Posted by SueC on March 07, 2001 at 13:37:52:
…for telling me exactly what I needed to know. My gut was right, my nerves got in the way!
Hope to meet you at the convention,
Sue Caskey
How to get OFF the phone?? (long) - Posted by SueC
Posted by SueC on March 07, 2001 at 08:09:00:
I’m really looking forward to the sales seminar at the convention, this is the major thing I need to learn, but in the mean time I wanted to post this for feedback.
I sent out letters to owners of SFHs for rent, asking about possibility of L/O. I got a call back from one guy, he was a shopper though, just curious. I feel like I wasn’t in control of the conversation, and wanted to get off the phone with him right away, but didn’t know any specific techniques to do so. This guy advertised a furnished SFH split-level 3/1, FMV about $175K. Here’s how it went, sort of paraphrased:
Owner (O): Got your letter, how does this work?
Me: [I explained that I would rent his property for a long term, about three years, and at the end of this time have option to buy. Mistake #1, right away he’s in control.]
O: I’m going to Florida on business for a while, and I live at the property, but I have other properties. [Not in this county he doesn’t, I checked in advance.] What’s the benefit to me?
Me: [I listed the usual management, insurance, taxes, guaranteed rent, etc., thinking PACTrust.]
O: Are you a lawyer?
Me: [Does my delivery give me away? As soon as I realized he was not serious and I turned all business, I guess he could hear it in my voice. So, yes, I’m a lawyer!!]
O: Well what if I don’t want to sell?
Me: Then I don’t think we really have any common interest here, if you think you might be interested another time, give me a call.
O: Well what would you give me?
Me: What are you asking for the property? [Why did I bother? Just trying to be polite?]
O: What will you give me? [I should have just hung up on him, really!] I mean, anything’s for sale at a price. If you gave me $500K I’d sell.
Me: If you are looking to get at or above market price, then that is not something I’m interested in. [I don’t know why I let it get this far.]
O: Well can you send me the paperwork for me to look over?
Me: I don’t think we even have a deal here, I only prepare paperwork when I know that we have a deal. Otherwise it’s a waste of both our time.
O: How can I agree to do a deal unless I see the paperwork first? [He’s gotta be a lawyer!]
Me: I think if you’re not interested in selling, there’s no reason to put anything on paper. I don’t do that until I know we’ve worked something out.
O: Well what would you give me? I might be interested.
Me: Look, I don’t know enough about your property to give you an estimate right now.
Finally, just to get off the phone, I told him OK, I’ll do some investigating of values in the area and get back with an offer. Of course I have no intention of calling him back.
After I hung up I was trying to figure out how I could have maintained control of the conversation better, weeded him out right at the start, since it was immediately clear he wasn’t motivated and was on a fishing expedition. How could I have gotten off the phone instead of feeling like I had to explain and answer his questions? There’s a lot to be desired here and I know it, but any tips or suggestions or books that might help, etc. would be appreciated!
Thanks in advance for helping, and I hope this question helps some other newbies too.
Sue Caskey
Re: How to get OFF the phone?? (long) - Posted by Wayne(VA)
Posted by Wayne(VA) on March 09, 2001 at 21:13:44:
The phone number I use in my ads has a answering machine on it with three mailboxes. I NEVER answer that phone line.
“If you are calling about our ad for buying homes press #1” . One they get to that mailbox, they are asked to leave their name, number, and the address of the property they are interested in selling.
When I call them back, I have done some research on the property (over the internet) and since I called them, I can control the conversation.
Wayne
Re: How to get OFF the phone?? (long) - Posted by Matt B
Posted by Matt B on March 07, 2001 at 10:03:32:
Jim has some good advice. I just wanted to add one thing that I do.
I often get calls from sellers whose first question is “How does this work?” I answer that by saying, “Well, I have several ways that I buy property and I usually can figure out some way to make you an offer after I find out some more about what your situation is and what you need from the deal. Why are you selling?”
