“I’m not scared, I just don’t want to do it” says the kid at the top of the water slide. Ya sure …
Do you pull the same thing now as an adult?
“I don’t have a fear of public speaking, I’d just rather not do it.” Uh huh. What other things are you avoiding because of a hidden fear?
Believe it or not, talking on the phone is a common fear that is key to overcome for passive rental property investing.
Why Would Anyone Be Scared of the Phone?
According to Cell Phone Deal statistics, 47 percent of Americans say that they can’t live without their phones. In spite of these statistics, many people are still afraid when it comes to attending phone calls. Some of these people might have a telephone phobia or something similar, but what about the others?
When it comes to phone calls, how do we all react? We don’t do it enough. The few phone calls we have are with our mothers and conference calls at work. Who wants more of those? (Mom, of course I want to talk more often I’m just making a point that other people don’t want to…)
We would much rather text for personal communication or email for work communication.
This might be because we are afraid of sounding dumb. The live aspect of the phone call with an immediate response includes more pressure – what if I say something stupid? What if I don’t know how to reply? What if I forget my next question?
Can’t I Just Send an Email and Get the Same Results?
Phone calls have several advantages. First, you can tailor the conversation specific to your situation. Phone calls are called synchronous communication, where emails (more on that below) are called asynchronous communication, both give you a result but they are different outcomes. To understand this better, websites like Loom can offer further insight into the pros and cons of these communicative devices in a more detailed way.
If you send an email with multiple paragraphs including the complete background of your unique situation, do you think anyone is going to read it, or just skim it? Are they going to craft a reply specific for you, or copy and paste from a template?
On the phone, there is a greater bandwidth. You can provide background information and address your concerns much faster, with the guarantee that someone is paying attention.
It is also much better for tough conversations, like interviewing or negotiating. Can you effectively interview someone over email and decide to trust them with your business? If you ask for a better price over email, how easy is it for them to just send a perfectly crafted reply turning you down?
What Does This Have to Do With Rental Property Investing?
Our goal is passive income, which means others do a lot of the work for you. There will be many people on your team: lenders, turnkey rehab companies, property managers, insurance providers, and more.
There is a lot to know and asking experts your specific questions is the fastest way to learn.
There are several difficult conversations, like interviewing property managers to decide who you trust. Or negotiating the repair work with the turnkey company. It’s not effective to have these conversations over email, you will have to get on the phone!
Examine Your Behavior
Often the only way you know if you are scared of something is to observe your behavior. Most likely talking on the phone doesn’t give you an anxiety attack, but notice your actions. If it does give you an anxiety attack, you may want to research into ways that can help reduce that worry. Resources such as Mankind Dispensary may be the right pathway to take, but as always, discussing this with your primary healthcare physician before doing anything is paramount.
Do you put off a phone call you need to make for days or weeks? When you do finally make the call, are you as short as possible, often realizing after you hang up you had another thing you wanted to discuss?
Have you asked tough questions over the phone? Are you comfortable with silence or do you just keep rambling on?
This is a skill that will improve with practice. You don’t even have to apply it to rental property investing immediately – Ramit Sethi has a bunch of word for word scripts you can use to negotiate your phone bill and car insurance.
Ultimately, there is no denying that switching your telephone service provider can save you a significant amount of money. For example, a friend of mine recently switched to a satellite internet bundle that includes both telephone and internet services. Quite often these types of packages are more affordable than opting for services from different providers. Moreover, with satellite telephone and internet bundles rising in popularity, it is well worth researching whether making the switch could help you to secure a more affordable deal.
Start with the Right Mindset
First realize how irrational this fear is and commit to facing it head on. Set the goal of improving through practice, not perfection on day one.
With rental property investing, you can start with “throw away” leads so don’t worry about sounding dumb. If you mess up you never have to talk to them again. For example, how many hundreds or thousands of lenders are out there that work with investors? Practice first with one you aren’t likely to go with anyways.
It might help to write out the exact questions you want to ask ahead of time. Add to your script as you learn new questions to ask.
