Many real estate investors believe that marketing to get leads is as far as they need to go, but where a majority of investors stop is where the power of the auto-responder brings opportunity. Of course many investors understand the value of following up with your leads, but 9 times out of 10 investors are not utilizing the power of the auto-responder. This post will hopefully convince you to make the right choice and take advantage of the most powerful follow up tool you aren’t using.
For those of you who don’t know, an auto-responder is an automated email that keeps contact with your list of leads over a period of time. We’ll illustrate exactly what this means with an example:
A motivated seller arrives at your site and is intrigued by your special report, but in order to get the special report they must submit their name and email. So they proceed to enter their name and email where you are then notified of the new seller lead and provided with the information. You take their information and submit it into an auto-responder where you have a scheduled an ice breaker email that follows up what you covered in the special report and elaborate on the solutions you are capable of providing. The next email you have scheduled is set to be sent to them 2 days after they downloaded the report encouraging them further to take action to remedy their situation. This schedule can laid out over any amount of time with any sort of frequency. So maybe 3 months down the line you are the only investor still in contact with the seller as they finally come to terms with their situation and realize they need help.
The prior example illustrates a sort of “long game” where your presence and persistence gets the worm. As many investors will give up after a handful of attempted contacts, your automated schedule of contacts keeps coming thanks to the auto-responder. With really no extra work required you will beat out the large pool of investors possibly jockeying for their business.
It is important to note that there is a difference between using auto-responders for a “long game” with sellers and using a broadcaster for buyers...
A broadcaster is a tool that is best suited for keeping your buyers up-to-speed on what you can provide them. What a broadcast is is really a single email sent out to a list of recipients that is current and time sensitive. Another example will spell out the utility of this tool:
In the course of holding a 5 Day Sale you obtain a substantial list of emails from prospective buyers who are interested in a property, but aren’t interested in the one that you have up for auction. What you can do is take the list of emails and put them into your broadcast list. It is important to put them into your broadcast list because buyers are on a much shorter timeline than sellers. Sellers will wait it out thus requiring continual contact. However, buyers will be in the market for a shorter amount of time because once they buy, they are out of the market for a long time. With your broadcasts what you want to do is create current emails with the properties that you can put them into right then and there. If they unsubscribe to your broadcasts then chances are they probably found a new place to live and aren’t active leads any more.
Using an auto-responder and the broadcaster provide you with an incredibly efficient way to nurture your leads and have a presence as long as necessary. As the internet and email play an ever-so increasing role in lives of the average person it also becomes the preferred means of contact for them, so reach them where they are most likely to accept your message.
For those who are new to real estate investing an auto-responder provides an invaluable tool for using the power of networking and marketing to get their business off the ground. There is plenty to be made by connecting buyers, renters, and tenant buyers with investors who have property. No huge investment, no risk except for the time and networking materials. The system I have been using for some time now is Aweber.
Check back for more post in the near future about Auto Responders and how to use them effectively.
- No Money Down Real Estate Investing With Auto-Responders: Part 1 – Bringing Buyers to the Table