Posted by JHyre in Ohio on September 14, 1999 at 09:51:15:
I always call back caller-ID numbers unless they are salesmen or the like. None of them have been rude (yet!) and I’ve time by avoiding phone tag/losing contact.
John Hyre
First telephone call from MH ad a TOTAL FIASCO! - Posted by SusanL.–FL
Posted by SusanL.–FL on September 13, 1999 at 14:41:40:
I ran my FIRST mobile home ad this past weekend. The ONLY call I got (Saturday 8:30 p.m.) caught me TOTALLY off guard. My mind went totally BLANK! I sounded like a complete simpleton sputtering away. ?stagefright?!
Five minutes later, the woman called back again with more questions. By then I had composed myself a bit and DID remember to say, ?the reason this is reasonably is so that you can make your own improvements to it?. That was about the ONLY intelligent thing I was able to spew forth the entire evening!
As the weekend wound down and with that being my ONLY call, I thought to myself, ?GOD I?M NEVER GOING TO SELL THIS PLACE!!!?
Hope this gets easier as time goes on. :0)
After I hung up, I wrote down a list of items to remember to mention the next time someone calls.
P.S. I did run out to K-Mart and bought a few knick-knack ?props? to make the MH look more ?homey? when I do show it (stove burner covers, matching dishtowel/pot holder/kitchen rug, some soap, and hung a little basket lamp.
Thanks for everybody’s excellent advice! - Posted by SusanL.–FL
Posted by SusanL.–FL on September 14, 1999 at 08:32:27:
All of this information will help to get me back on the right track.
The one thought I ALWAYS keep in the back of my mind is: “EVERYBODY needs a place to live…”
NOT a Total Fiasco! - Posted by Bill K. (AZ)
Posted by Bill K. (AZ) on September 13, 1999 at 18:37:09:
Susan,
It was an excellent learning experience for you, and probably a very benign lesson. You’ll find a qualified applicant in no time.
After posting this question, and receiving such wonderful advice, I’ll bet that this will never happen to you again. Thanks for sharing your experience. I’m sure that it has helped a lot of other folks who are, or are heading towards, having the same problem.
Bill K. (AZ)
Re: First telephone call from MH ad a TOTAL FIASCO! - Posted by Lonnie
Posted by Lonnie on September 13, 1999 at 18:21:59:
Hi Susan,
JPiper has given you excellent advice (does he ever give any other kind?). First, you need to just relax and stay in control of the conversation, and understand that most calls will not be the one you?re looking for. But you only need that one right call, and it will come. I must average getting at least 12-15 calls before I get one that sounds like a good prospect, and one that I?ll spend any time with.
Once you get some experience you will be able to control the conversation and know within 2-3 minutes whether to end the conversation, or continue it. Why not do like debating politicians do…anticipate what questions will be asked and have a ready answer. Pretend you?re the caller and write down every question you can think of that you would ask the seller. Then write down the answers, and you?re in good shape.
It might also help to keep the list of buyer questions (copy in the book) in front of you. If a buyer asks a question you don?t want to answer, pretend you didn?t hear it and either change the subject, or ask them a question. And don?t let them intimidate you. Last week I had a man call that tried to do that by complaining about the home being over-priced. I asked him if he had seen the home. "No?, he said. “Then how can you place a price on it without seeing it”, I asked. After I quickly learned he had a lousy credit history and very little money, I said “when you have lousy credit and no money, it doesn?t matter what the price is, does it?” End of conversation.
I get many calls saying "I?m calling about the MH you have for sale, what can you tell me about it? My answer? “which one are you referring to, and what would you like to know ?” You?ll notice I?ve answered a question with a question. Learn to use this technique. Then I try quickly to find out several things…what?s their past credit history like, how soon do they need to move, why are they moving, do they have the necessary funds to get into the home, and etc. The caller doesn?t realize it, but I?m giving them my “pre qualifying test”.
Also, I usually don?t make an appointment to show the home unless they have been by the home and checked out the park. And then I schedule as many people as possible to show up at the same time.
Relax Susan, you?ll do fine. Just remember, you don?t have to impress a buyer that wants to borrow your money to buy your home. But they have to impress you.
