This is Part 1 of a multi-part series regarding what to say when calling expired listings.
Love it or dislike the idea of calling expires with a passion, calling expired listings still works in 2023.
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In this series of short articles, we are going to start with a commonly overlooked (or just not thought about) question regarding calling expired listings and the opening line.
The real estate agent pro tip answer we discovered just makes a whole lot of sense.
Here is the question:
When Calling Expired Listings, Should You Use Your Name AND Company Name?
The answer we liked best comes from Kevin Ward over at YesMasters.
We are big fans of Kevin. We like his style and if you watch some of his videos or read some of his scripts, I think you’ll agree with us.
He also wrote an amazing book with different real estate scripts that I personally own myself.
So what does Kevin Ward say in regards to using your company name when calling an expired listing lead?
In the video below, Kevin makes some great points about avoiding resistance that could crop up based on the first sentence of your expired listing call.
He suggests eliminating resistance and a potential objection by NOT using your company name when calling an expired (unless they specifically ask in our opinion).
Instead use “…I’m a local real estate agent” at that start of the conversation.
For example, start with “Hi, I’m Tim Schroeder and I’m a Local Real Estate Agent” instead of “Hi, I’m Tim Schroeder with Sunnyside Realty.” (and then continue on with your typical script).
But Why? Kevin Ward suggests NOT using your company name for the following reasons:
1. They might not know the name of the company.
In that case they are likely to followup with “What Company?” or act confused even though you just told them.
2. They may have a hate for your company.
Maybe they had a bad past experience for whatever reason.
3. They may have already used another agent from your company and they thought they did a bad job.
It could create resistance from the start of the call because they already had a bad experience and they “swore they would never use that company again.”
4. They may have already talked to an agent from your company so they “don’t need you.”
At some point in your expired listing conversation the name of your company will likely come up and certainly during your face-to-face interview.
Don’t give them a chance for a possible objection right at the start of the conversation just because you mentioned your company name.
You are going to get plenty of other objections so there is no reason to give them one more.
When you are done watching the video below, we put together a blog post covering the best expired listing objection handlers.
FYI, in the video below, he does mention that some brokers might not like this idea so you may want to consider running it by them first!
What’s your thoughts on using your company or brokerage name when calling an expired listing?
Do you agree with Kevin? Disagree? We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below…
What To Say When Calling an Expired Listing – A Second Opinion
As a follow up to Kevin Ward’s suggestion in the video above about not using your company name when calling expires, Paul Argueta from REHRealEstate suggests that you DO NOT open your call by saying that you are a real estate agent or your company name at all!
Paul goes on further to say that:
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In my opinion, the minute you do this, you’ve built a wall and/or the caller has already zoned out. I normally start my call like this:
Good morning! I’m looking for Mr. or Mrs. Smith. Mrs. Smith, my name is Paul Argueta. We’ve never met. Here’s why I am calling…
By all means, introduce yourself, and follow it up with “we’ve never met.”
Paul’s rational is that it sparks their interest and it gets their attention. They are ready to hear more because they don’t have any idea as to why you are calling them.
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This is the first time I’ve heard the idea of not mentioning you are a real estate agent at all in your opening line.
In my opinion I don’t see this suggestion above really helping all that much but I’ll have to test it out.
I can see the where the “We’ve never met” line would strike there attention and might help a tad.
However, it seems they will typically almost immediately realize you are an agent in the next sentence when you follow with “Here’s why I am calling…”.
What’s your thoughts on these two pro tips about calling expired listings and using your company name? Do you agree with one of them or neither of them?
Let us know in the comments.
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About The Author: This article was researched and published by Tim Schroeder. As a husband and wife real estate team residing in Florida, Tim Schroeder brings deep expertise with over 8 years of experience as a licensed real estate agent.
Deb and Tim Schroeder have earned numerous real estate industry awards and recognitions. They have been recognized by Orlando Magazine as a “Top 100 Real Estate Professional” as well as earned Top Producer Designations with the Orlando Realtor Association for 6 years straight.