3 Biggest Script Mistakes Real Estate ISAs Make

Inside sales has become a crucial role for the majority of real estate teams. I explain the role of ISAs to my clients in terms beyond the general view of appointment setters or lead scrubbers—ISAs are skilled real estate professionals who are highly trained, skilled, and dedicated to their craft in the same degree as an outside agent.  The advantage of the ISA is that they specialize in the initial tasks of lead generation, lead nurturing, and setting listing and buyer consultation appointments.

Although it varies from team to team, the basic role of an ISA for real estate includes the following responsibilities:

• ISAs receive inbound leads and conduct rigorous outbound prospecting to uncover leads.
• ISAs scrub leads, determine motivation, timing and ability.
• ISAs set the listing and buyer consultation appointment for an outside agent.
• ISAs also maintain a nurturing database of leads and work that database to produce future appointments.

Essentially, an inside sales agent takes your leads through the entire sales process, from start to finish. They bring them from prospects to paying customers.

Should Real Estate ISAs Use Scripts?

Real estate scripts are a necessary tool that all real estate ISAs should be using. That’s not to say that there is some magic set of words that will work every time, however. Developing an effective script takes time and constant tweaking and improvement. And you can’t rely on them completely 100% of the time. Real estate scripts  are only useful and effective as part of a wider conversion system and strategy to turn more no’s into yes’s on your calls.

With that said, what are the three biggest mistakes that real estate ISAs make when it comes to their scripts?

Mistake #1: Using the Same Script for Every Lead Source

One of the most critical mistakes that inside sales agents when it comes to real estate scripts is using the same one for all of their calls. If you’re working different types of leads, then you need a different script that is tailored to each specific type. Why is this the case? Because different types of real estate leads generally have different types of problems, goals, requirements, and plans. That means that you are going to hear different types of objections and have to explain different parts of the home buying or selling process.

At a minimum, an effective ISA for real estate needs different scripts for the following lead sources:

• Inbound leads
• Expired leads
• FSBO leads
• Circle prospecting leads

An inbound lead is at least somewhat warm. They were referred to you, are responding to an ad campaign, etc. They are seeking you, your knowledge, and are curious what you have to offer. This requires a different script than, for example, an FSBO lead who you are seeking out. For FSBO scripts, you should include questions about why the lead is choosing to sell on their own, what they are hoping to gain from it, and what their overall goals for selling their home are.

When it comes to expired listing scripts, you have to dig down to what happened the first time around when the lead tried to sell their home, whether they used an agent, what went wrong with that agent, etc. Then it needs to hammer home the value that you and your team offer. The point is, leads sources vary, and you need the script to match. Do not use the same script for every type of lead.

Mistake #2: Sticking to Your Script Too Much

The next big mistake that real estate ISAs make is blindly sticking to the script. Although scripts are very important, they are not enough by themselves. They are useful to keep your calls on track and to make sure you are remembering to ask all the necessary questions and gather all the required information. But at the end of the day, in order to consistently convert leads, an inside sales agent has to have real conversations.

In order to be successful, ISAs have to sound natural, ask questions that get at the heart of the lead’s situation and problem, and then respond in the appropriate way. That means that in addition to your scripts, you have to really focus on and hammer home the following skills:

• Discovery and qualification – find out what the lead’s situation is, what problem they’re trying to solve, and what their end goal is. Plus, you need to be able to determine if they are worth working with or not.
• Objection handling – can you turn a “no” to a “yes”? You’re going to be hearing objections or forms of objections you haven’t heard before. You have to be ready to deal with them on the fly, even if it means deviating from your script.
• Closing skills – no matter how good your script is, you still have to recognize both your path to the close and when it is time to close. If you close too early or too late, even the best script won’t be able to help you.

Mistake #3: Never Changing Your Script

The last major mistake ISAs make when it comes to real estate scripts is not changing, improving, and adapting it as needed. Each of your scripts needs to be highly dynamic. An ineffective script that you continue to use without tweaking or editing will not help you bring in more business. Real estate inside sales agents need to be aware of how leads are responding to certain parts of the script and constantly be testing new ideas.

If leads don’t respond well to something, then change it. If you find you’re hearing similar objections over and over, then add some response ideas to it.

Don’t fall victim to these mistakes! For more information on how to convert more leads on your calls, try Conversion University.