I just went over the basics of who might answer the door. Now I’ll give you some dialogue ideas for starting a conversation at the door.  First, you’ll want to prepare your First Greeting at the Door.

As you approach the door for the first time, take a moment to ask yourself, “How much do I think this home is worth?” You should research the community before starting out on your farming game. You should be familiar enough with the area to have a figure in mind. It’s quite possible this will come up in conversation with a decision-maker at the door, especially if they’re already considering a sale.

When introducing yourself for the first time, you can say: “Hi, my name is X. I'm with X (real estate firm/office).”

When it is your first contact, fully introduce yourself. You want to identify yourself as an agent right away.  You really want to establish this immediately. Otherwise, they will not know why you are at their door. They could easily confuse you with another type of knocker. 

You always want to be clear about why you showed up at their door.  Here are some sample introductions you can use:

“I came by to introduce myself…” or  “I came by to give you this information…”  You can use whatever materials you will be leaving to adapt the introduction from there. 

Overall when visiting a door is to Be Direct

The golden rule is to always be direct! Let the person know right away why you are knocking so there is no uncertainty when they answer the door. This allows you to start the conversation on the right foot. This also takes any questions out of the person's mind. You don't want them to need to ask you who you are. 

If you start by making small talk about the weather or something similar, they will likely spend that time wondering why you are there. Some small talk is good for building rapport but first introduce yourself as an agent. The longer it takes you to tell them why you are there, the more nervous they might become around you. 

Think about the last time someone came to your door or called you and you didn’t know what their intentions were. It probably made you feel very uncomfortable. Your aim is to make your prospect feel comfortable with you. For this reason, your approach should not beat around the bush. It may seem an abrupt approach, but it benefits your long game. The person is much more likely to warm up to you when they know your intentions. 

Being direct is also a more valuable use of your time and energy. You want to be efficient and move quickly from door to door. You don’t want to be bogged down by conversations that won’t move your game forward. Keeping your conversations direct and time efficient improves your turnover stats in your long game.

If you pick up on an annoyed vibe at any point, this is the time to be direct about how much time you intend on taking. Say, “I’ll just take a moment of your time.” This disarms the person from asking you “How long is this going to take?” It also keeps you in control of the conversation and keeps theinteraction concise.

When you are introducing yourself at the door, Don’t Bait and Switch!

Bait and switch is when you pull someone into a conversation by building a false sense of rapport. It is when you bait them into thinking they are talking to you for a different reason. It is when you hide that you are an agent at the beginning of the conversation. 

Even though “bait and switch” is heavily promoted online,  it’s a horrible idea. 

You don’t want to surprise prospects with the fact that you are an agent AFTER they start talking to you. It’s sneaky and does not build trust. It also catches the person off guard. That kills rapport, the very thing you are aiming to build. 

No one likes to feel tricked. The quickest way to kill rapport is to make your prospect feel like a fool. If you try any form of trickery with your words or actions, they will feel you are making a fool of them. This will not result in a win for you and it does not leave a good impression.

Overall, you want to always Connect Naturally. 

When you are at the door, remember who you are as a person. How would you talk to someone in your everyday life? 

You can use this as a guideline to your interactions. You want to connect with people in a relatable way. Talk to people at the door just as you would normally talk to someone. Be professional yet casual. You don’t want to hide that you are an agent but you also don’t want to overdo the real estate side of your character. 

Here are some great script guidelines and tips for how to keep the interaction natural. 

Say ‘Hey’ instead of ‘Hello’ to make a person more relaxed. 

This change in words helps make your interaction more friendly. 

I’ll show you what I mean. Speak out the following and see how it sounds. You will hear for yourself which one has a friendlier tone to it.  

“Hello, my name is X from X brokerage and I am a licensed real estate agent. The reason I came is to tell you that I recently sold a home in your area…”

Compare that to the following alternative.

“Hey! My name’s X from X brokerage. The reason I came by today is I just sold one of your neighbor’s homes down the road!” 

As you could hear, a simple swap of words sets a much more natural tone compared to the first formal greeting. 

Your goal at the door is to remain casual yet professional, while still hitting all your key points.

Overall, your goal as an agent is to come across as likable. 

When you are likable, you are much more likely to build profitable relationships. It’s more about likeability than anything else when you are making an impression at the door.  The most “likable” agent is the one who wins the most leads.  I’ve seen it time and time again. 

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