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Scripts can be off-putting for most agents but when you begin to hire real estate ISAs to follow up for you scripts become non-negotiable. It’s the only way to make sure your leads are qualified in a predictable way and that they’ve been warmed up enough for you to close the deal.
When most Realtors hear us talk about scripts, they tend to roll their eyes at us. Saying things like “I know how to talk to people, I don’t need a script” or “I don’t want to sound like a robot”.
But for agents and salespeople who embrace them, scripts are one of the most effective sales tools in your tool belt.
We’ve all had those really great first conversations with a client, the rapport is natural, the subject matter is wide-ranging, and best of all you learn everything you need to know to help them buy or sell their home.
Great scripts help you (and your real estate ISA) recreate that every single time.
Not by controlling every word you say but by giving you a skeleton to fill in with real conversational tangents and natural jokes.
A great script isn’t actually a script, it’s a series of reminders, a framework that you build unique conversations on top of.
No one understands this better than Hassan Riggs, the founder and CEO of Smart Alto.
Hassan started his career as a real estate ISA but ultimately reached a level of success that few ISAs or Realtors ever will, by setting over 10,000 appointments.
And throughout all of that experience, he was able to develop and refine the most useful real estate script/framework.
We call it BANTAR
The thing that makes BANTAR such a phenomenal script is that it’s not really a script.
It’s a conversation framework, it’s meant to act as the backbone of a fluid conversation.
It gives structure to a conversation so that your real estate ISA can gather all the most important information on a lead, so you’re ready to step in and close the deal.
All without the lead ever realizing they’ve been “qualified”.
Of course, the secret sauce with BANTAR is making sure your real estate ISA is fluid enough to ask these questions in a comfortable manner. In real estate lead conversion, it’s not only what you ask but how you ask it.
To really drive this point home, we’re including an example of what BANTAR might look like in practice.
In this chapter, we’ll unpack the BANTAR principle one letter at a time so you can confidently implement these qualifying points into your business. We’ll also take a look at the anatomy of a BANTAR conversation to further illustrate the importance of fluidity when using this method.
Finding out a buyer's budget is extremely important. So important that we tend to think of it as a given and many agents forget to train their real estate ISAs to ask about it.
It happens all the time, a poorly trained ISA “qualifies” a buyer but forgets to ask for the budget, now you can’t set them up on an automated search or suggest homes. It defeats the purpose of an ISA.
It’s like throwing coins in a leaky bucket. Doesn’t make much sense.
In real estate if you don’t know your client’s budget you’re virtually useless to them, it’s a critical part of their search and vitally important for you to know if you’re going to provide value.
Have you ever shown a client 10 or more homes just to find out that they’re married and their spouse has 51% of the decision making power when it comes to choosing a home?
We’ve all done something like this.
It’s a massive waste of time and a huge frustration for everyone involved.
This is why it’s so important to make sure your real estate ISA has a habit of asking about all of the pertinent decision-makers.
This is the fun one, no one forgets to ask a client what they need, what they want or what they can’t live without.
Knowing the ins and outs of your lead’s needs, wants and expectations arms you with everything you’ll need to deliver high-quality service.
You’ll discover their motivation level, set expectations and figure out exactly what’s needed to make them happy and close the deal.
When asked well (remember how you ask is as important as what you ask) your real estate ISA will be arming you with all the information you need to show up on the first phone appointment with a prospect and absolutely nail it.
Demonstrating your expertise and building rapport quickly and masterfully.
You’re going to follow up with someone buying a home next month far more frequently than someone buying a home next year.
That’s why it’s so important to know a client’s timeline as early as possible, to make sure you’re not wasting your time with buyers who won’t be buying for another 9 months.
And to make sure you’re not going too many days without reaching out to a buyer who’s ready to buy now.
Knowing a leads timeline will have a huge impact on the way you follow up with them. When a client realizes that you understand their pace, they begin to trust you more than just any old Realtor.
When it comes to real estate there are 3 things you need to pay attention to:
One of the best places we get to show our value as agents is in our local knowledge. That’s why it’s critical that your real estate ISA finds out what area your leads are searching or selling in.
So you can show up to your first appointment knowledgeable about all the areas they are interested in.
It also tells you if this is a client you’ll be serving yourself or referring to someone else.
You’re a professional and you deserve to be treated as such, many clients don’t realize they’re being disrespectful by seeing dozens of homes with you and finally putting an offer...with their aunt who “does real estate on the side”.
BANTAR trains your real estate ISA to always find out a lead’s relationship with other agents before you ever waste a minute of your valuable time.
This question also reminds your real estate ISA to ask about the lead’s relationship with a lender; all great team leaders know that the sooner they get someone in touch with a lender they trust the more likely it is that the client will be financially qualified to buy with you.
BANTAR will only work if your real estate ISAs are able to adapt it to new conversations without coming off as scripted.
It’s important to note that every BANTAR conversation will look different and that’s the whole point, people want to feel like they’re involved in a real conversation not just filling out a form.
Here is an example text message conversation between an ISA and a LEAD.
ISA: “Hi LEAD, this is ISA (yes, a real person) the real estate coordinator for AGENT. I noticed you clicked our Facebook ad about homes for sale in your area. I just need some quick info first. How many bedrooms are you looking for?” [Needs Wants & Expectations]
LEAD: “At least 3 bedrooms”
ISA: “Okay got it, you need at least 3 bedrooms in your next home but more won’t hurt, right? Lol If everything goes well, when would you want to move into your new home?” [Timeline]
LEAD: “4 bedrooms would be ideal because I’d love a private office but it’s not a deal-breaker. I think we’re flexible, maybe 3 months or so.”
