2 Campaigns and Still No Deal, HELP!!!

[Adam Perry]

Hello BP,

So, I'm 2 direct mail campaigns in and I haven't reached my goal of closing my first deal yet. Slightly discouraged but not yet defeated I was hoping for some help from the BP community to get my first deal in the bag. I'll quickly go through my system just in case my flaw is there, but I believe my main flaw is talking to prospects. 

I'm running direct mail campaigns to absentee home owners using yellow letters, standard 'I would like to $Buy$ your house at..', by Yellow Letter Complete. I field my calls using a live answering service, they fill out the script for me and I perform the call back. In that call back is where I believe my mistakes are made. Below are the main scenarios I have faced that I haven't figured out how to tackle. 

1.) With my goal being to wholesale, I am looking to obtain the sellers property for X amount and assign their contract for Y amount, my interest in the deal being Y less X. However, when I mention obtaining the sellers property and reaching out to/marketing to/sell to, etc.  another real estate investor most sellers seem to be instantly turned off. I've tried reassuring the seller by stating my assignment fee is paid for by the buyer, the expense of using an agent, the amount of time selling traditionally takes, etc. but the outcome generally leads to disinterested sellers. 

2.) The main goal out of my call back has been to schedule an appointment to see the property so I can make the seller an educated offer. Another problem I am running into is that most properties are occupied with a tenant and the seller doesn't want the tenant to know they are considering selling. A couple said they would only schedule an appointment if I made them an offer.

Any help with these scenarios or handling follow up calls in general would be greatly appreciated. Discouraged for the time being but still determined to get that first deal!!

[Dev Horn]

Your approach is wrong for your list.  That (OLD) yellow letter technique with the "I want to $BUY$ your house at..." was designed for owner-occupants.  Absentee owners that might sell to you are "tired landlords" and heirs of properties, etc.  They will respond to a message of "have your tenants trashed your rental house again?" or "tired of paying taxes and up-keep on a vacant property?".  These are the needs of the absentee owner.  They don't give a hoot if you want to "$BUY$" their house (I don't know who invented that $word$ thing but that idea should be retired :-P ).

The point is - understand your targets and their needs and speak to those needs in your marketing.  You need to solve a problem they have, not just express interest in buying.  Make sense?

I prefer postcards for absentees - cheaper and get to the point quicker.  This is a numbers game.  A "campaign" is actually a series of activities - such as a 6 mailing series.  Mailing # 2 is the WORST for almost everyone that does this.  You get results from direct mail after 3-5 touches minimum (see our [REMOVED] video).