Inbound Calls During Lead Duty

What to Expect

We generally have 10-15 inbound calls per day, but this does vary based on market seasonality. Late winter to early summer are the busiest months. Late summer to winter are the slower months. It's important to continue to take Leads Duty during the slower months to maintain a consistent pipeline. You will absolutely answer many phone calls that are not viable leads. It's very important to simply dismiss these. Focus on the good that comes in, and completely ignore the junk that will always accompany great leads with any marketing campaign.

Before You Start

• Order this clipboard (or similar) to carry with you when on Leads Duty.
• Print out 10+ of these lead sheets to keep on the clipboard. While it seems elementary, it's important to ask the right questions and this leads sheet is an excellent tool to help you do so.

Guidelines & Call Handling

You're required to commit to scheduling no appointments longer than 30 minutes during a Leads Duty shift. This is so you can answer as many calls and respond to as many leads as possible. You can certainly run errands, grab lunch, or show the odd listing. However, be prepared to excuse yourself to take a call or respond to a lead.

• When you answer a marketing call, a short recording will instruct you to press "1" to answer the call. You can press "1" as soon as you hear this and it will connect you.
• Answer the phone, "This is {YOUR NAME} with Bramlett Residential how can I help you?"
• Always carry a pen & your clipboard (full of lead sheets) with you when you're on Leads Duty.
• If you're driving and you answer a call, pull over to take notes as soon as you determine that it's a viable lead. "Hold on one second. I'm going to pull over so that I can take notes."
• Enter the lead into FollowUpBoss within 15 minutes of taking the call and send the recap email (in that order.) This way, the information and recap email is tracked in FUB.
• If you don't want to work the lead, then email all details to another agent or to [email protected]. Make sure to take as much information as possible so that we can help them as completely as possible.
• If you and your Lead Duty partner miss a call, it will roll over to our receptionist. This isn't ideal, but there is a backstop.

Recap Emails

After you have a successful call with a new lead, send them a quick "recap email" with your contact information and detailing the next steps. These are as simple as, "Great chatting with you! My contact info is below. I'll have detailed searches and an area guide to you within the hour." This logs great follow-up and shows your new client just how communicative you are.

Seller Leads

Seller leads must always be referred to the Listings Team. Seller leads are very different than buyer leads and must be worked in an extremely systematic way. When you determine that a caller is a seller, take all of their information and let them know that an agent from the listing team will get back to them asap. Tag the lead in FUB as "Listing Team"

Renters, Solicitors, & Other Non-Leads

• Handle renters at your discretion. Make sure and tell them that Bramlett Residential unfortunately does not help renters. You can either take their info and hand it off to an agent in another company or you can refer them to our list of external leasing agents. (Leasing can be an excellent recruiting/vetting tool. Talk w/ Eric for more info if you're interested.)
• Get solicitors off the phone ASAP. These guys are stealing your time. Be very firm. "I'm really sorry. This is our marketing line and I have to get off now. You can email any info to [email protected]."

Really Annoying Jerkface Solicitors

You'll get calls that say "Can I speak with Eric?" They'll sound like they know me. If they know me, they would have my direct number and email address! Your first question should be, "Can I let him know what this is regarding?" 95% of them won't tell you and this is a dead giveaway that they're a huge, massive, solicitor jerkface. Next, ask them "Are you interested in buying or selling in Austin?" If they say no or won't answer, you can honestly just hang up on them. If you're annoyed with them, email their phone number to [email protected] and she'll block the number.

Call Volume by Day of Week & Time of Day

The vast majority of our inbound calls come in Mon-Fri from 9 am-6 pm.