ISA: “A home office is such an underrated luxury! Are you working from home right now?”
LEAD: “My office lets us work from home a few days a week, it really is a treat!”
ISA: “If we found the right home tomorrow would you be ready to put an offer in?” [Authority] or [Relationship]
LEAD: “I would say so. I haven’t talked to a lender yet though so that might be the only thing to hold me back right now.”
ISA: “AGENT works with a lot of great lenders she can recommend! Have you already spoken to any agents?” [Relationship]
LEAD: “No not yet”
ISA: “The home we’d advertised online was in Calabasas, is that the only city you’re searching in?” [Area]
LEAD: “No, we’re also open to Hidden Hills & Thousand Oaks”
ISA: “Truly beautiful cities! What price range are you looking in?” [Budget]
LEAD: “We want to stay under 2 Million. The online calculator I found said we can go up to 3 Million but I think that’s too much of a stretch”
ISA: “That’s definitely a healthy budget. I want to set you up on a quick 15-minute phone appointment with AGENT. When is a good time for a chat?”
LEAD: “I’m free tomorrow at noon”
ISA: “Confirmed! AGENT will call you at 12pm tomorrow! Thanks for texting with me today LEAD!”
LEAD: “I look forward to “meeting” AGENT lol. Thanks ISA!”
And that's an example of how to use BANTAR: the best real estate lead follow up script.
Using scripts in real estate is something that feels incredibly foreign to most agents. They conjure images of mindless call center workers spouting off all the benefits of the latest diet pill.
On the contrary, when done properly BANTAR is the framework of a fluid conversation that allows you to learn everything you need to know in order to provide excellent service to a new lead.
Now that your lead has answered some critical qualifying questions using a script so stealthy they’ll think they’re just having a fun conversation it’s time to figure out the best way for your real estate ISA to put you in touch with that lead. Is it Phone Appointments or Live Transfers?
The strategies you use to follow up with real estate leads will have a massive impact on your success with a real estate ISA.
The right ISA using the wrong practices is worse than a bad ISA using the right practices.
We arrived at this set of strategies by not only reading the literature and studying all of the available data on lead follow up, but also qualifying 100's of thousands of leads the past several years.
We’ve ultimately landed on 8 best practices that will each boost your conversion rate and when combined can have a massive impact on the quality of your business.
Learn all 8 practices and how to implement them to build a perfect follow up system.
The first goal of real estate lead follow up is to get a response. It’s not to set an appointment or to close a deal.
Those may be the ultimate end goal but they are not the first goal.
When first reaching out to a lead it’s important to remember the first goal of real estate lead follow up, getting a response.
We’ve found time and time again that text messaging is the best where to get a first response from your leads.
Learn all about why that’s true and where to take it from there.
A great script isn’t actually a script, it’s a series of reminders to your real estate ISA that remind them to ask important questions that not only build rapport but also qualify your leads in advance.
Through experience and experimentation we have developed the BANTAR principle, a framework for elegantly qualifying leads and converting them further down the funnel.
Learn the entire BANTAR principle complete with an example conversation between an ISA and a lead using the BANTAT method.
Live Transfers have become a hot topic of discussion over the past few years when talking about real estate ISAs.
However, through lots of trial and error we have been able to determine that 15 Minute Phone appointment is the best way for real estate agents to receive hot prospects from their real estate ISAs.
Unlike live transfers, 15 minute phone appointments actually solve the problem of limited agent availability and can help to increase conversion rates.
In fact the only reason they aren’t the norm is because 15 Minute phone appointments are hard to implement on the real estate ISA’s side of things.
Technology can sometimes seem like the key to all of business’ problems.
But through experimentation and testing we’ve found that chatbots are not the key to converting real estate leads. Instead, you need a human real estate ISA.
We review what happens when leads are met with real people. The effects human real estate ISAs have on your conversion rates, and most importantly the effects they have on your bottom line. People prefer talking to people and in this business, give people what they want.
Having your own real estate ISA is a big goal for many teams.
Real estate ISAs make it easier for you to manage your own time knowing that you can focus on going on appointments with prospective clients and providing service to your existing clients while someone else manages your incoming leads.
But hiring a real estate ISA is no small task.
Let this chapter act as your hiring guide when hiring your first real estate ISA.
Choosing the right Real Estate ISA Appointment Setting Service is not only a good alternative to but also a great upgrade over an in house ISA.
Still, it’s a difficult task so in this section we’ll review the primary questions you should be asking when qualifying the many different real estate ISA companies in the market.
Many companies offer to mark some leads as hot or pass the buck to you as soon as a lead responds, this simply won’t do.
But what should you look for instead?
Time Is Money.
Every minute matters so you want to focus on the highest revenue producing activities.
That means when you get ghosted or have appointments but can't seem to turn them into active customers and closings, you’re losing both time and money.
That’s why we’re going to give you a checklist of the exact 13 steps that we’ve found to get you a 90% appointment show up rate and maximize your conversions.
We’ll cover exactly what to do both before the appointment and during the appointment in order to improve both show up rate and conversion rate.
Find out why the smartest teams in real estate choose Smart Alto.
Hint, it’s not just because of our track record.
We integrate with their businesses like a software plug in that superchargers their CRM. Our biggest teams often say we solve some of their biggest problems.
We’ll layout everything that makes us such an obvious choice so you can make a smart decision about your ISA provider.
