Stop Ignoring Opportunity: Why That "Spam" Call Could Be Your Next Deal | LeadingLane Podcast | Ep 92

You don't have every single seller's phone number in your phone. And we're dealing with technology. And so even there's things that come through as potential spam because it's you, it's not in your phone. You don't. It doesn't recognize it. So it's giving you a potential spam doesn't mean you should ignore it and send it to voicemail. That's an opportunity that potentially could be knocking at your door, and you're shutting it down. You're swatting it away.

Welcome to the Leading Lane Podcast for Real Estate Pros by Real Estate Pros, with your hosts, Ashley Frederick and Stephen Burch. If you're looking for an honest, authentic, and raw perspective, you found it.

Welcome everyone, back to the Leading Lane Podcast. Thanks for joining us. Today we're going to talk tackle the topic. It's a lot of teas about, like, WhatsApp specifically or some other things that might appear to be spam. Like, I know a lot of times on my phone it says spam, that's calling, not necessarily spam, but I know that we get, like, inundated with WhatsApp messages about call me for, you know, interested in this property. And I think a lot of people just put that off as scam because there, there definitely can be. But I think you have a really good point as to maybe they aren't all scams. So if you want to maybe tell us about your recent experience with WhatsApp.

Yeah. So, like, first, I always thought that WhatsApp was, like, just something that only spammers use. Like, the only time I ever used it is when traveling internationally. So it's not like it's. I ever freaking used it. And so I've always heard people with lead generation saying, you know, WhatsApp is coming through, and there's all this spam and all these inquiries, and they're not real. Let it be through Google or let it be through your CRM online. It doesn't matter where they're coming from. But, and don't let me get you wrong, like, or don't get me wrong, the fact that there are spams out there, there are people that are trying to fish you and pull you in and, you know, be gullible. But that does not mean every single person or every single inquiry that says WhatsApp is automatic spam. And so what happened for me recently is that leads were coming in and obviously read through the. The inquiry, and this one was worded just a little bit differently. And I, you know responded back like, I normally would like, tell me what you're looking for. And then they go on and respawn back, which typically the span will do anyway. But they said that, you know, they're stationing back here at Fort Riley and that's not a very typical term, you know, for a spammer. They know about stationing and PCs and the military base. So I was like, okay, well maybe this person is real. So I kept on having the conversation with them and you know, I still was very leery. I didn't let my guard down tremendously off of that. But as we got into it, they were telling me that they've used our company previously in 2020 and through the conversation actually learned that my grandmother was the one that helped them with the transaction back in 2020. So then I was like, okay, if there's a spammer, like they're real good that they know my, the relationship. I mean they had, they did some research. So I was like, let's jump on a Zoom. Let's have a conversation. I want to make sure that we're all on the same page before we, you know, send over the buyer agen agreement, etc. We got on Zoom, like 20 minutes later we had a 30 minute conversation about the, you know, my expectations, their expectations. And literally within a matter of 24 hours after that we went under contract on a brand new construction. And so I think the thing here is to one, make sure that you're just not making assumptions across an entirety, you know, that let that be WhatsApp or let it be if somebody's messaging you through, you know, Facebook or you're getting the potential spam on your phone. But two, making sure that you're asking appropriate questions to get to the answers and to the results that you're looking for so that, you know, if that's something you want to move forward with or not. But it's wild how much complaining we have out there that, you know, the, the industry is too slow, the market's slowing down, all this, you know, all this negativity, but we're not willing to even try on sending something back or having a conversation with somebody. We're just going to completely dismiss it.

So yeah, I mean, I think it's like the, you know what, less than five minutes really that it took to make sure if that was real or not real, it obviously paid for itself. So I think maybe just being a little bit more open minded that maybe there are certain people like we have it in our area with the medical Complex. A lot of people are coming from overseas that are using that, then they use it to talk to their family as well. So I've seen it in some of our rentals that they use it as well in the first couple times. I mean, I thought it was spam too, but, you know, then they are asking, like, the legitimate questions and know what, you know, area you're in and questions that a spammer wouldn't ask. I think just being able to engage back with someone in the same sense, if you feel like it's spam, like, right away, or you can tell if the, you know, roto back or whatnot, just hang up the phone.

