When we run low on listings, as seems to be happening all around the country right now, we need our agents to step up their prospecting calls. It’s not rocket science and everyone understands it, the more calls they make the more listings they will get.
A million dollar earner in Real Estate told me recently that the secret to his success was to call 10 people everyday. I’m sure you’d agree that this simple and effective approach would produce success for almost everyone. So why don’t many agents do it? Some managers think it’s because they don’t know what to say when they get on the phone so they arrange some Scripts and Dialogue training. These sessions can be very useful for people new to selling but if you think about it, very few of your top performers use a script. On many occasions I’ve heard a weak sales person describe a top performers telephone conversation as ‘they just had a friendly chat with the client about lots of unrelated things and then they end up getting a listing! In training I’ve learnt all these amazing things to say to a client to convince them to buy me but I didn’t hear them use any of those techniques!!’
Some managers think that their agents don’t make enough calls because they aren’t motivated so they book a motivational speaker to ‘gee everyone up’. Hopefully they give me a call and ask me to do a motivational session with their team! However I think for many sales people there’s usually a much bigger problem than just motivation.
Why is it that some of people who get toothache don’t go to the dentist? They know that they should make an appointment and, if the pain is bad enough, it should motivate them to do it but some never do. WHY? Because they are scared! Based on past experience, fear of pain, fear of failure etc etc they don’t take the action they know will solve their problem. They just hope things will get better by themselves. If you suggested to them that a visit to the dentist would be a good idea, most would laugh it off, ignore you or make an excuse.
In exactly the same way if you suggested to your under performing sales people that making 10 calls a day would solve their business problems I expect you’d hear some excuses too:
- I’m too busy, I’ve got too much to do!
- It’s a waste of time, people don’t answer the phone these days! The market isn’t right for that approach right now!
- I can’t think of anyone to call!
When people are scared of something involved with their job they are VERY unlikely to tell their boss about it! To take that action would be about as painful as calling prospects! For some people to admit they are scared is a massive step, one which they will NEVER take. For some sales people fear of rejection can be so large and difficult to face, that they won’t even admit it to themselves! Imagine how difficult it could be for someone to admit that they have got to go back to stage one and overcome their fear of rejection again. They may have been successful in the past but something has happened in their life recently to damage their self belief to the point where they can’t face someone saying NO to them!!
We’ve all experienced a setback in our lives where it feels like we’ve moved backwards, away from our goals. It may be that we were married for 20 years and now we find ourselves divorced and back on the dating scene and scared of approaching people. Perhaps we were laughed at recently in a business meeting, lost some confidence and now we’ve been asked to give a speech at a wedding. Maybe we’ve felt threatened by an incident that happened to a friend and as a result have become scared be alone in our own home.
For some agents calling the people on their database can feel like that. Talking to a few prospects and receiving a few NO’s can, under certain circumstances, cause the same type of damage to our confidence. The problem is that the rejection causes harm to our self belief. We start to doubt our ability to do what needs to be done, we get scared of what might happen if we fail and in many cases the fear and doubt causes us to give up.
Most times after a training programme, I’ll run some 1 on 1 coaching sessions with sales people to help them make some progress. During these sessions many agents make excuses as to why they can’t do something that they know they should be doing. They rarely admit that they have a problem but after a short chat I can usually work out what’s happening and find out what’s holding them back. Then it’s just a matter of helping them decide to take responsibility and fix their problem rather than just running away from it.
So next time you have a agent not calling enough prospects, please remember it’s their self esteem pleading for your help. Don’t let their words fool you – they know what to do and they’re motivated to do it. They’re just scared!! Even though they may not consciously understand it, what they are really saying is ‘please don’t judge me. I really want to succeed but right now I’m a bit scared. I’ve lost some self belief and I need your help to overcome my problem.’