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Cold Calling Anyone

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So, I began my investing journey with cold calling, texts, and emails. The least to say it was brutal and picking up the phone was like picking up one of AZ's Cactus. I was able to complete a CA and had money for marketing and coaching from no other than the great LO professor MC.

 

However, with medical issues of myself and my wife, my funds have plummitted into the red. So I am one to never give up and am forced to go back to the Cold Calls.

 

Currently I am taking Claude Diamonds approach in which when the seller picks up the phone I play the part of only having their number and not knowing why I am calling. The converation plays out to me asking questions and trying to find motivation or emotional need to sell the property.

 

However, unlike the great Claude Diamond I find a lot of resistant when I act clueless on why I am calling.

 

I am wondering if there are others out there making Cold Calls or with methods of getting leads for nearly free.

 

If there is no number I do MC's email, however, I am seeking of more of a faster return so that is why I am lead to Calls.

 

Any suggestions.

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So, I began my investing journey with cold calling, texts, and emails. The least to say it was brutal and picking up the phone was like picking up one of AZ's Cactus. I was able to complete a CA and had money for marketing and coaching from no other than the great LO professor MC.

 

However, with medical issues of myself and my wife, my funds have plummitted into the red. So I am one to never give up and am forced to go back to the Cold Calls.

 

Currently I am taking Claude Diamonds approach in which when the seller picks up the phone I play the part of only having their number and not knowing why I am calling. The converation plays out to me asking questions and trying to find motivation or emotional need to sell the property.

 

However, unlike the great Claude Diamond I find a lot of resistant when I act clueless on why I am calling.

 

I am wondering if there are others out there making Cold Calls or with methods of getting leads for nearly free.

 

If there is no number I do MC's email, however, I am seeking of more of a faster return so that is why I am lead to Calls.

 

Any suggestions.

 

Have you tried putting an ad on Craigslist to help you with the cold calling? I was able to find somebody that I pay $2 per completed client worksheet. If they don't get a complete worksheet (around 10 minutes total to complete), I still pay her 20 cents per minute.

 

She liked the rate, because it works out to $12/hour. The person I found works from home and is familiar with real estate (she worked with REO's and other RE transactions). She answered calls in a call center, and does lots of administrative work from her home. I would suggest finding somebody like this and offering similar terms to that person.

 

For you it should help screen out a bunch of the dead end (rude) people when cold calling. I have found paying 'cents per minute' works great, because you are actually paying for time worked vs somebody working on an hourly basis. BTW, I had her sign an Independent Contractor Agreement with all terms outlined. This way the person will not be an employee (no taxes for you).

 

Hope this helps.

Erik

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Cold calling is tough, Tim, and I haven't taken that approach in a long time. What have your early efforts produced?

Erik, are you saying that you have this assistant make your cold calls and do the preliminary screening? I think the only way this could be successful would be to have someone with experience, which is precisely who you seem to have found. Good work.

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Cold calling is tough, Tim, and I haven't taken that approach in a long time. What have your early efforts produced?

Erik, are you saying that you have this assistant make your cold calls and do the preliminary screening? I think the only way this could be successful would be to have someone with experience, which is precisely who you seem to have found. Good work.

 

Michael,

 

I do some calls and prescreening as well, be she has a prettier voice than I do & is probably less inclined to tell a caller to "stick it where the sun don't shine". I have a phone system where if somebody calls my business phone it will ring here and at her location at the same time.

 

Yes, she is very familiar with real estate and was definitely a good find. Works well too, because she is located in a town around 20 miles away from me, so she can help cover that area instead having to drive over there myself.

 

She also covers Craigslist, the FSBO sites, plus looks around town for properties too.

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I cold call off and on, cant say I've had much luck (though I have picked up a few investor-buyers that way), though it's one of those things that for the cost you can't really complain (if you've got the time). I too have tried Claude's "ignorant cold call" approach and while I can laugh about the responses I got now, at the time it certainly didn't make me want to dial more numbers! I think it probably had more to do with how I sounded (nervous and probably a little "scripted") than the technique itself.