Yeah, it's that simple, right? Like, but if we, if we had that magic crystal ball, let's be real, like, I worked with a buyer, excuse me, I worked with an agent before that was telling me that they screen their calls. If they don't have a phone number saved in their phone, they're not going to answer it. I was like, if you have that freaking crystal ball of all of every single buyer that is ever eligible to purchase in your market, you would be. You wouldn't be worried about answering your phone. You'd have somebody else do it for you, but you would not be worried about business at that point, because you're talking to everybody. And that is not the case. You do not have every single buyer. You don't have every single seller's phone number in your phone. And we're dealing with technology. And so even there's things that come through as potential spam because it's you, it's not in your phone. You don't. Doesn't recognize it. So it's giving you a potential spam doesn't mean you should ignore it and send it to voicemail. That's an opportunity that potentially could be knocking at your door, and you're shutting it down, you're swatting it away, and then at the end of the day, you're still bitching and complaining that you're slow. If you're that slow and the market's that bad for you right now and you don't have anything in production in your pipeline especially, you have time to answer your phone. Pretty simple.

Well, and I always tell people too, like, sometimes I won't be able to answer, right? I'm in a meeting or whatnot. Like, I'll try to just text it, even if it's an unknown number, and just be like, hey, I see I missed your call. I'm in a meeting. Is there something I can help you with because a lot of times I can respond via text message, but I can't be a phone call. So I think just even taking the extra step to respond to somebody, you can't literally call.

Right. And that's fine. And I think that's a good way to help with some of the seeing if it's spam or not. Because if you, you know, say hey, do you mind if I call you back or whatever, if it's worded properly. Mine's on. They, you know, have those autoresponders that are available. So I changed mine to make it to where it's engaging. They know that I see that they called, but I want them to respond back to me. Maybe that right there will help you indicate is this somebody further, you know, if you call them back and you go into a call center or whatever the case may be. But that's one step to help you fill that out versus just completely ignoring it.

Yeah.

So with that being said, like there's so many different channels of communication that come through. You have your social media constantly, you have then your phone constantly, email walk ins, all of that. What is a way that you as Ashley Frederick, what is a way that you are able to help field all of those methods of communications and channels of communications over to you?

I mean I think some of it's time blocking. So and I, I'll be honest, like I don't have all my apps open all the time. So I mean like my phone is like most simple. But I think, you know, it's strange because so many different people use so many different ways that like that might be their everyday communication but like isn't yours. So I know for example that I've missed a couple of like Instagram messages because I'm not a extremely frequent Instagram user. And then I'll go on there and it was like from three weeks ago and I'll be like, never saw it. Right. So one like I had to reevaluate my notifications just to make sure that they are coming through. Same thing with like Facebook messenger, that I am not always the best at that. So I have to just actually like make the conscious decision of kind of like what we talked about like zeroing out. Like have I checked all of my platforms? And I think I told you this last week, but obviously we've all had numerous different emails right. Throughout our changes in our careers and whatnot. And I've kept them, some of them because now you use them for all your coupons and you Know what else to keep out of your normal email. But I have like, our, our rental bills go into a different one that like, I used to use. So I went in there last week to pay something and lo and behold, it was a client that I sold a house to five years ago that had my old email address and was like, hey, Ashley, we've outgrown this house. Looking to move into a bigger house. Like, right? So, like, you have to remember that there's so many different avenues. So they. And I even said to him, like, there was two days, you know, later. And I was like, I'm so sorry. Like, it was in my old email. And he's like, my fault. I had to get a new phone and only, you know, came up with old contacts. So I think, you know, just remembering that, I mean, literally like five years ago of an email is what they contacted to reach out to me. So I think it's just a matter of being aware or if you were to think about how long it actually takes and if you were to not necessarily engage. So you're literally just checking, like, I'm going to open up Instagram, like, not spend 20 minutes scrolling. Like I'm looking to see if I got a message. Same with. And I think some people in your area, like, they get TikTok messages, same thing. So I think just making sure, like you're giving yourself five to ten minutes a day to check all of the different avenues and make sure that you're doing it. You know, the other thing that I find interesting is sometimes I'll miss people because they message me during my do not disturb. And that's just a choice that I've made. Like, am I do not disturb on at 9 o'? Clock? Right. So if they send a Facebook message or whatnot, I'm not on my phone. Like, I literally won't see it until the next morning. I would hope that most people would understand, you know, the after 9 o'. Clock. But I think that's the other thing too, is just, you know, knowing that morning might bring more of the notifications. But I think, you know, I try to think about it too. Like, I'm weird about contacting people on the weekends. It's easier for me to contact them on the weekend because that's when I've caught up. So that's where I kind of go back to sometimes of like scheduling the messages is like, I might have thought about getting ahold of my esthetician on Saturday, but I'm gonna schedule it to send another time So I think just trying to remember, like boundaries for reaching out to people too.

