The Walk-in Question - What's Your Procedure?

I was visiting a friendly competitor today, and their office is on the main street through town. They get walk-in traffic, as they are also one of the major franchises. I was about to leave, and standing in the lobby, when a man walked in and told the desk person "I was driving by, and wanted to know what properties 'go for' here."

This is a resort and vacation home market, and his license plate indicated he was from Colorado, the state just to the north of us, and a good source for buyers. Being real estate professionals, we obviously know that the question has no answer, at least not one that we can give without a great deal more information about the prospect's desires and requirements.

The question that came to my mind related to what we all do to respond in this situation. This desk person went into the well-worn statements about all of the variables and different market areas, etc. And, some of that is really necessary. However, the man left with a general brochure about the franchise and a list of their listings. Is that the best that we can do? We seem to have someone who found the area attractive, and they don't really know how to phrase their question. It is probable that they aren't a ready buyer either. However, what might we have given them to take away that would increase our chances of talking to them again if their interest continues?

A brochure with our listings isn't a negative, but it could be enhanced for this type of prospect. What about a page or two of area demographics, as well as some construction cost estimates and land value numbers. Though he may have seen one of their listings that resembled his desired property, more of the hard number information would help him to construct his own estimate of what his desired home would cost. I know that it will cost between $125 and $200 per square foot to build a nice home in our area. I also know that land is quite variable, with higher costs closer in to town or to the ski area. However, I can give estimates of per-acre costs by area or proximity to town.

So, if this prospect had been able to take home a few pages of hard data to go with the listings he knew we would be pushing, how much more likely would we be to hear from him again if he wants to move forward?

And, we won't even talk about how much less time we could have spent in educating someone who is only a remote possibility at this point. All bets are off if you've got buyer reps or floor duty agents salivating for a lead. They may love the idea of talking to him for an hour. But, they still would fare better with some hard data to send home with the prospect.