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Secret Shop Study
Homeowner Discovery Calls
Homeowner Discovery Calls
2020 was a crazy year no doubt, but it was also full of new insights and perspectives. One that stands out for me in the vacation rental industry is not what you might expect with all the Covid going around.
Tasked to secret shop vacation rental companies nationwide began as busy work, but became so much more.
As an industry veteran I started to see an alarming pattern developing and started keeping track and looking more closing at the responsiveness of vacation rental companies.
I called 90+ companies during business hours looking to speak to someone about vacation rental management services. It was shocking how I could not get connected to anyone when I called and was lucky to get a call back when I left a message.
On average I could only reach someone to talk about services 34% of the time. When I left a message I got a call back 57% on average nationwide. But that means 43% of the time I never heard back at all!
This was mind blowing to me! All the great marketing in the world would come to nothing if an inquiry is not responded to. When I worked at a big national VR, this sort of thing would have never happened. As someone in sales most of my life I know how important it is to answer the phone and you should too.
There are many studies out there that talk about the odds of a sales conversion and response times. Notable sources like InsidesSales.com and MIT agree. A lead that is picked up at the time of call is 10x more likely to convert. Leads that aren’t replied to within an hour are 10x harder to convert.
Back when I was answering the sales lines for that national VR we’d miss calls occasionally as we scaled. Sometimes when I called someone back they were irritated. They said their first impression of the company was not good. That if we couldn’t take their call, they didn't feel we’d be able to take very good care of their property or respond to their needs.
First impressions are crucial, especially with phone sales. It’s no wonder that 75% of people don’t leave a message. They are shopping around, and if you answer their call you’ll likely be the one who wins their business.
Harvard Business Review did a study that show that my numbers are on par with most businesses overall in their responsiveness.
What did I learn from secret shopping? That answering the phone is the single most important and cost effective thing you can do for your business.
Homeowner Discovery Calls
Homeowner Discovery Calls
Homeowner Discovery Calls
Practice makes perfect they say. I’m not perfect at speaking with vacation rental owners, but I’ve had more practice than most. Nailing that first call with an owner is crucial to winning their business. In this article I will share my insights and methods to having a great discovery call.
Luckily I had the opportunity to hone my talk tracks quickly due to a high volume of prospective new owner calls during the years I worked at a national property management company.
Being the first point of contact for owners calling in to inquire for service nationwide gave me a huge variety of personalities to speak with and endless practice. And because I needed to get to as many calls as possible while collecting as much info as possible, I developed methods.
I tried to keep the calls to 10 - 15 mins each, and get my time to finish the sales process in the CRM to 5 minutes. In the beginning I had some owners talk to me for an hour and veer far off topic. I’d take copious notes on paper then afterwards try to condense them into a note in the CRM, and send them more info. As I got busier these inefficiencies were adding up and I was forced to streamline my process.
One of the key things that made a difference was staying in control of the conversation. Control doesn’t have to be manipulative, I see it as leadership. People are calling with questions they want guidance so I became a bit more assertive but used the tone of my voice to convey enthusiasm to assist. Asking my questions up front made sure if someone had to get off the phone quickly (they often did) I had what I needed to get them to the next step of the sales cycle. I got used to saying, “Thank you for calling, I’m just going to ask you a few questions so I can better assist you.”
Property description questions came first, specs of the property and highlights were what I focused on first. Followed by current and previous rental experience. The previous experience told me a lot about the kind of person I was speaking to and I tailored my talk track around what I believed was most relevant to them.
Once I got the basic info I asked a few more questions about their reason for inquiring for service. Were they not happy with their current company and why? I explained how my company would do things better or differently.
Sharing the service overview including fees was quick, short and sweet. I highlighted a few things that I believed help the company stand above their competitors.
