I have been taking a 12 week course for experienced agents, geared toward making us more efficient, more effective, and more profitable. It's a great course and I have put most of the lessons into practice, have benefitted from them, and will continue to follow them. If this were a class in which grades were given, one area that I would not have earned a high score is in cold-calling.
For some reason I am uncomfortable doing this, although I have certainly done quite a bit of it. After just a few calls, the phone feels like it weighs a ton and I tend to move away from calling and start working on other things. Especially since most of the numbers I call get no answer. The people who do answer are friendly and polite, but no leads result. I realize that it is a numbers game and that my odds would be higher if I made more calls, but knowing that doesn't help.
I can go door-to-door and talk to strangers, and I have gotten good leads and referrals that way, although it is more physical and time-consuming. I hold lots of open houses and get buyer clients from them, and I have gotten referrals and at least one listing client from my blog. I love to write and I enjoy meeting people and making new friends, so I prefer these methods which seem to work better for me. The instructor in this course insists that we should be making a minimum of 60 contacts per week, and that a contact is when you actually speak with someone (this means hundreds of calls must be made every week). I envy those who can do that, but I can think of a million excuses not to do that many calls.
All other facets of this course are great, and I appreciate all that I have learned - even though I have been in real estate for more than 20 years. How do others feel about cold-calling, and what is your favorite or most productive way to prospect for new business?
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