Does cold calling still work for buyers agents?

When it comes to general real estate success, it’s easy to ignore certain elements because they come off as “outdated” or “no longer viable.” Cold calls fall into this category for a variety of reasons, but in reality, this is far from the case. So, from door knocking scripts for real estate to the best timing for overall success, here are some of the key elements you need to know about using these calls to your advantage.

What is a cold call in marketing?

At the core, this practice is reaching out to a person or entity that you have no prior relationship with, in an attempt to try and garner their business. The exact nature of the call can vary, but the core concept is the fact that the prospect isn’t aware of you until your call.

What are the advantages of cold calling?

The largest benefit of this practice is the relatively low barrier to entry.

Compared to other forms of marketing, you don’t need a lot of added tools or infrastructure, or even a lot of specialized training.

Many people go into this practice simply with a script and list of prospects to call.

In addition, in theory, you could work on reaching out to prospects as long as your patience and ability allow.

What is the difference between a cold call and a warm call?

Warm calling takes the unfamiliarity out of the practice of calling. While the basic pitch is similar, with a warm call, either the prospect has initiated proceedings, or you reached out to them beforehand to ask if a call would be okay. In either event, the actual call isn’t the first point of contact.

What’s more effective, cold calls or cold emails?

This largely depends upon your target audience. For example, for younger people, email may be a more likely tool to reach them, compared to an older audience that is more likely to respond to the phone. It’s all about having a concrete marketing plan in place. How effective your real estate cold calling scripts are also plays a key role. In some cases, it may be easier to communicate certain points over the phone than it is in text.

Is cold calling illegal in Australia?

The practice isn’t illegal in Australia, but you do need to heed certain rules to make sure you stay in compliance.

For example, calls are only allowed between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. on weekdays. You can also reach out from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays, with no calls allowed on Sundays at all.

In addition, your calling team needs to be ready to give out their name, the nature of the call, and the business they are representing right as the call starts.

Failing to adhere to these rules can result in major consequences for your company.

The same applies to reaching out to people on the “Do Not Call” register.

What is the best time to cold call businesses?

Generally, you want to try and go outside of traditional business hours so your prospects will be willing to listen to your pitch. 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. are good timeframes to work with. The people will still be available, but not likely deeply entrenched in work.

How many cold calls should you make per day?

Remember that you don’t need to clear out your cold calling lists for real estate agents to see success. Generally, you want to focus on getting as many calls in during the key hours we mentioned earlier.

What is the success rate of cold calls?

On average, you can expect a follow up rate of 2.5%, or generally one good followup a day. Keep that in mind if you get discouraged.

What is an effective calling list?

Your list should possess the following qualities:

• Well researched – you’ve looked at a variety of sources and made sure that each lead is relevant. This is important because if you haven’t done your research, you’ll waste a lot of time chasing up people that aren’t interested in what you’re offering.
• Detailed – not just simply with the contact details of your prospects (although this is also useful) but take it a step further. Note down your correspondence with this lead and be sure to revisit your notes later.
• Up-to-date – there’s simply no use in cold calling a list of people that are no longer relevant. Take the time to filter your list and be mindful to update it whenever you can.

How to make an effective cold calling list?

Now that you know what your list should look like, how do you begin to build one yourself? Here are a few useful tips:

Identify who you’re targeting



It’s no use crafting a list of potential leads when you don’t even know who these people are. Your first step is to define your ideal prospect.

You know what sort of prospects you want to call for your real estate services so take the effort to record who exactly this is. To help group your thoughts, it may be useful to categorise your potential prospects by category.

• Ideal prospects
• Prospects that are good but not great
• Prospects that will mostly be a waste time

Now go and find these ideal prospects to add to your calling list!

Look at reliable resources

This is perhaps one of the most important points to take away with you as you begin to build your cold calling list. Your time is wasted if you gather contacts that aren’t relevant or interested.

That’s why you may want to look to a reliable source like Radius Suburb. We make it easy for you to find people genuinely interested in your real estate services. Furthermore, we supply a “washed’ list of real estate leads. This means you’ll get the names, addresses and telephone numbers of desirable prospects.



This residential list is available to you at any time over the year, and during this time the data is washed against the Do Not Call Register every 21 days.

Constantly update your cold calling list

You should always be revisiting your list and making notes against it. You might have called a prospect two years ago when they weren’t interested in your services, but their situation may have changed. Perhaps this same prospect’s family is growing and now they’re looking to upgrade to another home. So take note of who you’ve called, when you called and what they had to say.

As well as keeping track of the old prospects on your list, you need to be constantly adding to your list. Look for new resources, go back to the resources you’ve trusted previously, revisit Radius Suburb’s washed data and always keep an eye out for a potential lead. Make time to do this every month or even every week and you’ll watch your calling list grow.

A cold calling list that stays static is never going to be an effective one.