Direct to owner mailers

[Zachary Olley]

Hi, I am starting out by sending mailers direct to owners for multifamily properties of 6-50 units. If anyone has a template I could use as an example to send out id appreciate it or even some tips on what it should say and look like.

[Charlie MacPherson]

@Zachary Olley  A few things about mailers.

We mail 1,000 post cards per week to my 3-state region of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont and they have worked well.  Right now, I have $21M in active listings.  Of those $14M (66%) came directly from post card mailings and those represent $1.4M in commissions.

Post cards are most often thrown out, but some go into a desk drawer and cause a business owner to call me several months later.  Every time they open that drawer, my card is there reminding them that they should call me.  In fact, one of my most recent listings told me he had held on to my post card for 5 months before calling.  That's a $440,000 listing representing $44,000 in commissions.

The text on the post card has to be brief and right to the point.  Use words like they cost you $1,000 each, because if you don't capture the reader's attention in the first 5 seconds, it's getting tossed in the trash.

Consistency is key.  Don't spend $500 on mailers one time and hope to hit a grand slam.  Decide what level of spend you're able to maintain over the long term and then commit to it.

Know your objective and design your communications to achieve it.  You can't close on a 20 unit building with a post card, so don't aim for it.  Instead, decide what it is you want the prospect to do, and then make it easy for them to do it.  It might be to prompt them to go to your website, so a clearly visible web address or QR code makes sense.  You might want them to call, so an easy to remember phone number, clearly visible, works.  You can buy good numbers.  I bought numbers ending in 3000 and 1000 for about $200 each.  You can also get numbers that spell something memorable.

The same advice holds for when your prospect contacts you.  You can't close the sale over the phone either, so your objective is most likely to get face to face.  Triage to see if the deal make sense and if it does, set up an appointment.

Don't forget to mail more than once.  Our database of business owners in my region is huge, but we will mail at least twice.  On a recent appointment with a prospective seller, he showed me two of our post cards - and yes, I got the listing.

We also follow up mailings with a phone call. We have a VA in the Philippines that we've just started with in the last month. We're still fine-tuning, but she's already set a couple of appointments. I also make calls myself. One of my own calls brought in a big listing that's closing next Tuesday. $288,000 in commissions. From a phone call - and that's why we make them.

Good luck!