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Have you ever looked at the contacts you’ve made after a grueling prospecting session and wondered what’s the point?
I mean, a person can only hear the word “no” so many times before getting discouraged, right?
If you’re starting to feel like you’re finished with cold calls, recent podcast guest Ramon Sanchez has a few interesting figures that might change your mind.
Ramon Sanchez
Sanchez is a highly analytical agent in Los Angeles who spends a lot of time prospecting via phone. This guy tracks and evaluates everything from calls to contacts to closings.
After going through last year’s numbers, he discovered that each one of his contacts was worth exactly $61.44.
How’d he come up with $61.44?
Well, Sanchez made 8,858 contacts. From those contacts, he closed 41 deals. If you multiply 8,858 by 61.44, the number you get is what Sanchez made from those 41 deals: $544,235.52.
So yeah, despite hearing “no” day after day, Sanchez definitely isn’t putting down the phone anytime soon. In fact, as you’ll hear in the podcast interview below, he actually plans to scale up his prospecting efforts this year.
It’s not easy, but it’s worth it
Sanchez will be the first to admit that making cold calls isn’t easy, but prospecting produces the majority of his business. Without it, Sanchez’s GCI would be nowhere near as impressive as it is.
When Sanchez was less consistent with prospecting earlier in his career, he noticed that his production really suffered; he’d be stuck in the feast-or-famine business cycle that so many agents struggle to break.
If you’re looking for a way to get a steady supply of business, consider scaling up your prospecting efforts. For an overview of Sanchez’s system (including his prospecting tools and script), read on.
Sanchez’s prospecting system
Sanchez is a big believer in the old-school Mike Ferry method. Once Sanchez sets a goal for the number of deals he wants to close annually, he commits to making at least that many contacts each day of the work week.
Say you want to close 50 deals this year. To do this, you’d need to make at least 50 contacts (actual conversations, not calls) per day Monday through Friday.
Expect to hear “no” 99 percent of the time. If you’re making a lot of calls, only a small percentage of people need to say “yes” for you to make some serious money.
Prospecting tools and resources
With the number of calls it takes just to get 50 people on the phone these days, you’re going to need some help.
Sanchez relies on Mojo Dialer for making multiline calls — a feature that makes phone-based prospecting much more efficient.
To get low-cost leads, Sanchez pulls numbers from Cole Realty Resource and RedX.
Script for cancelled and expired listings
Once Sanchez gets a seller on the phone, he uses a short simple script to get straight to the point while highlighting his experience. Here’s how it goes:
Sanchez: Hi, may I speak with Pat?
Pat: Yeah, this is Pat.
Sanchez: Hey Pat, Ramon Sanchez here with Keller Williams. Listen, I’m calling because I noticed that you’re selling your house. Are you going to be interviewing agents?
Pat: Yeah, my wife and I are talking about what we need to do.
Sanchez: Fantastic. Well, listen, I’d like to apply for the job of selling your property. I’ve been doing this 28 years, and I’m one of the Realtors for the local area. When would you be available? I’d like to show you what I can do — how last year I sold 55 houses.
From here, if the prospect is open to setting up an appointment, Sanchez will get them scheduled before moving on to the next number on his list.
To learn the script that Sanchez uses to leverage homes he’s recently sold in the seller’s area, listen to the podcast interview.
For an additional cold-calling script, advice on old-school prospecting and more, listen to Pat’s podcast interview with Ramon Sanchez.
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Pat Hiban sold more than 7,000 homes over the course of his 25-year career in real estate. Now, he dedicates his time to helping others succeed as agents and investors. As host of the Real Estate Rockstars Podcast, Pat interviews real estate experts to explore what works in today’s markets. He also founded Rebus University, an online training platform for real estate agents and sales professionals.
