Quick Changes, Better Results: The No “No” Follow-Up Rule
Mon, Dec 22, 2014
One thing every agent can universally agree on is that losing a lead stinks. And not just a little bit — I mean full-on, rotten fish smell that’s somehow woven into the carpet, stinks. It hurts to see a lead that you worked hard to cultivate (through high-quality ads focused on your USP, I hope!) end up doing business with another agent.What I’ve learned by monitoring my one-on-one coaching clients is that the majority of lost leads is due to an agent’s follow-up strategy. Notice I didn’t say “lack of follow-up” here — that will obviously lose you leads. But the systems and strategies my clients were actively using were actually to blame for lost leads.
So how did my clients fix this problem and stop losing leads? By following my easy No “No” Rule.
The No “No” Rule
This is so simple, it’s a little unbelievable that it works so well. All you need to do to follow this rule is make sure that you don’t ask your prospect any questions that can be answered with a “no.” (This rule also applies to questions that can be answered with a “yes,” but the No “Yes” Rule just didn’t have the same ring to it!)
Here are a few examples to help you see the No “No” Rule in action:
Instead of saying “Do you know where you want to move to?” say “Are you planning on staying in the area or moving out of the area?”
Replace “Will you be ready to move in the next month?” with “If you were to move, when do you think that might be?”
Why This Rule Works
Questions with a simple no/yes answer greatly reduce your chance of landing a lead as a client. If a prospect doesn’t want to talk to you — and chances are they won’t, because prospects do not want to be sold — they’re going to give you “no” after “no” after “no” to get off the phone quickly. They have the information they need and want to go through it themselves, thankyouverymuch. No/yes questions provide them with a vehicle to do this.
No/yes questions also don’t give you, as the agent, any usable information. By knowing that your prospect likes a listing they saw or that they won’t be ready to move in the next month gives you no clear indicator of how you can help them.
A good follow-up call is a fact-finding mission — your goal is to gather clues on where your prospect is now and where they hope to go so that you can provide valuable assistance. This will cause leads to see that you’re not there to sell them, you’re there to help them. And that right there is the secret sauce to turning leads into customers.
How to Fix Your Script
Go through your follow-up script and highlight every instance where you ask a no/yes question. Replacing these no/yes questions with open-ended versions will help you learn more about your prospects to craft a more compelling follow-up plan. Better follow-up leads to better service, which practically eliminates the stinky fish smell of lost leads.
“If I were to name one thing that I have learned from Craig that has been the biggest game changer for me, I would say that most of our business will be later business, not now business, and follow up is extremely important!” – Scott Jones, Broker Associate, Upland, California
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