Prospects or Suspects

[DineenJJ]

Hi,

I`m getting kind of confused.... I`ve sent out about 50 yellow letters to expired listings and out of 9 calls back so far, only 2 have left any information with PATlive.

Most of the people refuse to leave information, hang up, or want me to call them directly. I`m wondering if the people who DO NOT leave information and request me to call them back are prospects or "suspects". Honestly, I don`t think these people are too motivated if they don`t leave any information but I`m not 100% sure, so some expert advice would be greatly appreciated.

Maybe my PATlive introduction needs tweaking...

Thanks!

Dineen

 

[GaryMcGowan]

QUOTE (DineenJJ @ Nov 23 2009, 10:43 AM) Hi,

I`m getting kind of confused.... I`ve sent out about 50 yellow letters to expired listings and out of 9 calls back so far, only 2 have left any information with PATlive.

Most of the people refuse to leave information, hang up, or want me to call them directly. I`m wondering if the people who DO NOT leave information and request me to call them back are prospects or "suspects". Honestly, I don`t think these people are too motivated if they don`t leave any information but I`m not 100% sure, so some expert advice would be greatly appreciated.

Maybe my PATlive introduction needs tweaking...

Thanks!

Dineen

If they are asking for you to call them back they are probably suspects. But if you have some time on your hands why not call a couple back. You never know. I placed a handful of calls on the weekend to FSBO`s, all suspects but it gave me great experience in talking to people and learning how to get the info right away. Tried a couple different approaches and techniques. Note I only spent an hour doing it.

 

[tonypeters]

Dineen, if they will not leave any information they are most likely "SUSPECTS"! However, if some are requesting for you to call them back, it would not hurt to do so. With that said, it is your job as a "SOPHISTICATED" real estate investor to filter them as "QUICKLY" as possible!

P.S. when you first start out on the "Creative Real Estate Investing" path, it does NOT hurt to hone your skills on a few suspects. The more people you speak with, the BETTER you will get at it! How do you think I know this?

QUOTE (DineenJJ @ Nov 23 2009, 08:43 AM) Hi,

I`m getting kind of confused.... I`ve sent out about 50 yellow letters to expired listings and out of 9 calls back so far, only 2 have left any information with PATlive.

Most of the people refuse to leave information, hang up, or want me to call them directly. I`m wondering if the people who DO NOT leave information and request me to call them back are prospects or "suspects". Honestly, I don`t think these people are too motivated if they don`t leave any information but I`m not 100% sure, so some expert advice would be greatly appreciated.

Maybe my PATlive introduction needs tweaking...

Thanks!

Dineen

 

[DineenJJ]

Thanks Tony that cleared things up. I agree it doesn`t hurt to practice but it can get to a point where you are wasting your time.

 

[Ian]

QUOTE (DineenJJ @ Nov 23 2009, 07:43 AM) Hi,

I`m getting kind of confused.... I`ve sent out about 50 yellow letters to expired listings and out of 9 calls back so far, only 2 have left any information with PATlive.

Most of the people refuse to leave information, hang up, or want me to call them directly. I`m wondering if the people who DO NOT leave information and request me to call them back are prospects or "suspects". Honestly, I don`t think these people are too motivated if they don`t leave any information but I`m not 100% sure, so some expert advice would be greatly appreciated.

Maybe my PATlive introduction needs tweaking...

Thanks!

Dineen


Most expired listing don`t include the home owner`s name. How were you able to access such info?

 

[DineenJJ]

I didn`t use names, I just started the letter with

"Hello, My name is..."

Then left the name off of the envelope and just mailed to the address. Still got just over 20% response rate but no good prospects. The expired listings tend to not be that motivated from what I just experienced. I`m guessing a lot of them haven`t sold their home because it`s overpriced for what the market is willing to pay.

 

[tonypeters]

Dineen, you are most welcome! As I always say, the questions are important, but it`s how you go about asking the questions and in what order that REALLY matters! How do you think I know this?

QUOTE (DineenJJ @ Nov 23 2009, 04:18 PM) Thanks Tony that cleared things up. I agree it doesn`t hurt to practice but it can get to a point where you are wasting your time.

 

[MelanieDriedger]

Hi Dineen,
I`m interested in how you got expired listings. That doesn`t seem an easy list to acquire unless you are a realtor.
Melanie

QUOTE (DineenJJ @ Nov 24 2009, 04:07 PM) I didn`t use names, I just started the letter with

"Hello, My name is..."

Then left the name off of the envelope and just mailed to the address. Still got just over 20% response rate but no good prospects. The expired listings tend to not be that motivated from what I just experienced. I`m guessing a lot of them haven`t sold their home because it`s overpriced for what the market is willing to pay.

 

[lanedry77]

Hi Dineen,

First, make sure your greeting from PATLive is `Hello?`, and not their default `Hi`. `Hi` just doesn`t sound right to Canadians.

Second, and far more importantly - 50 letters is not many yellow letters!

Remember - this form of marketing is just a numbers game. The numbers I like to use (which can be a bit conservative depending on your target recipient) are;

1,000 - letters sent.
100 people call you back - 10% response rate.
50 people have a house they *may* be interested in selling. the other 50 are just being polite because they got your letter and are calling to say they don`t have a house for sale.
25 people *may* be interested in selling for an under-market price. the other 25 want full retail (or more!)

so then you`re left with 25 prospects by starting with 1,000. 2.5% are prospects, 97.5% are suspects. If you can put one deal together from that 25, you`re going to do well (and make a much bigger profit than the cost of 1,000 letters by the way).

The problem you are running into is that by sending out only 50 letters, a 2.5% ratio of prospects is exactly 1.25 people... That`s not much selection of prospects to put one deal together.

So, your first step is to make sure your PATLive script sounds good.

Then, send more letters. MANY MORE LETTERS.


Full Disclosure: Being behind YellowLettersCanada.com, I want to point out that I`m not saying that to get an order - Make the letters yourself or get them wherever you want. The bottom line is that marketing is a number game, and you need to go way beyond 50 letters to get a deal.



Thanks,

David.

 

[DineenJJ]

Thanks Dave, I`m saving some money up right now to buy more yellow letters and send them out, I know 50 is a small sample size. And after writing 50 myself, I wouldn`t recommend it! It was time I could have spent doing more productive things that`s for sure.