The LPMAMA Script: Learn exactly what to say on your next buyer call by Emile L’Eplattenier, Gina Baker for HousingWire

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There are only a handful of acronyms that can change your life. LPMAMA is one of them.
Think of it as ROYGBIV, but instead of helping third graders learn color theory, it will help you convert more cold buyer leads with less stress. It’s powerful stuff, especially for new buyer agents.

LPMAMA stands for Location, Price, Motivation, Agent, Mortgage and Appointment. The LPMAMA script cuts right to the heart of a buyer’s needs, wants, dreams and financial ability to achieve them. Every agent on our team—and every successful buyer’s agent we know—uses some version of the LPMAMA script on their first call with a buyer.

To help you learn the script (or refine the one you’re already using), our team of agents and coaches put together this guide to mastering LPMAMA to convert more leads. We tell you exactly what to say to convert more buyers and improve your lead nurturing.

Short on time? Download our LPMAMA script as a PDF below:

Get the LPMAMA Script (PDF)

Why LPMAMA converts buyers better than any other script

Before we dive into our script, let’s take a step back. We need to talk about why LPMAMA works.

LPMAMA helps you assist people more efficiently. It’s about them, not you. It is that simple. Even better, LPMAMA gives you the exact information you need to pitch your services to a buyer today or six months from now. It’s critical information you can use to guide your lead nurturing and marketing strategy.

You can’t help someone find their dream home if you don’t know their dream or the obstacles keeping them from reaching it. The LPMAMA script cuts right to the chase so you get the information you need to market to them before they hang up. Many new agents are great at building rapport on the phone but lose opportunities because they never get the critical information LPMAMA provides.

The LPMAMA Script

Okay. Enough with the why. Here’s our LPMAMA script and some simple strategies to use it effectively.

Location

The first step in any successful buyer call is to build rapport with your lead. Remember, rapport equals trust, comfort and connection. This could simply be asking about their day or weekend. After you build rapport, launch into the first stage of the LPMAMA script: Location.

The location portion of the LPMAMA script should be a conversation, not an interrogation. Offer insights into the neighborhoods they’re interested in, but keep the conversation light. No one likes to be talked at, even if you think you’re providing crucial market data to help them make better decisions faster.

As a general rule of thumb, we offer one quick insight into the neighborhoods they’re looking in and then move on if they don’t want to talk more. Validate their neighborhood choice and concerns, even if you disagree with them. This is not the time to be confrontational.

Always start with your personal experience living or working there, if you have any, then offer a quick market insight that validates their concerns.

Here’s the location script:

Agent:

Are you looking in any specific neighborhoods, or are you just kind of seeing what’s out there?

Buyer:

Well, we’re mostly looking in [neighborhood] and [neighborhood], but we’re not finding much we like.

Agent:

I hear you. [Neighborhood] is such a beautiful place. My daughter and I love eating at [local restaurant]. However, the [market condition] makes it tricky to find homes there. Many of my clients looking in [neighborhood] found their homes by [strategy], which is something we can explore. Are there any other neighborhoods you’re considering?

Price

Now that you’ve discussed where they want to live, it’s time to focus on price. This can be a thorny conversation for an inexperienced agent. Most buyers have a general idea of what they want to spend on a home, but their ideas are rarely aligned with the cold, hard reality of the market. Your job is to bring their ideas and price together, but that comes later. You should approach this part of the conversation as a fact-finder, not a fiduciary.

If the price conversation goes well, many buyers will ask you if their budget is realistic. This is an excellent sign. It shows they trust your opinion. Answer them honestly, but as with the location conversation, avoid the temptation to pepper them with facts and data — even if you know it by heart. Again, no one likes to be talked at. It’s a conversation, not a timeshare pitch.

The best approach is to offer valuable local market data and present it with social proof. Discuss how your previous clients did in the neighborhood with your lead’s budget, and remember to validate their personal experiences and opinions—even if you disagree.

Here’s the script:

Agent:

What kind of price range did you have in mind for a home in [neighborhoods]?

Buyer:

I think we’re comfortable between [price range], but we’d like to stay below [price]. Do you think that’s realistic in [neighborhood]? We’ve heard different things from different agents.

Agent:

Well, the market in [neighborhoods] has [market stat] over the last [time period], but a lot of my former clients bought in [neighborhoods] for around [price range]. But we spent a long time finding them a home at that price.

Sharing anecdotes about your former client’s home search is the perfect way to introduce the next stage of LPMAMA: Motivation.

Motivation

The motivation conversation is where the rubber meets the road in LPMAMA. Until now, you had no idea whether your lead was serious about buying a home. They might be “just looking” or have a timeframe for moving that’s measured in years instead of months. Now, you can find out why they want a new home.

