Salesmanship, pitches and language: Getting from lead to close

[Neil Sinha]

Hello.  I'm still a newbie trying to get my act together, and being an analytical, left-brain kind of guy, my RE learning tends to focus on the numbers and financials and quantitative issues.  But when you get down to it, so much of success is people-based, and as much as I cruise BP, I don't see a lot of threads that talk about how to reach the actual motivated seller such that they're sold on you, as the investor, being their solution.  With that in mind, I'm wondering how people have gone about developing and continuously improving their messaging and pitches to convert from prospect to closed deal.  Lots of information on here about how to look and qualify a prospect and run the numbers, but once you know you have a potential deal, what then?  I know a lot of it is so subjective, but with the amount of brainpower in the community, people have to be studying and analyzing conversion to figure out what works.

What kind of actual design in direct mail gets your yellow letter to be opened when these individuals might be in a list that results in them flooded with yellow letters?  What wins out and piques interest?  Once opened, what language helps motivate them to pick up the phone instead of tossing your mail in the trash?  Has the community here A/B tested and studied what psychologically works better for different seller segments?  How about that initial call?  What pitch leads to a sit-down meeting to further qualify the deal instead of "I'll think about it"?  What framing around an offer does better to actually get it accepted than to come across as a lowball or insult?

Are there certain pitches that work better for:

• Next of kin inheriting abandoned homes?
• Owners with equity that are being foreclosed?
• Landlords that want out of their investment?

The opportunity cost for these people could be to instead list the property with a realtor for full or near retail value, so what kinds of salesmanship goes into convincing them the convenience you offer is worth the money they leave on the table?

This is an area I definitely want to learn more about without getting sucked into a bad guru course.  Just curious what everyone thinks.  Thanks for your input.

[Jerry Puckett]

Hi @Neil Sinha

Lesson number one, and it's a biggie. Wrap your brain around it first and then I can be more specific.

You CANNOT motivate a non motivated seller.

No matter how good you are, which "pitch" you use or whatever your personal beliefs on Seller psychology, you cannot motivate someone who is not already motivated by their own situation.

You can however CONNECT with their motivation, whatever it may be. Triage every incoming lead, determine the best exit strategy for that situation and their cash needs, and then move them towards what is already their best option.

Sometimes that is going to be a retail listing, but not always. Sometimes it will be a sub to, lease option, or even a short sale. You do not have to master every strategy if you do not wish to, but network with at least one master of every strategy. Monetize as many leads as you can by becoming an information broker....transactional engineer, or whatever the current guru buzzword happens to be.

Point is if they called you, they have a need. Figure it out and fulfill it. The "pitch" will come naturally if you are really trying to help.