Avoiding obnoxiousness: Do your procedures/systems for contacting internet FSBO/landlord ads include avoiding/controlling contacting them repeatedly?

Question

I just can't get this little nitpick out of my head before I start trying to push big marketing numbers

Let's say you're doing (or your VA/staff is doing) your Craigslist/etc. internet marketing procedure looking for houses, contacting FSBO's and landlords. Calls, e-mails to their e-mail address, e-mailing their craigslist reply thing, text messages, voicemails, whatever. Do you guys keep track of who you've contacted in order to avoid or regulate repeatedly contacting them within a given time frame (unless it's specifically for a different one of multiple properties)?

It seems like a real nitpick to consider these things on one hand, but on the other hand if this type of thing was systemized and easy to do, it might really increase the quality of the marketing.

For those of you who use automated scraping and e-mailing methods, how do you handle avoiding repeat communications in too short of a time frame? Does the software database all the contact info it finds and automatically avoid contacting the same people twice, unless it's regarding different properties?

Perhaps these lists of people marketed to could even be harvested or analyzed later down the road for other purposes in the marketing campaign? But my main focus right now is on the repetitiveness aspect.

Fred Heller · Answer

I have actually been doing a lot of contact with FSBO/FRBO owners lately.

I don't go out of my way, but whenever I see a FSBO/FRBO sign when I'm driving around, I'll stop and write down the address. Then I'll send them a letter introducing myself and explaining the benefits of a seller/leasing agent.My company also offers a service where they scrape FRBO's off websites like Craigslist. If the listing includes an address, I'll look up the owners and send them a letter.

Personally, I'm really big on letters as opposed to phone calls. Letters are far less intrusive than a phone call.And I'll admit that my letters are minimally successful. I've only gained a handful of clients through them. But that's thousands of dollars in revenue in exchange for the price of a few postage stamps.

Doug P. · Answer

@Max M. All I do is cross-reference by phone number. If a new ad has the same phone number as one already in my database then I check the address, if that's also the same I check if they've lowered the price.

I do it manually which I'm sure is very inefficient, but I don't need to do much volume so the time spent is negligible.

P.S. If you're wondering what I do about all those ads that have no contact info...I ignore them. In my experience they're either realtors building their buyers list or sellers who aren't motivated. If they were motivated they would include MULTIPLE methods of reaching them, usually 2 or 3 different phone numbers plus email.

Jeremy T. · Answer

@Max M.

You could always try to cross-reference leads with the local tax assessor.  Yes, this is far more time consuming than merely banging out a quick 20 CL replies, but if I were someone looking to sell, and I kept getting the same 'form' email or text, it would feel like spam, so your concerns do seem to be legitimate.  While more time consuming, you can still systematize this process and outsource it to a VA if/when you desire.

Avoiding obnoxiousness: Do your procedures/systems for contacting internet FSBO/landlord ads include avoiding/controlling contacting them repeatedly?

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