There are several common mistakes we pick up from real estate agents who receive leads from www.RealEstateFair.net
1. Agent writes an e-mail without calling a client first, then after waiting for an answer two or three days quits on a lead thinking that it is either a bad or not intterested lead.
What happens in reality?
Most e-mails from US, especially from public e-mail providers like Yahoo, Hotmail, AOL etc. end up in SPAM folders in UK and Europe. We always call our leads and ask them to check their Spam Folder for at least 3 days to make sure they get our information and listings. So here is practical advice, call FIRST and make sure your leads check all e-mails.
2. After an initial call and Spam folder warning, there is still no immediate answer.
We are getting angrier now, aren't we?
The answer to this is very simple in most of the cases. Europeans do NOT check their e-mails every hour. Sometimes they check them ones in a couple of days. The other situation - your client is shopping around because he was approached by several agents. They just take their time to check out all info. One more thing - if you provided bulk MLS link (" To View Listings Click Here" type) they might not be able to open it and view listings. So providing the actual URL to listings is a much better way to get things done.
3. All info received properly, prospects viewed properties and disappeared again after promising to get back to you shortly.
Damn Sam what's going on, right?
Please, understand one important thing - they are not in a hurry unless they have already bought a ticket. Most prospects are waiting until their scheduled vacation, local season or summer to organize their arrival. So it takes 2-6 months to really get them in the door. However, some buyers are ready to come over as soon as they see the home they like.
It is very important to follow up with European buyers at least 3 times on the phone initially and then send periodic e-mails at least once in 10 days. The reason behind it is obvious, however I would like to point out the most important one - if your buyer leads think of you as a great help and source of information they will always refer and talk about you with their friends and acquaintances. We hear this a lot from Europeans.
Some more faux pas we noticed. Please, check the time difference with the country you call. Do not dial zeros preceding the number. Here is the number you get from UK 001234567890, for example. A correct dial will be 011-44-123-456-7890. I am absolutely not trying to patronize anyone here. Please, don't take it too close to heart. I have just dealt with frustrated: "This phone number is wrong" many times.
So if all this European buyer thing is so much trouble, why bother? Well, this you have to decide! If you have any other questions, let me know.
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