Hi Chris,
Can you share which VM / VoIP service you are using? I would like to take that route too.
Many thanks,
Oswaldo Garcia
QUOTE (ChrisRichards @ Jan 1 2010, 09:12 PM) Great thread - Here`s our four-bits! We use voice mail (VM) with a local number from one of many Voice Over Internet Providers (VOIP). You can get a "soft phone" (software and head set for computer) if you want to answer the odd call, otherwise you can set it to ring 3 times then go to VM, as if you were on the other line. We began to set up with Pat Live but didn`t like many aspects of it including the wait the caller sometimes had, operators unfamiliar with our geography, accent, etc.
By screening with VM and answering a few of the calls directly, we immediately got a very clear feel of the dynamics of the campaign and we must say that we find the text of the Yellow Letter provocative and that it creates unnecessary alarm in a number of callers, to the point that the police were called. This became very apparent in the first week of our campaign, with some callers darn well freaked out. More about the police later....
So we tweaked our VM message, which starts off like a regular home greeting "Hi, you`ve reached so and so, sorry we can`t take your call..." It then says "if you are calling about the note we left about buying your property, we should have been more clear. We haven`t targeted your house specifically, but are generally targeting properties in your area by postal code. Please leave a message if you have a house for sale" This filters out the curious, non-sellers, calms the paranoid, and works lick-ity-split for those that want/need to sell. And guess what, those who want to sell leave a message, because our voice message matches the tone of the letter (a couple just looking to buy a property) and they have an un-met need. The VM system then forwards their message to my email address as a WAV file. Since my email comes to my Blackberry also, I can listen to the message from anywhere, highlight the caller`s number in the system email text and just press send if the timing is convenient for me to return the call. As this happens in minutes, I catch the caller and say, sorry I was on the other line, consistent with what they`d expect if someone had call waiting.
My response numbers appear consistent with others: about 22-25% response rate (including hang ups) on random postal codes. 1/3rd of these callers have a house for sale, though most are not motivated. However, some do need solutions and this is who we are trying to reach.
A final note on the "provocative tone" of the standard yellow letter text. Police in my community launched a fraud investigation a couple of weeks ago and contacted a number of "letter writers" including me. In fact, I have to call yet another Constable tomorrow morning. A weekly newspaper wrote an article and implied fraud and mentioned some names. Some Realtors are publicly suggesting letter writers are trying to take advantage of desperate home owners (so examine your motives and make sure you are providing a real service and will withstand the "red-carpet treatment" should you get called to explain yourself). So what is my response going forward? Starting with Monday`s mailing, I am going to tone down the letter and remove the homeowner`s name and specific property address and just say generically "my wife and I are looking to buy a property in this area. If you have a house for sale or know of one, please call" Our opinion is that we don`t want to create churn. Why get people to call PatLive, VM, etc. just to say they don`t have a house for sale, and, as many have pointed out, the ones with a need to sell are going to contact you regardless. Sure, the letter in its original "do not modify!!" form creates a GREAT response rate, but who cares - it`s the motivated sellers we are trying to reach, not to panic our citizens. I project my response rate will fall to 13%, half of those will still have a house for sale, and the police and senior citizens will sleep better. I`ll try to remember to post a follow-up to see if my ratios hold as projected.
