The ONE Time You Should Door-Knock

Door-knocking? 😱

I’d rather walk into Room 237 (The Shining).

I remember reading the book as a kid and being so terrified; there was no possible way I was going to the movie when it came out. It wasn’t until years later that I saw it!

Aside from the obvious horror aspect of door-knocking, it’s not 1977, and we’re not selling encyclopedias. Right?

Door knocking just seems way too old-school-cheesy.

That’s how I felt for my entire Real Estate career, before I spent a full year studying and developing the Agent Skills Master’s Program, and came to the revelation below:

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Disclaimer: Even if you’re ten times as brave as me, I still don’t believe you should door-knock without a compelling reason.

That said, I do believe in these three fundamental principles:

1. A face-to-face interaction is 100X more powerful than any phone call, email, text message, or any written form of advertising, like a flyer.

2. You should never contact a client or a prospect unless you’re providing something of value.

3. Open Houses—skillfully executed—are BY FAR the best way to cultivate new clients. 

Taking that into account, here is the ONE time when knocking on doors meets all three of the above criteria:

You’ve got a new listing, and you’re inviting the neighbors to your Open House. 😃

Think about it this way:

You’re meeting future clients face-to-face, giving them something of value (see below), and providing some very interesting information.

After all, what neighbor isn’t at least a little curious about the new listing down the street?

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Here’s the game plan when they open the door:

1. Introduce yourself, and hand over a brochure for the new listing. (Your professional, impressive brochure is an essential component in how you market yourself.)

2. Tell them some basic information, including the price, and invite them to your Open House. (Who doesn’t like to get invited to an event?)

3. Depending on their reaction, either continue the conversation, or move on to the next door.

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You know how people talk about the “nosy” neighbors coming to the Open House? 

We should quit talking about them that way. They’re just naturally curious, and they’re certainly as good of a prospect as anyone else.

But the truth is that most of the neighbors do not go to the Open House. Why? Because they don’t feel right about imposing on your time (being “nosy”) when they’re obviously not going to buy the house.

That’s why extending a personal invitation will make them feel more welcome to come.

You’ll get to meet them a second time, and that tiny bit of familiarity will significantly improve your chances of continuing a productive conversation.

But Ted! If they’re not in the market, this is a big waste of time! 🤷

Nonsense. They’ll be in the market next year. Or the year after that. 

STOP 🛑 thinking that every interaction has to result in an immediate sale! Leave that thinking to the poor struggling agents. Besides…

You’ll be surprised how many people who claim to NOT be in the market are suddenly IN the market AFTER you’ve made a positive impression. 

And, I can’t tell you how many times I made a personal connection to someone at an Open House, and it paid off for me years later.

One easy way to maintain contact with a future client is to add them to your monthly newsletter. If you’ve got the right systems and procedures and interpersonal SKILLS, it’s easy to sign them up.

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Back to the front door! One of these four things will happen.

1. Some people will politely take the brochure, and you’ll never hear from them again. Big deal. You sacrificed one brochure. They still appreciate the information, if nothing else.

2. A few will take your brochure, stash it away in a drawer and pull it out three years later when they’re thinking of selling. Why? Because it’s a memorable event when a hard-working agent comes to the door and personally invites them to an event! It’s not something that happens every day.

3. Many will be super interested, want to strike up a conversation, and you’ll have a great chance to establish rapport and maybe add them to your newsletter list, or follow up with some other information.

4. Occasionally, you’ll run into a grumpy jerk. 🤬 Big deal!

If you never meet a grumpy jerk, you won’t meet any friendly, awesome people, either. 😁

Think about it like this: One grumpy jerk, five friendly prospects. Not bad!

If you learn some SKILLS and practice enough, the ‘friendly/jerk’ ratio can become 10:1 or even 20:1.

When you’re meeting enough friendly prospects, you’ll quickly learn to shake off the one grumpy jerk with a laugh! Who cares? You didn’t want to work with them anyway.

Stop allowing the ridiculous success-preventing part of your brain to sabotage you. You’re NOT walking into Room 237.

Stop 🛑 being the Secret Invisible Agent.

Secret Invisible Agents get invisible commission checks, which are hard to cash.

For more information on conducting an Expert Open House, check out this previous article Becoming a Trusted Advisor.

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This article was inspired by module #3 -The Open House Expert – part of the Agent Skills Master’s Program.