Rediscover the lost art of the sales call

Regular weekly calls can bring in a steady flow of new deals and build relationships. It just takes discipline and consistency

By Kim Burgess

27 Feb 2018

Thanks to ever-expanding technologies, it’s fast and simple to send emails, texts, videos, tweets, Snapchats and Facebook messages – but don’t forget the power of a simple call. While it may seem old fashioned to just pick up the phone, those conversations form the backbone of any originator’s business.

Ginger Bell, education specialist with Go2training.com, recommended this quick sales-boosting exercise: Make a list of your top 30 realtors and think of all the reasons you could call them tomorrow. Did you find an informative sales webinar or newspaper article that they would enjoy? That’s a good starting point.

Next, schedule a time to put in a round of calls – for instance, every Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. – then start working your way down the list of realtors. Open the conversation with the icebreaker (“I’m going to send you an amazing New York Times story about your market.”) then move on to status update about any deals in the pipeline.

“You are bringing them something of value, and showing you are on top of it,” Bell said. “You have to discipline yourself to make the calls at the scheduled time and stick with it. People will get used to hearing from you every Tuesday and they will like that consistency. It will create opportunities.”

Bell always wraps up each call by asking, “What else do you have that I can help you with?” That way, the conversation can flow right on to new deals.

“People tend to take the path of least resistance, and this makes it easy for them to say, ‘Oh yeah, I have this and I will sent it to you right now,’” Bell said. “They know you are on their team, and if you ask for another deal, they will want to get one in the pipeline.”

Bell has seen these “Timeline Tuesday” calls generate business firsthand.

Earlier in her career, Bell was working an account executive in Portland, Ore., when a co-worker had to take a leave of absence. Bell filled in and took her co-worker’s monthly volume from $35 million to $85 million in less than three months – all thanks to the regularly scheduled calls.

“The phone is not dead; it is actually working better than email,” Bell said. “We have all these great technologies out there, and many ways to communicate, but so many of us are hiding behind email. Focus on picking up the phone and having a conversation.”