Follow Up & Follow Through

Mike: Welcome back to the Flipnerd.com REI Classroom, where experts from across the real estate investing industry teach you quick lessons to take your business to the next level. And now, let’s meet today’s expert host.
Brian: Hey, everybody, Brian Meara here from The Investor Entourage, today’s host for the REI Classroom. Today’s topic is going to be the importance of follow up and follow through.
Mike: This show was sponsored by Passiverental.com.
Brian: Okay, guys, one of the things that I’ve always noticed about people is their tendency to quit too soon, their tendency to not properly follow up and follow through. Many, many years ago, one of my initial mentors taught me that if you’re not going to follow up, if you’re not going to follow through to the end, don’t even start.
So let me give you an example. So when we’re talking about mailing, doing direct mail for, let’s just say, short sales, surprise right, what I do, you’ll buy a list. Now, there are two different types of lists you could buy. You could buy your NOD list, your pre-NOD, that’s your notice of defaults, and you’re going to mail people. Or you could buy mortgage lates, right, people that are one, two, three months behind on their mortgage. People will buy a list. They’ll spend a few hundred dollars and they’ll create a postcard or they’ll do a handwritten letter and they’ll mail everybody.
Then, they sit back and they wait for the phone to ring, and then they want to know, “Hey, I guess that list was horrible. It sucked. Nothing’s happening. What’s going on?” I’m like no, no, no, no, no. You have to understand, guys, in the world of marketing, specifically marketing for real estate, you have to do numerous what they call touches. They say that the average sale or conversion takes place anywhere between the fifth and the seventh touch, depending on what type of marketing you’re doing.
For example, you buy a list of these leads, the pre-NODs, the NODs, whatever you’re buying, and you start a campaign. Well, here’s what I suggest. The ones that have phone numbers, you want to call them. That would be touch number one. Then, you want to send a handwritten letter. That would be touch number two. You want to send another handwritten letter as a follow-up. That would be touch number three. Then, maybe you switch it up with a postcard, then maybe you go back to a handwritten letter. You’re saying, “My God, Brian, that’s so many. That’s a lot of mailings, that’s a lot of postage, it’s a lot of money.”
Yeah, I get it, but here’s the thing. If you’re not going to do it right, if you’re not going to follow all the way through, save your time, save your money and don’t even begin. Because, guys, nobody is going to get one letter from you and pick it up and say, “Oh, wow, look at this. This guy wants to buy my house for below market value. Why don’t I call him up right away?” You understand? It doesn’t matter if you’re going after high equity situations, probates, short sales, pre-foreclosures. You have to determine in your mind and commit to yourself that if you’re going to do a campaign, you’re going to do it right, you’re going to carry it all the way through, and that’s when you’re going to start to see results.
Now, granted, you may get lucky. Don’t get me wrong. You may send out a mailing and you get a bunch of calls. The point is this. If you want to see the true results, if you want to see the true conversions where you’re actually going to put deals under contract and start making some money, you have to be willing to see it through.
Now, another thing I’ll tell you, which a lot of people may not feel comfortable doing, is door knocking. Door knocking is part of your follow-up and your follow through, because look at it like this. If you slip a door knock in there, meaning, in other words, you have their address and you just went and literally knocked on the door. What happens if they’re not there? What happens if it’s vacant? Well, if it’s vacant, that’s a whole other talk for another day. You could do some skip tracing.
But, the point is if it is someone’s home and they’re still living there, you can have a conversation with them. If they’re not there, but it looks obviously like it’s still being lived in, you could leave a door hanger, a piece of material behind, a little brochure, something with your business card. A handwritten letter with your business card is actually what I recommend, and you go from there, guys.
Again, I just want to make sure you’re not setting unrealistic expectations for yourself when you’re talking about direct marketing. That also goes with the phone. If you think about it, you’re going to be on the phone with somebody, you’re going to talk to them, you’re going to need to have, most times, numerous conversations with them to be able to convert them to whatever it is you’re trying to sell them, whether it’s you buying their house or whatever the case may be. Keep that in mind as you’re doing your marketing. Don’t quit. Follow up, follow through to the end, and you’re going to see a lot of good results. Until the next time, have a great day and get out there and make some money.
Mike: passiverental.com is your source for turnkey done-for-you rental properties. If you’d like to be an investor and not a landlord, please visit passiverental.com to learn how to purchase cash flowing, professionally managed rental properties in the hottest rental markets across the country. We can also help connect you with financing for your next property. Invest the easy way today and get started by visiting passiverental.com.
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