Of all the best practices recommended to StreetEasy Experts, there’s one that reigns supreme: ALM, standing for Appointment, Location, Motivation. This concise yet powerful acronym is a useful framework for early conversations with prospective clients. 

A successful connection call has one objective: to get face-to-face with the person on the other end of the phone. Follow the ALM framework for structuring initial prospective client calls around this objective.

ALM helps answer three key questions:

• When is the prospect available to meet with you? (Appointment)
• What properties would the prospect like to see during the first appointment? (Location)
• What are the prospect’s reasons for seeking a new home? (Motivation)

This simple guide explains each component of ALM and how to use the framework for a successful first call.

PREVIEW:

Appointment

Whether the lead came in as a standard connection, a direct call, or tour request, the most important question to ask is, “When do you want to see the home?” If the home is unavailable, ask when they would like to see other similar homes. This question should come as soon as possible in the conversation.

Location

Immediately after setting a time to see the home the customer has inquired about, you should ask what other homes they’re interested in seeing. You should strive to always show more than one property to the customer per appointment. If they haven’t identified any other homes they’d like to see, ask whether you can take the liberty of finding similar homes to add to the itinerary.

Motivation

The secondary objective for the call is to learn more about the prospect so you can serve them better and build rapport. The immediate justification for asking questions about their motivation is to identify other properties to tour on the same trip. We recommend asking the following questions: What interests you about this property? How long have you been looking? Have you seen any other properties?