Do you use an automated phone system for sellers who call you?

[John Baker]

I want to automate things as much as possible, so I can have more time to focus on things that I deem essential to growing a business. Do you think it would be a good idea to prescreen callers with some kind of phone system like Google voice? If the seller is willing to go through some hoops to contact me, then wouldnt that be a sign that they might be motivated? I also get some calls from other wholesalers, and it's getting annoying. Also, what do you guys think about an automated email system like mailchimp? I think mailchimp would be good to automatically follow up with sellers who called me. Yes? No? What do you guys suggest? 

[Dev Horn]

These leads cost too much to generate, and unless you have a large marketing budget, you will not be overwhelmed with leads.  Just TAKE THE CALLS.  So you spend 3 minutes talking to someone who's not qualified - use that opportunity to ask them if they know someone else interested in selling, etc.  We did a video a while back based upon a bunch of live calls that we audited - we found what Brian said, these people are calling to talk to a person, not a machine, and they will often abandon the call when presented with a machine.

If you have to use voicemail, use it sparingly and call people right back.  If you don't respond to an incoming lead within MINUTES, that will be a DEAD LEAD in 2 hours because one of us that is hungry will answer the call, make an offer, and get it under contract while their call to you sits in voicemail somewhere.

I always tell people, when you get to where you're spending more than $3,000 per month on marketing, then you might look at automating or outsourcing some of the process while still maintaining high human touch.  If you're not spending thousands per month, you're probably solving a problem you don't yet have.

Wish you the best!

"We ought not to look back unless it is to derive useful lessons from past errors." ~ George Washington