(tinkling chimes)
- Hey there, what's going on?
This is Seth from the REtipster blog.
And you know, today I wanted to talk to you
about something that somebody e-mailed me about
just a few weeks ago and it's really kinda stuck with me
since I got this e-mail.
The e-mail was from a guy who was a new investor.
He was just kinda inexperienced,
hadn't really done a direct mail campaign before,
and he was kinda just winging it.
And the funny thing was he did everything right.
He picked out the right people, he sent out the postcards,
he was getting calls in left and right like crazy.
But the problem was, when he was getting these phone calls,
he didn't really know what to say to people.
They would call and ask him questions
and kinda corner him and try to find out
who he was and why he sent 'em this stuff
and he didn't really know what to say.
I mean, he wasn't really confident or sure of himself.
When I got that e-mail, I just sorta thought about it
for a while and I started to realize
that's really not an abnormal thing at all.
In fact, I had that exact same problem when I first started.
I mean, I distinctly remember
the first several phone calls I had being very awkward.
I was really just kinda fumbling around
and just hanging on for dear life,
trying to not sound like a total idiot
when I was talking to these people.
And I've actually, I've talked to several people
over the years who've had very similar problems.
They don't know what to say or they're kinda nervous
and the words come out wrong.
I mean, essentially, the conversation just sorta
goes down in flames because (laughs)
they just don't know what they're doing.
And the problem is, when they hang up the phone,
they kinda feel stupid and the person they talk to
is probably like, "What the heck was that all about?"
And it just sorta leaves everybody walking away
with just sort of a lotta negative energy, (laughs)
and for understandable reasons.
I mean, I've literally known people
who have quit this business altogether
because of a single phone call, you know?
Because a phone call went so badly that they just,
I mean, it was enough to kill it for 'em.
And it's just a tragedy
because I think there's a few different issues going on here
and a few different reasons why people struggle
with phone calls like that, especially in the beginning.
And I think the first reason
is that people just kinda generally
are not comfortable talking with strangers.
I mean, obviously, we're all adults.
We all have to make phone calls and get ahold of people
and get business done in our day to day lives,
but to just talk to person after person after person
who you don't know, they don't know you
and you're trying to figure out
how to do business with them,
especially when you're brand new at this,
I mean, it's just a weird thing
to try to figure that out on your own.
And I think it's a matter of acknowledging
that that's okay, you know?
It's not the end of the world.
And if you have a bad phone call, you know what?
Who cares?
I mean, you don't ever have to talk to this person again
if you don't want to and they don't even know you, (laughs)
what does it matter if you sound like an idiot on the phone?
I mean, I've done it many, many times and it's fine.
Having a bad phone call
is not the end of the world, all right?
You'll get through it and you can keep going on.
Another one of the issues
that I think a lotta people struggle with
is they don't really know what they're supposed to say
to people on the phone when they call.
Whether they're making the call
or whether they're receiving the call,
the point of the call is to pull out
certain pieces of information
from the person you're talking to.
In my case, when I'm talking to people,
I'm trying to find out what kind of property they have,
what it consists of, what the dimensions of it are,
what it can be used for, if they're interested in selling,
how much they think it's worth
and, generally, how motivated this person is
to sell in the first place.
Do they sound like they're in a situation
where they're gonna accept a really low offer from me?
Or do they sound like the kinda person
who doesn't need my help and it's not worth my time
to even send 'em an offer?
I mean, those are the kinda things I'm trying to figure out.
And one way that I sorta coped with that
was I had just a very simple checklist of questions
that I would ask everybody
whenever I would have these phone calls.
So, really, the agenda for the call was very simple.
I just kinda treated it like a questionnaire
and I would go through these different questions
and get the answers I needed to and move on.
So, rather than kind of trying to figure it out on the fly,
it's just a matter of knowing what the point of the call is,
and the point is to get those questions answered.
And by the way, if you wanna see an example
of the questions that I would ask people,
you're more than welcome to take a look
at my actual call sheet that I use to call people.
If you sign up for the newsletter at the bottom
of this blog post, it's called the REtipster Club.
