People are going to keep moving this year, no matter what the 10-year Treasury yield does. Your job is to be the agent they’re talking to when they decide to go.
Interest rates hit their 52-week high last week, and the 10-year Treasury yield jumped to its highest level since 2007. Nobody in real estate wanted to hear that news.
I talked it through with some of my friends at BAM Camp Team Leaders, along with a few other folks dealing with the same thing. We all came back to one point. When the market gets tough, transactions don’t go to zero.
There are fewer of them. We’re in a real estate recession when you look at the number of transactions happening across the country. But people are going to keep buying and selling in spite of rates, and somebody’s going to help them do it.
So how do you reach the people who are going to move no matter what the market does? It starts with one question.
The Script Real Estate Agents Can Use for Follow-Up Calls
The script I lean on is the opening fact question, or OFQ, from Phil Jones. We’ve been using it on my team, and folks find it easy to learn.
Before you pick up the phone, do a little prep work. Open your CRM and look back at your conversations with the person you’re about to call. Note how long it’s been since you last reached out. You’ll use that number in the first line of the call.
Once you’ve done your homework, the call goes like this.
Hey, Brian, it’s [Agent name] here with [Brokerage]. It’s been about 90 days since we last spoke, and I was just curious, is making a move still something you’re considering, or have you put that on pause?
Stop talking and let them answer.
This works for sellers, and it works for buyers. You’re giving them what’s called an A/B choice, which means they get two clear answers to pick from. They can tell you they’re looking and thinking about moving, or they can tell you they’ve put things on pause. Either answer gives you somewhere to take the conversation.
Each part of the OFQ has its own job on the call.
- Opening: You introduce yourself and your brokerage.
- Fact: You tell them how long it’s been since you last talked.
- Question: You ask something that gets the conversation going.
What to Say When a Lead Puts Their Move on Pause
If they tell you they’ve put their plans on pause, get curious about why. Here’s my response.
Hey, tell me more about that. Explain to me what you’re pausing.
Listen for the real objection. It could be rates. It could be something going on in their life you don’t know about, like a job change or a family situation. Whatever they tell you is going to guide where the conversation goes next.
Saying “tell me more about that” is one of the easiest things you can do on a call. It costs you nothing, and it gets people to open up about what’s holding them back.
Qualifying Questions That Uncover Motivation in a High-Rate Market
The other answer you’ll hear is some version of “Yeah, we’re still looking.” From there, they’ll tell you what’s happened or why they haven’t pulled the trigger yet.
Your next move is to get into your qualifying questions.
So, tell me what’s most important to you in a new home. What features get you excited? What gets you excited about making a move? What’s that going to do for your family and your household?
These questions get to motivation. In a high interest rate environment, motivation counts for more than anything else on the call.
A lot of agents know these motivators as the D’s. Keep them in mind as you listen to your client’s answers.
- Death
- Divorce
- Dislocation, like a job transfer
- Default
- Diamonds, as in an engagement or marriage
- Diapers, as in a growing family
- Downsizing
- Dogs, or pets that need more room
Your client’s motivation tells you how far to take the conversation and what your next steps should be.
After you’ve got a read on motivation, work through the rest of your qualifying questions. I use LPMAMA, which covers each piece you need to understand before you meet with someone.
- Location
- Price
- Motivation
- Agent
- Mortgage
- Appointment
The last two letters are where you talk financing and ask for the appointment.
Why Agents Need More Conversations When Interest Rates Rise
A lot of the scripts I use lean on market data, like where inventory and rates are sitting. The OFQ gives people a choice and gets them talking. Once they’re talking, you can discover what excites them about moving or the reason they decided to pause.
When rates go up, there’s less intent from buyers and sellers. We’ve seen it play out before, and the numbers back it up.
Our job is to have volume conversations, which means talking to more people than you have been. If your business plan calls for 15 conversations a day, think about bumping it to 20 or 25. There are going to be fewer people transacting, so you need to talk to more people to find the ones who are ready.
Keep in mind that 3 to 5% of the population buys or sells a home in any calendar year. In a climate like this one, it makes sense to raise your conversation goal.
You’ll need to rethink how you spend your time, too. The goal is to find the people where it makes sense to focus your energy, and a market like this one takes more conversations to get there.
The best automation you have is talking to people. There may be fewer people looking and fewer showings on the calendar, so overindex on conversations.
Put more of your day into talking to people than you would in an easier market. The OFQ will work for anybody, and it’s easy to pick up on your first few calls.
How to Turn the OFQ Into a Text Message Follow-Up
If you want to get tactical, take the same OFQ and use it everywhere you follow up. You can put it to work in a few ways.
- Turn it into a text message by copying and pasting the same script.
- When you leave a voicemail, send the text as soon as you hang up.
- If they reply to the text, move into the same questions you’d use on a call.
- Put every person in your database on a property drip, which is an automated email that sends them listings matching what they’re looking for.
I know this sounds basic, and I’ve talked about it in past videos. What’s new is rates this high. We’re seeing the highest rates since the fall of 2023, so adjust your plan and go sell homes in spite of these market conditions.
A Plan for Hitting Your Transaction Goal When Rates Are High
Take this dialogue, take that script follow-up, and go out and do it. And implement this a little more than you have been.
Volume conversations will get you to your transaction goal, and knowing what to say is going to help you find the people who are serious and motivated to move no matter what conditions look like.
