What to expect when marketing directly to sellers?
Expect competition. Be consistent. Don’t give up early. Conversion = timing + opportunity. You’ll deal with angry and upset people, sad people, desperate people, and everything in between. Be patient, calm, and willing to hear them out. Oftentimes sellers are in tough situations and need help determining their best solution.
Sellers can have a wide range of motivations to sell their property. Your main goal is to uncover their motivation to sell, build rapport through conversation, and present them with a solution and fair offer for the property.
How to Talk to Sellers
It is our job as Investors to help homeowners through the steps of selling by providing an easy process, genuine care, and most importantly, a fair cash offer for their property. Identifying the owner’s motivation to sell is the key to unlocking the deal.
Here are some helpful tips to get you started talking to sellers and cold calling like a pro.
– Make a connection
– Be transparent about your intentions
– Find their motivation to sell
To get the owner to give up to information you need to qualify the home, you may need to loosen them up a bit first. Engage in some small talk and ask them how their day is going. Be genuine and listen to their response. You can learn a lot from the first minute of speaking with them
Ask them if they were interested in selling before they received your letter. This will help spark their true motivation or create a chance to go over any questions they have if they were just curious about your offer.
For a complete guide to talking to sellers, check out this comprehensive article published by BiggerPockets: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/2014-09-02-dominate-talking-motivated-sellers-real-estate
Direct Mail Best Practices
Postcards and handwritten letters are an excellent way to reach motivated sellers and increase your inbound leads. You send out mailers to your prospects once a month, and simply wait for the calls to come in. This allows you to spend time on driving other parts of your business, like managing an ongoing project or networking with new realtors.
Tips for a standout direct mail campaign:
– Consistency – The Golden Rule of Marketing. Don’t lose momentum or give up early.
– Personalize your mailer and messaging. Send something YOU would want to receive.
– Additional Marketing Channels. Hit them in more place than one. RVM, Email, SMS.
Marketing via Post Cards or Letters
This has been debated for years by successful investors on each side. In our opinion, a higher quality mail piece like a handwritten letter always provides a higher chance to receive a response. However to a motivated seller, you really just need to send them something, but at the right time. Send both postcards and letters to really determine how your market reacts. Some clients have success with an all postcard campaign, and others prefer letters to introduce themselves.
Keeping record of your mailing campaigns performance is critical to improving your results on an ongoing basis. Like any other form of marketing, you need to be creative and innovative to stay ahead of the competition. Let your imagination fly with this. No one likes receiving a classic yellow letter or another spammy pink postcard.. send them something that represents you well.
Just meet with one of our Direct Marketing Coaches to get advice on mailer strategy and content. We can set you up that day with a tailored campaign that fits your needs.
What About Marketing Analytics?
Response rates – Averages
Direct Mail: 0.25% – 1%+ Response Rate
Ringless Voicemail / SMS : 95%+ Open Rate. 1-10% Response rate.
Email Marketing: 10-20% Open Rate. 1-5% Response rate.
Conversion rate:
This will always depend on your level of experience and investing goals and the sellers’ situation. That being said. You should be converting one in every 10 to 20 “Leads”
A Lead is someone who expresses interest in selling their home after receiving a piece of marketing. To get to this point you would have had at least one qualifying conversation with them, or have visited the property. Maybe they ask you for a cash offer right over the phone. Or want to know the value of their property before coming up with an asking price.
To seal the deal you need to identify the sellers’ motivation, gain their trust, and provide them a fair price for their property. Always perform due diligence before making a serious offer for any property. One of the quickest ways to lose trust from a seller is to change your offer amount.
For more insight into navigating conversations with sellers, check out our Talking to Sellers article and download our scripts to talk to sellers and Cold Calling.