There's gonna be a link that you'll get
to the REtipster Toolbox.
And in that Toolbox, you're gonna see my call sheet.
So, if you want to take a look at that,
feel free to sign up.
And the third thing that I think
a lotta people struggle with, and I might even go so far
as to say most people struggle with,
and I know I certainly did,
is just an overall lack of self-confidence,
just lack of believing in oneself.
I know this was a huge problem for me
and I actually didn't even know it
for months into the process.
I didn't realize that the reason
for the trouble that I was having
was 'cause I was sort of approaching it
kinda as this submissive, subservient kinda person
and, "Oh, please don't yell at me.
"I'm just trying to be nice and give this information
"and get off the phone as quick as I can,"
and that's not the way to go about these phone calls.
You have to be very confident in yourself,
you have to be the adult in the conversation.
It's really more of a thought process
more than what you're saying. (laughs)
It's a matter of being confident in yourself
and not being afraid of the people
you're talking to on the phone.
So, at the end of the day,
I think there's really three main things
that you can do to start getting better at your phone calls
if you're having trouble, okay?
First and foremost,
you need to get more confident in yourself.
You need to believe in yourself and believe in who you are
and not be afraid to just lay it out.
And, I mean, I've even gotten into the habit
of when I know I'm gonna be making
a ridiculously low offer to somebody,
it's almost a way of proving a point to myself.
I can even verbally say this to people on the phone
and I don't really care what their response is.
I mean, it doesn't bother me if they get mad
or get offended or flip out and swear at me.
I mean, it just doesn't matter anymore
because I'm that confident in who I am
and what I need to do,
and their emotional responses don't bother me.
They can do whatever they want
and it's not gonna change what I'm gonna be doing.
So, that kinda leads into the second point
is that if you're not confident in yourself,
one of the best ways that I know of
to get more confident is to practice, get experience,
and just call people and call people and call people.
And have these conversations
and power through the awkwardness
and the difficulties that you encounter because,
I'll tell you what, those awkward moments
and the difficulties and figuring out
how to slog through these conversations
that aren't always fun, I mean,
that's what's gonna make you great
at talking to people on the phone.
I mean, there's no better teacher
than that kind of experience.
And, you know, it's not always fun,
but you will walk away from those experiences
a much stronger communicator
every single time you go through it.
And then, lastly, as I said earlier,
I think a great way just to sort of get more comfortable
and feel more confident on the phone
is to have a list of the questions that you wanna ask.
I mean, understand thoroughly,
before you pick up the phone with anybody,
what is the point of this phone call?
What is my agenda?
What am I trying to get accomplished?
What do I wanna have when I hang up this phone?
And really, if you're trying to get questions answered,
which is usually what most people are trying to do,
write those questions out.
Commit 'em to memory if you have to
so that you can do it on the fly.
But the point is know why you're having the conversation.
Because if you don't have a very clear cut path
and you're not able to connect the dots
with this whole process, then you're really just gonna be
sort of blowing in the wind,
and nobody wants to be in that kinda situation.
It's weird, it's awkward, it's uncomfortable.
I mean, if you don't even know the point (laughs)
of why you're talking to somebody,
it's just gonna be a lot harder,
way harder than it needs to be.
So, if you're someone who's having a lotta trouble
on the phone, let me just tell you, I get it, all right?
I've had many, many, many (laughs)
awkward, painful conversations with people
that did not go well at all.
And I know, I know how hard it can be,
it can be very, very difficult.
But it is just incredibly important
that you not let that get you down
and not let that derail you from your objective
because those phone calls are gonna come up.
And I wouldn't say they're common,
it's not like you have 'em every day,
but they will happen from time to time.
And it's important that when those come up
that you don't freak out,
you know how to handle it with tact.
And even if it means hanging up the phone,
if that's what you gotta do, that's what you gotta do.
So, hopefully that was helpful.
That's sorta my take on how to improve
your phone calling skills.
And really, to be honest with you, it's one of those skills
that I don't think you ever really fully have.
It's something that you get better at
every single time you do it.
I'm still getting better at it to this day.
So, thanks for checking in and I wish you all the best.
See ya.