If you really don’t know where to start, talk with one of the national marketers of turnkey properties who have investment counselors. They are more than willing to talk about the entire investing process in the hopes you will purchase through them. I asked so many beginner questions in 2011, I am amazed how much time they spent with me. If you want to connect with the same counselors I work with, let me know.
With a little effort you will quickly improve. You’ll no longer procrastinate your phone calls and be able to learn much faster by asking experts your exact questions. You’ll be able to evaluate the differences between multiple providers and pick the best one for you.
Have you noticed you are hesitant to pick up the phone now that email and texting are our primary digital communication? What real estate phone calls have you learned from the most?
Oh, man, I hate talking on the telephone. I worked in an inbound call center for a couple of years during/just after college, and I got so burned out on talking to people that I still cringe when I hear a phone ring. Also, I just dislike having to talk to people in general, because I’m a pretty serious introvert. If there’s a way to do what I need to do online that involves no human interaction, I’m in. 🙂
You’re right, there are some conversations that require an actual telephone call, though. Negotiations are critical over the phone, because the other person can read your tone, and you can use awkward silences to your advantage. But even still, I tend to put the phone calls as the last thing I do.
Wow, that is a pretty scarring experience. I worked in the mail room for a cruise company, so equally as bad, but no need to interact with anyone – just keep stuffing envelopes!
“Use awkward silences to your advantage” – yes, I love it! Just being aware of this should improve someone’s results.
I almost never pick up the phone. It is the last resort for me.
I don’t know if it is fear, but I think it is more about organization of information. For example, if I call the dentist and make an appointment, I now have a scrap of paper (if I can find a pen), with the date and time that needs to be put into the calendar.
For longer business calls, sometimes promises are implied or made that aren’t followed through with. It helps me to have a written record of such things and also so that I don’t forget my “To-Do”s that resulted from the call.
Good subject… I don’t see this talked much about.
Great thoughts, really shows everyone is a bit different. I think your insight into why you opt not to use the phone can also reveal ways to make it better.
For example, “the phone would be faster for this, but we wouldn’t have a permanent record” is easily fixed: notes straight into a shared document or any other system. Basically doing an analysis of how you can get the benefits while limiting the pains.
Is that an easy fix? Is there an app that can listen and transcribe phone calls into a document (we can make it “shared”, that’s easy).
Of course it might be just my justification for my fears ;-).
Easy might not be the right word (the Monday after my bachelor party weekend, my brain is working at half speed). That is a good app idea though!
But we shouldn’t simply eliminating an option with a lot of pros because of 1 con. Instead, how can we know exactly what that con is, and how to work around it? Maybe there is a tool that does most the work for you, or maybe the fix requires extra work from us. Essentially trading 1 con for another, that might be more manageable (even if not easy).
I’ll admit that I have a tiny irrational fear that when I’m calling someone, I think maybe they’re too busy and don’t have time for me. Especially being on the west coast and calling someone who’s ahead a few hours, if it’s getting close to the end of their business day, I may convince myself that I should just email instead. For some cases, emails are a must because it creates a running record that I always find myself referring back to. I can also forward these very emails to questions/issues that haven’t been addressed to show that they are still outstanding. When it comes to phone calls, people easily forget and then it becomes more a he said, she said situation.
The main reason I use phone calls is to develop rapport with someone and make a more lasting impression like your post suggests. No matter how many smiley faces or emoji’s, it’s not the same as shooting the breeze and laughing over the phone.
Great way to put it – make a lasting impression.
You can take 30 seconds at the beginning of a phone call to chat about the weekend or latest sporting event to build report. But if you do something off topic like that in an email, it’s just odd.
Im not going to lie but I definitely always prefer sending emails but you are absolutely correct. In some situations especially when it comes to creating your own cash flow its best to get on the phone and talk. A lot of times text in emails aren’t put in the right context or urgency which can really impact a deal.
Good stuff!
Urgency too – great example!
I am absolutely terrified to talk to a complete stranger on the phone (face to face, I completely love it because I love meeting people) but on the phone, I don’t know the cue to tell me it’s my turn to talk and no way of knowing 100% if the question asked was a rhetorical question or not. This makes me uncomfortable but I know it’s a necessity that I have to work with people in the business world and have to adjust accordingly. Great points that you’ve mentioned in this post!