This is the second blog post of the five-posts-serial on commercial real estate lead generation. If you want to read the first part, here’s the link: Commercial Real Estate Lead Generation: Is Online Marketing The Smart Way To Go?
I finished my last blog post with the following thought: why are CRE agencies still focused on spending resources on cold-calling when there’s a more effective way to reach Commercial Real Estate Lead Generation with Online Marketing?
And in this blog post, I will elaborate more on why the technique of cold-calling is slowly getting colder in the world of sales.
Cold Calling, Not The Hottest Topic Among CRE Marketers In 2019
Let’s make things clear right now – no one’s negating the power of cold-calling.
I’m not here to diminish this technique, because it has proven successful for many businesses in the past. Especially for the commercial real estate lead generation business.
Some of you reading this maybe even made a small fortune and built an impressive reputation using the magic of cold calling solely.
Respect to you!
It is true that a phone call can get the prospect’s attention much faster than any other means of communication.
However, according to research by RingLead, 80% of all calls go to voicemail. So, why is that happening?
Because one cannot build a quality commercial real estate lead generation without a previous arrangement for the phone call.
Nowadays, the unexpected call is a sign for an emergency and people want to skip or not answer that call at all.
Yes, we have become that kind of society.
Image Source: 43 cold calling statistics that will rock your sales world
But the issue of how effective cold-calling really is for generating leads is not something that’s just showing up nowadays.
I’ve mention one report in the previous blog post – the Keller Research report from 2011.
This report is based on a two-week period where 50 agents made 6264 calls altogether.
Out of that number, only 1774 were successful.
And out of those, only 19 appointments were arranged with 11 referrals received.
So, out of 6264 calls, all the agents were able to achieve was 19 appointments and 11 referrals.
Let that fact sink in.
The problem is not entirely about the low success rate of cold calling.
72% of the calls were bad – either the phone numbers were turned off or wrong.
If you do the math as they did, that means that 150 calls out of 209 were bad calls.
Is there an agent who has the patience, dedication, and the desire to succeed who will make 6264 calls to get only 19 yeses?
I don’t think so.
Especially since there is a lot easier way to get a yes from a prospect, for example, with Online Marketing.
We simply can’t ignore the fact that the times are constantly changing and not acting accordingly could have significant consequences to your commercial real estate lead generation.
Let’s take Social Media for example.
Brandfog did a study on 500 employees in different industries, some of them Fortune 1000 companies.
68% of them believe that CEOs who are not willing to give an extra effort to engage on Social Media will become less relevant in this digital age.
Image Source: CEOs, SOCIAL MEDIA, & BRAND REPUTATION
Also, 75% of respondents have more trust in businesses where the CEOs are engaged on Social Media.
Prospect believes that a brand is more reliable and honest where the C-suite management is involved.
Take this for example:
This year on March 12th, the Internet has celebrated its 30th anniversary.
We are officially in our fourth decade of using (and it is rising) the Internet, and there are still companies that refuse to invest any amount of finances in Online Marketing.
This really puts an end to the debate on whether Online Marketing of any kind is important for companies nowadays.
Though, when it comes to commercial real estate lead generation, there’s an even bigger issue. That issue is the same reason why cold calling is not the best strategy to go with nowadays.
The Uphill Battle Of Cold-Calling For Creating Commercial Real Estate Lead Generation
The thing about cold-calling is that it puts you in a bad position for negotiating.
You are searching for a prospect, not the other way around.
You are the one that develops the commercial real estate lead generation on your own.
And when you initiate the conversation, it’s up to you to justify the next step, and the next, and the next.
So instead of “leading” the conversation, you end up being on the defensive, always explaining or answering objections of your prospect.
You’re a seller, not a problem-solver.
And any good seller knows that that’s not the right way to gain customers.
With cold-calling, you’ve assumed the role of a door to door salesman, not an expert in commercial real estate lead generation.
It’s like the story of the street seller who is very loud at selling you those home cleaning products.
If he doesn’t know what his prospects are interested in, how will he make a successful sale?
And you might say to this that he doesn’t know so he needs to try.
But that costs time.
A lot of time.
Surely not everyone has that much time on their hands to try on some sales strategies that never bring any results.
Cold-calling is the same.
You are contacting prospects, not at all interested in your product.
The solution?
You need to corner the prospects so you can show the power of your negotiating skills.
Good online marketing will put you in front of your prospects. It’s a two-way street – you can find your potential customers, but they get to find you too.