The motivation conversation is also a golden opportunity to build rapport with your lead. We think it’s the best rapport-building opportunity most agents get in real estate. If you do it right, your lead will open up about their dreams and sometimes even their hard luck stories. Weddings, deaths in the family, divorces and new careers often come up in this conversation. Offer them your empathy, listen twice as much as you talk and you might even build a foundation for a lifelong client relationship.

The key is to give your leads what almost everyone wants: the time and space to tell their story. Validate their experiences and opinions just like you did in the first two parts of the script.

Here’s our script to get the most out of this part of the conversation:

Agent:

[Lead’s name], what would finding that dream home in [neighborhood] do for you and your family’s future? What does your dream scenario look like?

Lead:

We want to move to [neighborhoods] because my wife works remotely and is starting a new job nearby, and we heard really good things about the schools. Our daughter is in 7th grade and loves soccer; [school] has a great intramural program.

Agent:

That’s awesome. My son went to [school], and he loved it. Just so I can get a better sense of the timing for you to get you the best deal in the market in [neighborhood], when does your wife start her new job?

Lead:

April 6th.

Agent:

Got it. That gives us a few months to find something ideal for you, which is perfectly reasonable. But I’m thinking you probably want to get settled in at least a month or two before then, right?

Agent

Ah, the agent part of the conversation. This is where many new agents drop the ball. They either can’t mask their desperation to score a new client or their disappointment when they learn their lead already has an agent.

A simple mindset shift fixes this: Focus on the process, not the outcome. Each time you have this conversation, you have a chance to sharpen your skills and learn to smile through the disappointment. Here’s a tip that might make you smile. Just because your lead is already working with an agent doesn’t mean they can’t be an excellent source of business for years to come.

This is why mastering the first three stages of the LPMAMA script is so important. Most experienced agents we know got referrals or other future business from leads they never transacted with—all from the rapport they built on their first call and solidified with their follow-ups.

The best way to approach the agent conversation is to ask them about their home shopping experience.

Here’s the script:

Agent:

[Lead’s name], have you been to see any homes in person yet, or are you primarily still looking online?

Lead:

Yes, we’ve seen a few already.

Agent:

Great, that helps. Did you see these homes with a buyer’s agent or on your own?

Lead:

We saw one with a buyer’s agent.

Agent:

Got it. Believe it or not, I used a buyer’s agent when I bought my own home. It really makes the process easier. I’d rather not step on anyone’s toes here, though, so I have to ask: did you sign an agreement with this agent?

Mortgage

Now for the thorniest of thorny conversations in LPMAMA: Mortgage. This might be tricky, so it comes at the end of the script. You’ve built rapport and demonstrated empathy, market knowledge and social proof. It’s time to find out if they can afford the dream home you’ve been dreaming about helping them buy.

You must approach this conversation delicately. Your goal is to find out if, or how well, your lead is prepared to purchase a home without asking prying questions about their finances. You might be walking a tightrope here, but if you keep your questions somewhat open-ended and focus on helping rather than selling, you’ll do great. It also gives you another excellent opportunity to flex your mortgage expertise, which new buyers will love.

Here is a nonconfrontational way to start the mortgage conversation:

Agent:

Have you talked to anyone in the mortgage world yet to find out the best way to finance your new home?

Depending on their answer, you can either dig a little deeper to find out if they’ve been preapproved and for what amount, or, even better, educate them on the mortgage process and offer a personal recommendation for someone you know, like and trust. That’s another golden opportunity to build rapport and lay another brick in the foundation of your client relationship.

Appointment

If you made it this far, you’re ready to ask for the golden ticket every agent prays to the real estate gods for before they go to sleep at night: the Appointment. This is where all your rapport-building and information-gathering comes together. It’s also another part of the conversation where many new agents struggle, but it shouldn’t be. It’s the next logical step in your relationship with your lead!

The key to improving your odds of landing the appointment couldn’t be more straightforward: detach from the outcome and focus on honing your process. It’s exactly like dating. The more desperate you look and act, the less likely you are to get the next date.

It’s best to summarize your conversation quickly and then present an in-person meeting as the next logical step. This shows your lead that you were listening and are serious about helping them achieve their goals.

Here’s how to ask for the appointment with confidence:

Agent:

Okay, [Lead’s name]. If you have just another minute, I’d love to quickly summarize what we talked about today. You’re looking for a home in [neighborhood] for around [price range]. To make your move a little less frantic, you’d like to move in around [the date they said they wanted to move into the home]. Do I have the broad strokes right here?

Lead:

Yes, that about sums it up, but we are flexible on the price, assuming we find something we really love.

Agent:

I totally understand. That’s a much more nuanced conversation, and I don’t want to keep you on the phone any longer than I have to since I know how busy you are. Why don’t we do this? Let’s find a time next week that works for your schedule and have you come into my office to talk in more detail about finding you the home you want. How does next Tuesday at 3:00 p.m. sound to you?