Help me automate my wholesaling processes....

[Kenneth E.]

Hey all.

I am thinking about diving back into wholesaling this year on a more aggressive scale. My intent is to send more letters/postcards as well as follow-up with all potential deals (something I was lazy about doing previously). I am reaching out to the group to get some thoughts on automating my processes. Currently, I have a customized mailing list, simple mailers (letters and post cards) inviting sellers to call me (I have full time job so all calls go to “Google Voice” number where they leave a message) or visit my website to enter their information (which I will review and will get back to them). I call them back and schedule a property visit with all potential deals (screened against the criteria of my mentor who has 20 years experience and who I partner with 50/50 on the sale). Then, I negotiate with the seller.

I am curious to know what processes you other wholesalers out there have for automating your businesses (for a relatively cheap price). I really only want to be involved in the creation of my lead lists and negotiating the price at the end. Basically, I only want to be involved in the beginning and end of the process. The main activities of my processes are broken down into the following:

Developing mailing list. I’ll do this myself since this is the heart of everything for me.

Automating the creation/sending of mailers. This is hugely time consuming for me to type or write the letters. What do you guys do? Hire interns? Pay spouses? Yellowletterscomplete.com? Any creative, cheap ideas on drip campaigns? Pros? Cons? Suggestions?

Screening callers. I have a full time job and can’t answer during the day. Do you guys use answering services? Virtual Assistants? Any suggestions on the best way to automate this? I am thinking of having my google voice message refer all callers to my site where they can enter their own information so I don’t have to spend as much time calling people back and playing phone tag. My thoughts are maybe forwarding my google voice number to an answering service and having them simply enter the persons information into my website while on the phone with them. This means all roads will lead to my website. My website automatically sends submissions via email to me and my partners for immediate review.

Scheduling appointments for property visit. Do you do this yourselves?

Lead tracking. I kept notes on leads but never really had a decent way of tracking them. Any thoughts? Suggestions? I checked MQ's free lead tracking website but I am not entirely comfortable entering my lead information into the website of another wholesaler. How do you guys track leads? Do you do it yourselves? Do you have assistants do it?

Lead follow up: How and when do you follow up with people who may be more motivated to sell in the future (ie following up with them in 3-4 months)? Any cheap ideas for tracking leads? Do you follow up with calls, emails, or letters?

Negotiating. Only me. I won’t have anyone else negotiate with sellers.

So, Im curious to see how others reduce the amount of time they spend IN their business….and make time to focus ON the business. I know all of this has been discussed in bits and pieces right here on BP, but im curious to see ‘whole systems’….if you guys are willing to share. Thanks!

[Bill Gulley]

I'm reminded of the moles in my yard, they have been really bad in this area this past year. The moles are pretty blind and chase the grubs, if they detect a meal in another direction that's where they head. They aren't efficient creatures at all, if they were, they wound plow through in a straight line some distance then turn around and head back next to their last run, like mowing a yard. Then they could clear an entire area and have all that was there. I'm glad they don't because the entire yard would be destroyed! So, they are blind and inefficient, often destroying the yard in their path.

What I'm seeing is new operators attempting to create a business with the efficiency of the mole, moving blindly in different directions, then this thread topic is to find ways to automate that activity. 

As to technology, I go back to punch cards and readers, wiring boards, most here probably don't know what those are, but today I have an old desk job, 2 laptops, 2 notepads and my cell, hard to believe the progress. But, through all of the advances one thing still holds true, junk in, junk out.

I'm all for automating administrative tasks, client and customer lists, leads, document management, property files, accounting, inventory, expense estimates and bids, reference materials, market data, all well and good. 

I'll say it again, dealing in real property is different than personal property, I've not seen a wholesaler on BP that can make those distinctions of the differences. What that really means is, bottom line, they don't really understand the business. That flows through your entire system, how you operate, manage and your business direction.

Sad part is, many, especially the youthful here, truly believe they understand the business, what they may understand is the game of buy low, sell high and profit, that's widget thinking, not really real estate. 

Your attitude in business drives the path you take, your automation supports that path or function, errors in the attitude of business will carry through your process, activities and the automated support. 

So, besides actually learning the real business of real estate as well as general business aspects, you need to take steps to build the foundation of your business first before you try to identify systems.

Do you even have a true business mission, or is it simply "I need to pull a deal and get some money before the end of the month"?

To accomplish your mission you need a strategy, to implement strategies you need to understand the tactics of the business, if some niche or tactic doesn't support the mission, you're spinning your wheels, wasting time and resources. 

I can't tell you what the best automated resource might be for you to make phone calls or send out direct mail, but my question is, are you wasting time and resources on a function that may not be necessary. 

In other words, if you really don't understand the proper structure and operations of using options, how can you set up a system to manage them? You can't, at least not effectively, so why take the path of the mole?

There are many repetitive functions to be accomplished in real estate, but as much as most of you want a step by step process to success, there isn't one, you can't automate judgment, variables of valuations, personalities, needs of your clients or customers, if you think technology manages such aspects you're wrong. 

What is the real purpose of your "system automation" does it support ethical and legal practices to a business mission? Is it flexible, can you adapt to changes and details of a deal, to market conditions, to the necessary flow of work that must be required. If you don't know that flow or aren't aware of operational probabilities, the system won't work very well.

I'm sure there are some good administrative support systems out there, but they need to mesh with the needs of an organization or they can't organize that organization. Do you really understand what you need to do? A mole doesn't!  :)