Then jumping into next steps was a way to wrap up the call and make sure we had a reason to talk again soon. Offering an income projection was always a way to get them excited for a next call. And I explained I had to call them with the numbers and explain the nuisances of them. This guaranteed the person would take my next call and if I was the closer I scheduled that call while I had them on the line.
More Articles
Financial Planning Consulting
Organizational Development Consulting
Organizational Development Consulting
- First impressions
Always crucial! We all make snap judgements, it’s just human nature. So making a great first impression is important. Things go a lot smoother if you inspire confidence from the beginning. Answering the phone when someone calls is probably the most basic and valuable thing you can do to set a great first impression with a new potential owner. Research shows that about 75% of people do not leave messages. I know from experience that an owner feels if we don’t answer the phone on their first call, chances are we won’t answer it when they need us the most.
2. Be professional
Answering the phone with a professional greeting that states the company’s name is another way we set a great first impression by assuring the caller we are professional and they can look forward to that professionalism throughout the service relationship. I’ve done a ton of secret shopping and call scoring and many people answer with just their name and that’s not great.
3. Stay in control
The reason it’s important to use the company’s name in the greeting is because they may wonder if they called the right place. When someone answers the phone with their name, they could have the wrong number. If the caller has to ask if they are calling they right place, they are the one asking questions and in control of the conversation. The best sales people understand that staying in control and leading the conversation is key to a swift and successful sales process. Ask questions and be a good listener, seek to understand and not simply to respond. Control is not pushy, it’s confidence and leadership and it’s helpful.
4. Tone of Voice
One of the best tools a persuader has is the way they use their voice. After all it’s all about communication and most of the time we are selling over the phone and don’t have body language to rely on. Tone is not just to influence, it’s for making other feel at ease. We want to slow our cadence for people that have a slow cadence like the elderly because that’s the frequency they hear, anything faster than how they talk won’t compute. And we need to speed it up for people that are talking fast otherwise they may get impatient or lose interest. And we need to up our tone that’s bubbly, inquisitive and engaging. A low tone is for when we mean business, and when we want to be firm on contract negotiations.
5. Mirroring and Labeling
Former FBI hostage negotiator Chris Voss explains how important it is to use these techniques to build quick rapport and build trust. Mirroring is when we repeat the last 3 words of what someone says in an inquisitive way. People feel that we are paying attention and asking questions keeps us in control. Labeling is when we listen and make a statement to acknowledge what they said. Use these key phrases, “It looks like, it seems like, it feels like” and an observation. “It seems like you care more about the care of the home than the money it could make” If you can get someone to say, “That’s right” you’ve got them. Beware of, “You’re Right” they might be agreeing with you to shut you up and in that case, you’ve lost them.
6. Know your stuff
Product knowledge can give you confidence to talk to any lead, and you can have genuine enthusiasm for the product or service. Pointing out your favorite product features and comparing it to other inferior products or services shows you know your stuff and inspires confidence in your buyer. This will also put a buyer at ease so much they will not want to waste their time shopping around.
7. The 2 "Yeses"
One of the best ways to secure a commitment is by using what I like to call the 2 yeses. Give someone 2 options that are both what you want and they are more likely to choose one. Avoid yes or no questions that leave room for no’s. This is works especially well for setting appointments. Saying do you prefer to meet on a Friday or Saturday is much better than saying can we meet and what day is best for you. Keep offering 2 more options that narrow the time or commitment until you have what you want.
8. Challenge them
Sure it’s important to be a good relationship builder, but experts say it’s far more important to be willing to challenge someone’s ideas in favor of your own. As long as you use your tone in a friendly way you wont’ turn off someone when you get them a little push. If you don’t challenge them a little you are likely to have them make no action or lose them all together. Plus, the real selling doesn’t start until someone says no and we’ve got to be ready for that with some counter ideas to win them over.
9. Be persistent with follow up
Only 10% of the success comes from a great first impression and conversation. The other 90% comes from diligent follow up and follow through. Statistically you need to call someone 8 times to get back in touch with them, 40% of leads are only called twice. It’s easy to get sidetracked with hotter leads as they come in, but reaching back to do follow ups instead of always charging forward will win you more deals.
