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You’ve got a list of clients in your pipeline but are unsure what you should talk to them about. Here are 7 quick discussion points that you can incorporate into your next conversation with your potential future sellers.
1. Personalise it
Keep notes on the insights of the caller’s personal life that they tell you and touch on them. Do they have dogs? Children? Have they recently been on holiday? Ask about them and use names and specifics to really drive home that you’re attentive, caring and you remember important details This makes the client feel important
- How’s Casey doing in her exams?
- How are Bingo’s puppies going?
- Tell me the best part about your holiday in Bali.
The personal talk should be short and sweet until you’ve gained a rapport with the client (unless they’re naturally a chitter-chatter), but sprinkling in these individual touches will solidify a more personal and genuine relationship.
2. Time Frame
Do they have a time frame they might look to sell in? Ask in broader terms and then narrow it down as the relationship progresses.
- Do you see yourself moving in the next two years?
- Are you looking to move this side of Christmas?
- Did you want to have sold before the new financial year?
Narrow down their sales timeline and know if they should be in your immediate action pipeline or if they should be moved along.
3. Would they sell now if they could?
This is particularly good to talk about given the current strength of the market as there are a lot of people concerned about selling without having a house to move into.
- Are you prepared to potentially lose out thousands of dollars?
- Would they sell if you had an off-market buyer ready today above their asking price?
- Would you consider selling with a long settlement on your contract to sell high now and buy low later?
4. Why are they not ready to sell?
This is a really important point as their reason for not selling could impact their timeframe for sale and will in turn impact your communication.
- What’s stopping you from coming to market now?
If their reason is based on a set timeframe, ie; their daughter finishes school in November and they want to sell and move afterwards – that is fixed. If it’s because they haven’t found their next home yet, well that could happen at any time so you need to keep a closer eye on them.
5. Destination and requirements
The destination is easy to talk about with future sellers with growing families and is an easy way to segue into discussing their buyer requirements.
- How much space would you be looking at?
- Do you need to be in particular school catchments?
- Is public transport infrastructure important to you?
- Do you have pets that need a fenced outside space?
- Which Suburbs are you considering when you do decide to move?
These are ways that can feed you more insights into their lives (see Personalise it), opportunities to link up with other potential vendors, and perhaps even insight as to their seller timeline.
6. Renovations
Renovations are such a great topic to talk about. If you know that the future seller is renovating, offer your advice to increase their value. Offer to link them up with tradespeople. Then use this as an opportunity to personalise your conversations! You will have an ongoing topic to discuss and can get excited with them while their renovations progress along!
7. The Market
The last one on our list is the most obvious but often the one wielded the most haphazardly. Discuss market listings, sales, updates and statistics when it is relevant to the client. Keep them in the loop of properties in their street or with similar features. The trick is to know how to toe the line between informative and overbearing. Contact them too often and they’ll shy away; make frequent, meaningful and attentive contact and you will win over clients.
We hope that your next conversation with a potential seller is more fruitful thanks to these pointers. Keep your conversations fresh by perusing the rest of our blogs, and keep your ears peeled for that “not yet”, as it may mean “sometime soon”.
