I do not recommend cold-calls to get real estate clients, and I’ll tell you why and what you can do instead.
How do you feel when somebody actually cold calls you? Think about that telemarketer that calls you constantly. You want to purchase it? What do you do? You see “scam likely” and you hang up. Or a cold caller calls you and they're trying to make small talk and you're like okay, who are you? You’re busy, it’s frustrating, so you hang up. Nobody has time to actually take cold calls from people. Nobody likes it, few people respond well.
The amount of marketing messages that we get every single day are in the thousands. From emails to videos, to social media, to television, to Netflix, we're constantly being marketed to. So people don't really want to hear it. They don't really want to see it. So they kind of just zone out. When you do something like cold calling, the person on the other end of it does not know who you are. They don't know if you're trying to get money from them. They don't know if you're actually real. Are you trying to scam them? They just don't know. They're fearful or they're busy and they want to be with their family and they don't have a lot of time. That is why it's highly ineffective and the conversion rate for cold calling is very, very low because people's guards are up.
I want you to think about this. Think of somebody that you see all the time on social media, maybe it's Gary Vaynerchuk, or Tony Robbins, or Oprah Winfrey. What if they were calling you? You might actually answer the phone, because it wasn't a cold call. They had already developed a relationship with you. You know who they are.
Now, how did they develop a relationship with you? Do you really know them? I mean, I would probably say that most people reading this, they don't know Gary Vaynerchuk. You probably don’t know Tony Robbins or Oprah Winfrey personally. However, because they have properly marketed to you, they've added value. You've watched their videos. Maybe you've listened to their podcast, saw a commercial, or an ad or an episode. If you saw that they were calling you, you would answer that phone. I know I sure would. In fact, Oprah, Gary or Tony, you can call me anytime and I will absolutely answer your phone call and I don't care what I'm doing.
That's the kind of relationship that you want to have with your community. When your prospects feel like they actually know who you are, they're going to answer your call. How do you get to that point with an entire neighborhood? If you’re a realtor trying to work with more people in your community. How do you go about contacting them where it's not a cold call?
Here's how you do it. You start by winning before you arrive. What I mean by that is start creating video content that adds value. That means it’s pure education, not selling. Then you take that video content, you put it in front of your community and you let them get to know you. You talk about real estate. Or you talk about things that they can do to enhance their lives. Think about time-saving tips, hacks that are used to make your life better, your favorite places, things to do in your community. This is the content that you should be posting.
By doing this, you are speaking directly to their soul. Did you know that reality TV shows are one of the most watched TV shows? People love them because they're obsessed with people's lives. When you create video content and you speak to people's problems, you speak to their pains, you add value. Help them get to what they want in life. What are their beliefs and aspirations? Where do they want to take their kids over the weekend? What do they want to do? Create video content that answers their questions. That develops a relationship between them and you, a parasocial relationship.
Building a parasocial relationship is key. Think about how many times you've laughed for your favorite character, you've cried for your character. You've gotten mad at somebody for your character because you love this character and you feel like you know them. In fact, if you see them at the store, you're going to be like, oh my gosh, I know you. We're friends. But they don't know you. You just know them. That's a parasocial relationship.
So now, let's change it around. Imagine you're somebody who's been creating content and you're creating video content that's actually being seen. That's another whole topic we need to talk about. How do I create video content that people actually see? But when you create video content that people actually see, and they're watching you, they're learning who you are. They're getting to know you as a person, as a person personally, and as a professional.
You're developing that parasocial relationship with them. You are breaking down their barriers, showing that you're the authority, showing that you're the expert, getting them to trust you and getting them to just feel like they actually know who you are. Then all of a sudden, if they see your name on the phone or you go to their home, it's not like cold calls because it's not a cold relationship anymore. It's a warm relationship that you've nurtured and they feel like they know you.
That is called winning before you arrive. You are adding value. You're helping people. You're letting them get to know you. So that way when you actually meet with them, whether it be on a listing appointment or an appointment with a future realtor you want to work with, or future buyer you want to work with, when you see that person whether it's through a cold call or through an in person connection, it's not cold. Because you've won before you arrive.
Is it okay to call people to call leads? Which every lead is just a person. Is it okay to call them after I've marketed to them for a series of time? Absolutely it is. In fact, you see these funnels right here? So we've generated over $35 million, probably closer to $40 million online in the past four years. Okay. In fact, last month alone, we did over $4 million of sales people. I'm not talking we sold that many… We had $4 million of income coming in from real estate agents and lenders across the nation just last month. Last month alone, over $4 million. Each of these is a funnel, and actually at Funnel Hacking Live, Russell Brunson had me speak at Funnel Hacking Live. Russell Brunson is one of the best digital markers in the world.
He had me talk about why my funnels, why my online marketing convert so well. Do you want to know why it is? Because I'm teaching people how to win before they arrive. I'm winning before they arrive. You're watching this video right now and you're starting to get to know me and you're starting to realize hey, maybe she knows what she's talking about. I'm winning before I arrive. So now, if I ever was to cold call you, or if I ask you to go to a certain seminar or a training, you already have developed a relationship with me so my conversions are much higher. That is why this works so well. That is why Russell Brunson had me speak at Funnel Hacking Live on this strategy.
What do you do prior to getting that lead? How do you get that lead to convert? You get it by developing a relationship. That's why you don't call cold leads, you call warm and hot leads. How do you have a warm phone call? You develop a relationship.
