Life is hectic! Am I right? Multiply that by 10 if you are a real estate agent. We all wish we can be everywhere at once. Emails must be answered, family must be fed, phone calls must be returned. In the likely event you miss a phone call how do you ensure that home buyer or home seller isn’t tempted to find another agent to call?
As a reminder, we do not recommend requiring visitors of your real estate website to leave their phone numbers if you are using the Zurple system. Our software is designed to nurture these leads for you until they are ready to have a conversation. They will feel more comfortable after a few emails from you, than getting a phone call immediately after a form fill.
For those of you that prefer leads accompanied with a phone number, by the time you inevitably call those leads the chances of them answering are slim. Leaving an effective voicemail and having a phone call strategy will increase the likelihood of your leads calling you back.
80% of phone calls will go straight to voicemail, and 90% of first-time voicemails are never returned. (source: RingLead) These statistics apply to you as well. Do you answer all calls from phone numbers you don’t recognize? Or respond to phone calls that leave solicitation messages? Of course not. In the event you miss a call from a home buyer or seller, here is what they should hear on your answering machine:
An Effective Voicemail Structure
Tonality
Stand up! Smile! Before recording your message, prepare yourself mentally for it. Be in a good mood. Sound like the lead is sitting right next to you, and you need to go somewhere but want to continue the conversation.
Greeting
State your name. Simple enough.
Ask for Information
Request the caller leaves information such as name, phone number, and a message/reason for call.
Call to Action
Here is what is omitted from your competition’s voicemails: A call to action. Give the caller somewhere to go! Don’t let them wander aimlessly and get distracted by other agents or other websites. Tell them to go to your website, and what they can do on your website.
Example Voicemail Script:
When we put it together, we can use this script:
Thanks for calling {YOUR NAME}. Please leave your name, number, and a reason for your call. I am unable to speak right now, but am always available on my website/Facebook page at www.mydomainname.com, where you can search 1000s of homes as easily as a real estate agent can. Talk to you soon!
Find out more about how Zurple nurtures your leads for you.
