Been doing utility audits for about a month now here in Phoenix. Started cold calling property managers for office buildings and strip centers. So far I've made 47 calls and got 2 appointments. One signed for a 3-building portfolio audit. Is 4% conversion normal for cold calls?
Cold calling commercial property managers - success rate?
That's actually pretty good for cold calling. I'm in Richmond doing mostly retail and restaurants. My conversion rate on cold calls is maybe 2%. But referrals convert at about 40%. Focus on getting testimonials and building a referral network.
I gave up on cold calling after the first year. Now I only work referrals and networking. Join your local commercial real estate association. In Newark I joined NAIOP and picked up 6 clients just from their monthly mixers.
Property managers get hammered with sales calls. Try a different approach - send them a one-page case study showing a specific finding at a similar property. Duke Energy territory has great opportunities with demand response credits that most managers don't know about.
Sarah, stick with it. Cold calling builds character and you learn to handle objections. I started with cold calls in Wichita 3 months ago. Now I'm averaging one new client per week from referrals of those early cold call wins.