10. No, means no accept for sales
To me, no doesn’t mean no is sales. It means not right now, I make a follow up task to check back with them after the summer or every 6 months. Things change for people and if you are staying in touch, you’ll be the convenient one to talk to and can assist them when they are ready. Design a long term nurturing drip email that has value for them. Pass on articles from online resources that are relevant to them. Staying in touch is a great way to ask for referrals as well. Just because they aren’t ready, doesn’t mean they don’t know someone that is.
Organizational Development Consulting
Organizational Development Consulting
Organizational Development Consulting
Is Cold Calling Worth the Effort in the Vacation Rental Industry?
When’s the best time to cold call someone? What makes the best cold call voicemail? Gain a cold calling edge with these top tips to increase your chances to land the sale.
Ahhhh the joys of cold calling……
Is it worth the effort?
What are the odds of success?
And, what are the best cold calling tactics to land a deal?
Back in the day, I worked at a VRM start up in the sales department. Cold calling was where I started and I learned a lot by calling 50+ vacation rental self managers a day for 6 months.
Makes you cringe doesn’t it?
Well it’s not for the faint of heart.
Luckily, I was born with the thick skin and determination needed to be a good sales person. I’m always up for a challenge and being no stranger to the hustle and grind of sales, I took on the task, but just like anything I take on, I’m looking for the edge, a pattern, or some insights to take the game to another level.
In this article I’m going to tell you what made my approach so successful back in the day and how I’ve updated it now. And hopefully you will soon find your edge in cold calling and come to dread it a little less.
What’s the best time to cold call someone?
Calling in the middle of the week has better odds of connecting with someone, Friday and Monday are the worst, and weekends are hit and miss. I've had people get mad for calling outside of business hours, but only a few.
Keep track of what time of day you call each prospect so that you can try different times of the day to identify when they are more likely to answer the phone.
What makes the best cold call voicemail?
When cold calling, keep in mind that most of the time you’ll be leaving a voicemail. Today, people don't pick up calls from unfamiliar numbers. Having a compelling voicemail message ready is key. Offer something of value - this is the hook you need for them to call you back.
Here’s one of my favorite tips.
When VRBO was bought out by Homeaway, I called VRBO self managers and offered to do a free analysis of their listing to improve their ranking with search algorithms.
People were willing to stay on the phone with me and let me tell them about the company I worked for afterwards.
The bottom line is that if you do get someone who picks up the phone, nailing that first call with a homeowner is crucial to winning their business.
Check out my article on “how to hold a homeowner discovery call that leads to a sale” for tips on how to do this.
What are the rules on cold calling?
If you decide to cold call there are some regulations to take into account.
If someone is on the National Do Not Call List, they can file a complaint and you could be fined $10k. It's hard to say how enforced this is, but it's good to know about.
If you want to avoid calling anyone on that list you can buy a list of people on that list in the specific location you are targeting properties, but the list is sorted by area code and each area code list will cost you. With people having cell phone numbers from all over, it’s just too expensive to invest in especially with such low odds of success.
The best use of time and cold calling efforts should be focused on calling business people since they are not on such lists.
Realtors are the first group that comes to mind and you can offer them projections for their listings that look like something you want in your rental program.
Proactively making projections and calling the listing agent to pass it along as a "courtesy" is a great way to go. Get them on the phone and chat them up, go over your numbers and info about your company and get their email address so you can send the projection and flyers they can print out for their clients. If you get buyer leads calling your property management company you can send those to a realtor to make a friend, which usually turns into future referrals.
Also, think about calling vendors who work on vacation homes and offer them referral bonuses if they can introduce you to an interested property owner. Most big national VRMs reward realtors a $1,000 bonus if the introduction leads to a signed service agreement. Offer that deal to