Yeah. And I think that with being, you know, said to pair it with people that are looking for that new shiny object, a new thing, the market is slow. So that means I'm not doing something right and I need to start something. And I think instead of starting something new and the new shining, like if you think that, oh, I'm start on TikTok or I'm going to start on, you know, Instagram, whatever the case might be, like, you better be prepared for what it actually entails to continue that. Because if you start the marketing on that channel and you're not there to capture the leads that are coming through from your marketing efforts, you're literally having wasted effort. There's no reason to be able to do it. So I think instead of starting something new, it's really what should you stop doing and slowing yourself down of, I shouldn't start something new, but how can I improve what I currently have? And that improvement very well may be I need to start checking my messages on Facebook or Instagram and it's that simple. Right. I will tell you, like, I send friend requests to different people that, you know, we are part of a company and as they come to the company, they're new and I send these mittances back there. She distracted me. I feel like she's right on your whiteboard. But as people come into our company, I send Facebook invites because I want to connect with them. There's people that have never even that had been a part of the company for two, three years that they never even accepted it. And so therefore there's our opportunities right there for marketing that you are so focused that you have to have all of this wonderful social media marketing, but you can't even accept a friend request that that potentially could lead into a referral network and building your business in that aspect. So it's not a matter of what you can start, it's a matter of what you should stop and enhance.

Well, and I think, you know, if you, if you do get those friend requests, like, it's an opportunity maybe if you don't know them or. I like, I always like to make sure we have mutual friends. Right. And then I know it's typically not some type of fan, but like send them a message and be like, thanks for the friend request. And then, I don't know, I mean, I always like to know like what made someone specifically reach out. Right. Are they looking for a referral? What are they looking for?

And while that, that right there, especially in the real estate and sales is all about the relationship and having conversations and that's an easy conversation that does not require a face to face, it's behind, you know, your, your screen, super freaking easy. And who knows what that opportunity now that you opened it, what that now opportunity is going to lead to.

Well, and I think that goes back to like Neva and I'm probably guilty of it but depending on who it is for Happy birthdays, right, like most people will just comment on your page but there is an opportunity there to Facebook message someone instead because it is a little bit more personal. And who's to say they don't respond with some question they've been meaning to ask? Because I still go back to like people are watching what you're doing even though they're not saying anything. Especially when you end up seen someone somewhere and they ask you about something that was posted or you know. So I think you have to remember that people just have to be in the right context or the right frame of mind to ask you a specific question.

That's my number one way to teach how to utilize and start into your CRM is that first is wishing people on Facebook Happy Birthday via Messenger. Because everybody else and I just noticed here, and I don't know if it's a new thing but this smile at your birthday or you know, these, these generic messages, people are using these now new generic messages and everybody's saying the same thing. It's not meaningful, it's not impactful. So send a direct message. You know what I do is ask if they're doing anything amazingly fun for the day to celebrate their birthday. And nine times out of 10 I will get a full response back. And now I can start a conversation with them. But my favorite tip with that is you now you know it's their birthday, you're already friends with them, you're on social media. So put them into your CRM, right? You may already have their contact information in their your phone. So put that data entry in there, you go to your emails and see if you guys ever emailed back and forth. Throw that on there. A lot of times people have their email address already listed in their about section on Facebook. So now next year, right, if even if you do nothing else but the next year, if you set the drip campaign up or the reminders automations, what are you doing, you're now going to be able to send them a text message or a postcard or a birthday card or give them a phone call to wish them a happy birthday, which means even more to them as you learn more about them.

If you think about it on Facebook, a lot of people do have their phone numbers. So I mean, if they weren't in your data, in your phone, like, you could add them so that if they do ever a call, it doesn't look like a spam call to you. Even people that I randomly meet, if I don't recall who they are, I normally put something behind it, like teach street seller or something, you know, like that. And so sure enough, like, two days ago, I had a, like, like a Janet Z and I was like one that I called. And yeah, I mean, they were relocating, like unexpectedly. Right. And so I think it's just a matter of trying to answer those calls and if you have those numbers, like making sure that your database is up to date.

It's simple. Be open for opportunities. The end mic drop done.

I'm going to challenge someone that listens to this is to, like, I don't know, for three days, like, try to answer every phone call that comes in and see what happens.

Three days. I will accept that challenge because I know and what I've done is my phone was always on. Do not disturb. Anybody that knows me knows. That's the way that it's been for like the last five years now. I have taken that off. And so I will accept the challenge as well and make sure that I answer every single call as long as I'm not in the meeting.

Perfect.

Well, thanks for listening to the leading Lane podcast. Tune in for the next one, guys.

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