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Many real estate agents use direct mail, but few know how to make a direct mail follow up phone call, which can greatly improve your direct mailing return on investment and conversion rates.
For me, the #1 rule for making follow up phone calls: Don’t sound like a telemarketer.
I have said it before, but I will say it again, I don’t like pre-written real estate scripts. Yes, you should practice what you are going to say. But it needs to sound natural. Calm. Relaxed. If you sound like a script or robot or like you are selling something, people are going to be turned off!
Okay, now that we have that cleared up, let’s talk about what we are mailing before you make that direct mail follow up phone call. If you need some great ideas Check this out and Get 100 Free Postcards while you’re at it too!
Ideally, it needs to be something that generates a reason to call them. You could mail an open house invitation – then call them a few days prior to the open house to see if they will be able to make it or if they would want to tell anyone they know about the open house. You could mail them a sports schedule and call to confirm they received it. You could even mail a letter that tells the person you will be calling them – but if you do that, then you HAVE to call them, or it will seem like you’re not serious.
Once you have a good direct mail piece that gives you a valid reason to call the person, then you are ready to learn how to make a direct mail follow up phone call. (Make sure also that the person you are calling is someone who is not on the do-no-call list or can fall into the exceptions, nobody wants to get into any trouble!)
You’ll want to start out friendly – “Hi, is Mr. Potential Seller there? Oh hi, this is Joe Agent from ABC Real Estate, how are you today? Oh good…”
Now, insert the reason for your direct mail follow up phone call:
“Anyways, I wanted to make sure you got that [insert whatever it is that you mailed] that I mailed to you, it should have come maybe Tuesday or Wednesday, did you see it?”
Next, tell them why you wanted to make sure:
I’m really excited about [open house or whatever it is that your purpose is behind mailing them] and wanted to make sure you knew about it.
Ask for Some Action with Your Follow Up Phone Call:
The purpose of a follow up call is to get the person to act. Don’t be too bold, but don’t beat around either. Something like “Do you think you can make it to the open house?” or “Would you like to get together this Thursday or Friday and talk about what your home would sell for?” “Would you like me to send a sports schedule to anyone else you know?” or “Do you think you’d like to take advantage of this special offer?” If they’re not interested, or if you want to take an extra step: “Hey, do you know somebody else that might be interested in this?”
Insert Small Talk if Appropriate:
Small talk is okay and will make your direct mail follow up phone call seem much more natural and a lot less rehearsed. I define small talk as “so how’s the family?” “did you catch that sports team game last night?” “what do you think of the school’s new Rugby Coaching?” You don’t have to go on forever with this, it just seems a lot more personable and that you care about the person instead of trying to go straight for a sale or referral.
Thank Them and Say Goodbye:
Some people when making their phone calls just don’t know when to hang up. It’s very easy: “Hey it’s been great talking with you, I don’t want to hold you up so I’ll let you go. Do you have my number or email? Great – call me up anytime I’d love to chat more with you, maybe get coffee or something. Thanks again! Have a great night!”
That’s it! You’ve done you direct mail follow up phone call! I will stress again THIS IS NOT A COLD CALLING SCRIPT! BE NATURAL IN YOUR PHONE CALLING! If you are interested in more cold calling tips though, you may want to check out my post 10 Cold Calling Tips.
Do you make phone calls after sending direct mail? You know I always welcome comments, so feel free to share your experiences, thoughts, and suggestions below!
5 Comments
I am not in the real estate business, but i am getting in to marketing by phone, offend as a follow up to a direct mail.
This post was definately a nice adition to my limited knowledge on the area, thanks
I am currently a Marketing Assistant for a real estate sales team. I am starting sales in January. I am definitely using this technique. I am finding tons of great tips on this site, thank you very much!
I found when making follow-up calls whether direct mail related or web related it really helps to have a customer service approach. Stating that it is just a courtesy call to make sure that they were able to get the information they wanted or needed help finding anything. I try to keep it as far away from a sales call as possible.
These are good tips. You need to remain nice and cordial to ensure that you can get that sale!
This is the hard one. Because it is difficult to scale. But this is the best tool for granular database development. Calling prospects gives you the opportunity to edit your database. Take down little bits of information that they tell you. Like,” no we arent moving until my daughter graduates from high school.”
This gives you the opportunity to ask “oh what grade is she in now” When the prospect says, “she is a junior” you know that you have a bonifide event happening in the next 2 years. That client should be on low touch contact champaign for this year and high touch for next year.
You dont get this kind of information from any other way but phone contact.