I give a very brief answer to their question, then instantly go into MY line of questioning to get the conversation on track and keep me in control of it.
If I were to have someone insisting that I tell them what I would give them for their house without giving me anything to go on, I would probably say something like, “I’ll tell you what. I’ll give you $1 for the place, and if you’re willing to sell it to me for that, I’ll buy it right now sight unseen. However, if you’d like any other type of offer for the place, I’ll need to get some more information from you so I can see how I can help you out. Does that sound fair?” I do this without sounding insulting or condescending to the seller. After all, they may be motivated, but simply confused as to what you do or what you can offer.
Re: How to get OFF the phone?? (long) - Posted by JPiper
Posted by JPiper on March 07, 2001 at 09:27:25:
Sue:
Got a kick out of your phone call. Especially when the answer to your dilemma is so easy?.you just hang up. Something like this: ?Oops, gotta go now ?.click?.?
But then again, you probably meant ?How do I get off the phone without insulting the other guy and make him my friend?? Well here?s one way that works?.just keep talking, and while you?re in the middle of a sentence?reach over and quickly press your switchhook?.in other words, hang up on yourself. LOL. Now if the guy bothers to call back you could just say?. ?What happened? Did we get disconnected?? But chances are if he truly isn?t interested in your deal, he won?t be calling back.
The beauty of the telephone is that it?s an anonymous medium. No one sees what?s happening on your end of the line. ?Hold on there a minute?got a call coming in?. This puts him on hold?gives you a moment to think. Gosh, if you leave him there long enough maybe he?ll hang up on YOU. Or you could get back on the phone… ?Something has come up?gotta go?. Click.
Actually, maybe you?re not wondering so much about how to hang up. Maybe you?re wondering how did this call get to this miserably spot to begin with.
Here?s an old rule of thumb: The guy asking the questions is in control of the conversation. The guy doing all the talking is out of control. When I read your description of your telephone conversation it looks to me like he?s asking all the questions?and you?re doing all the talking. HE is in control.
?Excuse me sir, I?m confused. Just exactly WHY did you call on my letter??
Now shut up. Let him talk. It?s an open ended question?he has to answer by saying something other than ?yes? or ?no?. LISTEN.
Suppose he says?well, I don?t want to keep managing these places. ?Why is that Mr. XYZ. Did you have a problem managing your houses??
Let?s say he says at some point: ?What will you give?? Now think about it Sue?how could you know ?what to give? until you have seen the house?
?Mr. XYZ, I couldn?t even hazard a guess until I saw the property. What were you wanting to sell for?? Shut up. Listen.
You?re in control now?he?s talking, he?s answering YOUR questions.
If you rule him out?hang up. There?s no law against it?I promise.
JPiper
Control is the key - Posted by TD
Posted by TD on March 11, 2001 at 24:07:11:
Control is the key.
Once you’ve lost control of the conversation, you’re in jeopardy of losing control of the transaction.
And that could seriously hurt your bottom line.
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Save every incoming number even if you must save it as “Don’t answer”. You won’t need to remember the numbers and can avoid unpleasant conversations with unwanted callers. Realize some friends and family may call people out of boredom** . Since everyone is bored sometimes you should try to indulge them for at least a few moments. Try to think of why the person calls you and insist for speaking too long. Do you not talk often? Are they lonely?
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Be honest. If you prefer not to talk on the phone tell people. Just be polite and don’t use excuse for select people who may get their feelings hurt. It is also not advised when you are young and speaking with your people.
3.Consider you may just be in a non-talking mood. Don’t be rude to a friend. You may regret it later.
In urban American telephone conversations, we propose, the final exchange of goodbyes doesn’t terminate the conversation per se but brings to completion a process of leave-taking in which the two parties reaffirm their acquaintance before breaking contact. by Telephone goodbyes’
HERBERT H. CLARK AND J. WADE FRENCH Stanford University