They will be the ones who are searching for your products or services, not the other way around.
And that puts you in a perfect spot for negotiating and closing good deals.
Not quite a bad scenario, right?
Do you want to hear an even better one?
Skip The Rejection Of Cold-Calling And Focus On Generating CRE Leads Using Cost-Effective Online Marketing Strategies
These Online Marketing strategies are not called cost-effective and useful for no reason.
If used right, these strategies can help any agency to build a constant commercial real estate lead generation.
What can Online Marketing do for your commercial real estate business:
Online Marketing creates constant branding for your business
Consistency on your website is the key if you want your brand to leave a remarkable first impression on the prospect.
By that, I mean consistency when it comes to the font, the theme, the colors, the whole layout – everywhere.
The best part?
If you have a well-designed website, your website is the brand you’ll need.
It will be the starting point for any new prospects or existing customers.
Updating information is a piece of cake with Online Marketing
Do you remember that stat of 150 bad calls out of 209?
That would never happen in the online world.
Every information about the availability of a property, the price of it and the images are updated easily and regularly.
Plus, by doing this, you are showing that you take your commercial real estate lead generation pretty serious.
No one likes to do business with a brand that never has time to provide credible information.
Effective Online Marketing provides constant growth of your commercial real estate lead generation
Just like a well-designed website will attract visitors, a well-thought-of marketing strategy will attract a significant amount of leads.
24/7 all year long for that matter.
People love to search online for any kind of property.
And if they are searching for any kind of commercial property, they will eventually find you.
A potential prospect, a one time buyer, a repetitive buyer – all of these personas are part of your commercial real estate lead generation strategy.
With an effective Online Marketing strategy, you can reach to them just as easily as they can to your brand.
Plus, you are in control of your online presence.
Which, unfortunately, can’t be said about cold-calling.
Online Marketing provides different means of communications with prospects
With cold-calling, you have only that – communication over the phone.
Online Marketing, on the other hand, gives you multiple options to communicate with your potential prospect.
You can reach your prospects via email, social networks, instant messaging, social media applications, targeted ads, etc.
And it’s a two-way street – your prospects can also reach you whenever they need.
Keep your prospects close, but your competitors closer
The beauty of Online Marketing?
Every commercial real estate business uses it.
You can find your competitors, research them, explore their websites, admire and or even replicate them – either way, they are available to you because of Online Marketing.
Cold-calling is not providing this chance for you.
Online Marketing makes it easier to outsmart the competition in the making of your commercial real estate lead generation.
Each one of these marketing strategies can help your CRE business rise above the average in the industry.
You have the recipe do to that, but do you have the skills?
Before going deeper into how skillful one should be to accomplish all of this, let’s take a recap of what’s been said in this blog post.
To Sum Things Up
Yes, cold-calling has proven quite effective over time.
There are many businesses, especially in the CRE industry that have climbed the ladder of success using cold-calling techniques.
However, in the year 2019, when the options for engaging with your potential customers are numerous, it’s a waste of time to focus on cold-calling.
You won’t be able to create your very own commercial real estate lead generation if you are still stuck with old techniques such as cold-calling that don’t work anymore.
Plus, cold-calling puts you in a really uncomfortable position for negotiation.
You are searching for your prospects, not the other way around.
And that’s not a smart way of using the benefits of living in the age of the Internet.
But even though we celebrated 30 years of the Internet this year, there are still companies who refuse to invest in a productive Online Marketing strategy for their commercial real estate lead generation.
This is one of the biggest mistakes CRE businesses make nowadays.
Instead of being in constant despair of the poor results cold-calling is providing for you, use the power of Online Marketing for your commercial real estate lead generation.
Why is Online Marketing the best way to get quality CRE leads:
- Online Marketing gives your brand a different means of communication
- The constant growth of your commercial real estate lead generation
- Online Marketing creates constant branding for your business
- A full view of your competitor’s strategies and branding
- Updating information of your business is fairly easy
It’s not an easy job to do this, and even that is an understatement.
There’s always an option to learn to do it yourself.
But do you have the luxury called time and resources to do it?
Or is it easier to let a professional do this for you?
To each of these questions and many more, I’ll give an answer in the next blog post.
Your commercial real estate lead generation is not impossible to create – you just need a mind of a professional to do it.
Heard enough to make the right decision?
Get in touch with us and get your online presence set to draw high-quality CRE leads 24/7/365.
