Will I lose seller leads If I....

Question

If i use a voicemail number (google voice...etc) instead of answering the phone from seller leads from bandit signs or direct mail, would i lose seller leads? or would this just separate the motivated sellers from the unmotivated sellers who hangup because there talking to a voicemail?

Michael Quarles · Answer

I went into the office today to do a little paperwork and listened to the calls from yesterday afternoon through today.

Last 24 hours we had 35 calls and 14 left messages. 4 left the following messages.

I will warn you in advance.... The first call should be listened to by adults only..

http://www.yellowlettermail.com/Angry.mp3    WARNING

http://www.yellowlettermail.com/STOP.mp3

http://www.yellowlettermail.com/STOP_2.mp3

http://www.yellowlettermail.com/STOP_3.mp3

Not certain if answering the phone over VM would have made a difference. Maybe some of the 21 people who didn't leave messages would be interested in selling however my business model is built around low hanging fruit...

BTW this list is a new list for me...

Account Closed · Answer

Lots of different opinions on this topic.  Some people will hang up when they reach voice mail.  My experience is that hang-ups don't necessarily indicate lack of motivation.  I don't think sellers should have to go through a message service or fill out a website form to find out a little more about me.  But my volume isn't that high.

Read the recent marketing threads by Michael Quarles.  He has a totally different take on voice mail and answering services based on a high volume of leads and filtering seller motivation.  For every market that has buyers with volume marketing and lead filtering voice mail and websites, there are also buyers like me who answer the phone.  Something for everyone.

J Scott · Answer

I've only been doing direct marketing for a few weeks now, but we've sent out about 3000 letters and have done a combination of voicemail and the answering-the-phone.

What we've found is that it's much harder to get in touch with people if you don't pick up the phone -- even if they leave a message, there's a good chance you won't be able to catch up with them in the future.  We've also found that by answering the phone, there are people who are calling because they are pissed off at receiving the letter, but they can be converted to leads during the initial phone call -- had they gone to voicemail, they likely would have just left an angry message and that would have been it.

So, based on very limited testing so far, we very much prefer answering the calls ourselves as opposed to letting it go to voicemail.

Gary Parker · Answer

This is a great response..you have a very smart and perceptive wife J Scott  if you dont mind me saying so.

Michael Quarles · Answer

Hello Jeremy...

IMHO it depends on you... what you want... And what you're doing.

In the beginning of a career most are not marketing enough to worry about the few calls they will receive and whether or not they can answer all of them.

And there is a ton learned from answering the calls from your prospect groups in the beginning of a campaign.

The key to good results is to know what you're going to ask the caller not whether you answer or not.

The nice thing about a VM system is that inevitably youre not going to be able to answer all of the calls anyway and thus some will end up in VM. If that is a reality then why not give everyone the same experience.

However the nice thing about answering your call, besides the education, is that you can solve for the callers urgency factor faster.

As J Scott pointed out the followup can be more of a job then it seems which is why you should do one of two things.

1) Call all calls back within 30 minutes of their call
2) Do enough marketing that it doesnt matter.

Bill has a good point also and I bet he may not be doing mass marketing. If you're a referral or long term reputation investor answering the call is what you have built your business on and thus answering you phone is probably is as important as your word, especially in some areas of our Country.

K. Marie tends to admire the relationship business model which has a ton of upside. And there isnt anything wrong with that approach as long as you have the ability to build relationships and the time to carry them to a payday. I for one probably have neither therefor I am suck to more of a systematization approach.

I can say that you must absolutely honor the call. I have heard too many times from investors that they didn't know how tough it was talking to sellers and they started not returning the calls. Fear factors can creep into your lead capture system and if that happens one must reevaluate their model. There is nothing worse then not calling people back or answering the call.

Good luck

Account Closed · Answer

I don't know if I tend towards admiration of the "relationship business model", but I do admire huge upside.  There's also the issue of what I prefer when I'm the customer.  I'm not going to give people voice mail programs and web page forms if I hate them when I'm the customer.

I still have trouble returning calls after years of sending letters asking people to call me.  Inviting strangers with problem properties to call you means that the lonely and crazy and irrational and angry (every variation of "sad") have your phone number and an invitation to call.  It also means getting to meet nice and interesting and funny and appreciative people. I love a good story and and I love houses and they go well together.  Working with sellers has more upside than the money.

J Scott · Answer

Michael -

This is why I'm not allowed to answer the phone -- I'd just end up arguing with these types people for 10 minutes...  :)

I'm not sure if it's typically suggested, but my wife has found that one of the best ways to calm people down when they call and demand to know where we got their name and why we think they're behind on their mortgage, is to tell them (mostly truthfully), "The credit agencies make this information available to us.  The banks don't like to foreclose, so they encourage people like us to try to help people in your situation to avoid that result."

This generally calms them right down, as they now realize that they can't reasonably deny their situation to us (we're no longer the bad guy), and also gets them thinking, "Maybe the banks (and the people sending the letters) really are trying to help us avoid foreclosure.  Okay, I'm ready to listen..."

I think a lot of people are just plain embarrassed and when they hear that the mortgage late         information is floating out there, it's an "OH S***" moment and really wakes them up.

In fact, when my wife and I realized that there were several of our neighbors on the mortgage late list (none that we know personally), my wife said to me, "Don't you dare ever miss a mortgage payment!!!"  Warranted or not, people feel shame at this sort of thing, and that's the biggest hurdle to get past when taking these calls.

Bill Gulley · Answer

To each his (her) own I'd say. I'm old school, I believe that RE is a personal business, that personal contact is important, but I can also see that your comfort level and skill set may influence how you work, but I just prefer to answer the phone and get moving on the matter.

Michael Quarles · Answer

Hi J. Scott

If I may, can you  ask your wife start tracking the deals you purchased from angry callers. I would be interested in if the number is low for the effort.

Account Closed · Answer

I hand cull all my lists. I live 150 miles away from one of my farms and I have neighbors and friends (who I do know personally) in my home town who are upside down or in default on properties there.

Will I lose seller leads If I....

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