Best wishes,
Lonnie
Re: First telephone call from MH ad a TOTAL FIASCO! - Posted by Barbara (AZ)
Posted by Barbara (AZ) on September 13, 1999 at 18:01:06:
Jim Piper, excellent advice like usual, thanks a lot.
Susan, don’t panic. I felt exactly the same with my
first MH and at the end it all worked out. Be confident and good luck!
Re: First telephone call from MH ad a TOTAL FIASCO! - Posted by Tony-VA
Posted by Tony-VA on September 13, 1999 at 16:34:29:
Susan,
First congrats on your first deal.
Don’t be suprised by the lack of calls from an add. It will take time to figure out what your best advertising source will be for that particular park. Some parks get a lot of drive thru traffic and more calls are generated by the For Sale sign in the window. Other parks may do well with a sign on the community board. You may have to use a different newspaper or be creative and tack up signs in every grocery store, laundry mat, or bar within a 5 mile radius. Have fun with it and record the number of calls from each. Don’t get discouraged.
My wife swears that the people we market to do not go looking for a place to live until 2 days before they are supposed to move. We get our best business right at the end of the month. This is why it is essential for us to include atleast 2 lot rent payments (one for the current month and one for the next month) when we determine a purchase price. So far it has not been a problem but this way I don’t loose any sleep.
Best of luck to you!
Tony-VA
A Couple of Thoughts… - Posted by JPiper
Posted by JPiper on September 13, 1999 at 15:20:31:
One of the more difficult things to handle is a telephone call that you are not prepared to handle. For this reason my own preference is to route calls to a voice mail system?.not to my home. Who knows WHAT you might be in the middle of Saturday night at 8:30. Further, it collects calls from people motivated enough to leave a name and phone number.
But IF your preference is to have people call you directly, here’s how I would handle it.
Chances are when the phone rings, you answer?.not knowing whether it’s a personal call or a business-related call. IF it’s business-related, the chances are what you’ll hear is something like “Yeah, I’m calling about the MH”.
My response to that would be something like “Great?.thanks for calling. Which ad are you calling on?”
Once they locate the ad, my next response would be “What does the ad say?”
What this accomplishes is that it buys you time to collect your thoughts. If you have one ad, you KNOW what they’re calling about?.but this time enables you to focus your thoughts on the MH?.to figure your next move out so to speak. If you have more than one ad then obviously you need to know what they’re calling about.
Once they’ve read the ad to you, you could always buy some more time IF needed by saying “OK, hold on for a moment while I get that information in front of me.”
The next statement from me is generally something like “OK, how can I help you?” This throws the ball to them?.they get to talk. While they talk, you LISTEN. I might even ask a question like “What caused you to call on that particular ad?.was there something specific that caught your attention?” The point is to get them talking?.you listening. No telling what important information my come out?.AND, it enables YOU to continue to collect your thoughts, and to address directly the information that the potential buyer is interested in.
Somewhere near the start I like to ask the buyer what his/her name is. Obviously this is important. I don’t generally ask for the phone number at the same time?.only because I would prefer to build a little more rapport first before I ask. Generally if the buyer is interested in the property you’ll have no difficulty getting the number. But if they’re not interested, you need a reason to get it?.like “I have properties all the time, so if I run across something like what you’ve described I’ll give you a call if you would like?..what’s your number?”
Now here’s one other strategy I’ve used at times when I’ve been receiving calls directly. “Yeah, I’m calling about the MH.”
“Oh, thanks for calling. I’m on the other line with someone on it right now. Could I call you right back in maybe 3-4 minutes? What’s your name and number?”
I guess you see where that’s headed?.it gives you the name and number?.you call back with your thoughts collected?.and you’re ready to roll.
This hopefully will give you a track to get started. Again, it’s not easy picking the phone up to receive an unexpected business call?.and getting your thoughts headed the right direction. So if you prepare yourself with a few of these questions ahead of time it should help.
JPiper
Two other calls came in that didn’t leave a message. - Posted by SusanL.–FL
Posted by SusanL.–FL on September 14, 1999 at 08:36:58:
HOWEVER!!! I have caller ID and know their name and number. Would I be too nervy calling them back??
A little ‘P.S.’—with this hurricane roaring our way, I may not have anything left to sell!!