prefer to stay in my comfort zone, which definitely does not involve picking up the phone to call a stranger or knocking on his door at 8:00 am. And if you decide the same, that's fine!
However, for those of you who are looking for a respectfully aggressive (yes, those two words can co-exist) way to prospect to expired listings, check out http://activerain.com/borino. It's good stuff.
Copyright Jennifer Allan 2007
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