 

More recently I've been calling and starting the calls off more like an interested buyer and after getting the info I need from them, transitioning to the cooperative assignment type of lease-option pitch. ("Hey, I saw your ad on CL... is the house still available? I'm an investor, I'm looking for something in ______, could you tell me a little about the house? does it need any repairs or updating? How's the neighborhood? Sounds nice, how come you're selling? Do you have a timeframe in mind for when you wanted to move? Already have another place lined up? Have you had a lot of interest so far? Any offers? What were you going to do if the house doesn't sell by _____, rent it? etc. etc. etc.")

 

What I run in to typically is the owner isn't really pressed to sell or especially this time of year, they want to wait before they consider alternative options because spring/summer = buyers season.

 

Working with warm leads (who have called YOU) is so much more pleasant, I highly recommend doing everything you can to get people calling YOU so that you don't have to call them. And/or finding someone to make the cold calls for you, like Erik is doing.

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Thats a good idea, I will probably blast out emails to everyone to see if they are open to a lease purchase, and if they are, I will try to get them on the phone asap.

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Because, cold calling from CL, most all posts are FOR RENT not FOR SALE. I tried your approach before, and everytime I said I was an investor looking for a property in that area, they just come back with its not for sale...and I try to have to explain the whole thing.

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Maybe begin the conversation with something like: "I saw your house for rent on craigslist, I was wondering if you were planning to keep this as a rental property long term or if you were thinking of selling at some point in the next couple years?"

Sure, you'll still get some NO's but that's fine, they're not your prospects anyway. But then people won't feel like they have to "correct you" by reminding you that the ad they posted was for RENT.

 

Or maybe "I was wondering, how come the last tenants moved out?" and depending on their answer you might have a problem of theirs to work with (eviction, didn't pay on time, just up and disappeared, etc.), and explain the advantages of working with lease-purchase tenant/buyers rather than regular renters

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Tim, you may not want to label yourself as an "investor" out of the gate too.

Agreed. The "I" word is dirty, at least down here in south FL, home to the likes of Bernie Madoff and many others. :unsure:

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More recently I've been calling and starting the calls off more like an interested buyer and after getting the info I need from them, transitioning to the cooperative assignment type of lease-option pitch. ("Hey, I saw your ad on CL... is the house still available? I'm an investor.....

 

Hey Chris,

 

Have you found that by using this approach it catches the seller off guard by acting as a buyer, then they find out later you are a business? I have done this approach in the past.

 

Recently on first contact, whether you actually reach the seller live or leave a message, right off the bat we are saying, "Hi this <name>. I am with <business name>. We privately purchase & lease properties.

 

If we reach the seller live, we ask, "Is this a good time for you to talk with me about the house?", or if leaving a message, "Please give us a call back at your convenience so that we can get some more information about your house."

 

I would like to find out what others on the forum are doing. Acting like an individual first and then switching over to "I'm with a company", OR "I'm with a company" right off the bat.

 

It's been my experience that doing the individual first, then I'm a business second gets some seller's mad and they think your are deceitful. I'm not saying that those on the forum taking this approach are wrong, but this has been my experience so far.

 

Thanks,

Erik

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I think it depends how and what you say, whether or not it matters that you start out as an individual or as a business. I know I have lost some prospects at the point where they discover that I'm not the one that's going to live in the house, that I'm looking to make money (even though it's not from them), and MC is right that saying you're an investor puts defenses up in a lot of cases. My thoughts as of the time I'm writing this post are that by immediately saying I'm looking for an investment property and continuing on with my qualification questions, I'm putting it out there that a.) I'm not going to live in the house b.) I'm looking to earn a profit from the real estate in one way or another, but I don't linger on that part of the discussion... just keep the conversation moving and get the prospect talking! From that point on you're pretty much good, because you're not being "sneaky" by talking about the property in a way that might sound like you're looking for yourself, and when the "company" parts of the conversation come up, it adds up and the prospects alarm bells don't start going off (*Warning! Warning!* This man's words don't add up! He said he's looking for himself and now he's talking about his company!).

 

I also take the position that I'd LOVE to pay cash for their property and buy it as an investment for myself. But what? Oh, you can't do any better than that price? And you NEED that much each month for a payment? Hmm... Well, I can't pay that much (if I were to pay cash I'd be closer to X, which is obviously a lot less than what you need, and after all the house is in good shape and you're not desperate to sell...), and if I was to take over the property and make payments directly to you (SLO) I could probably give you your price, but I'd need a monthly payment closer to Y.... Mr. Seller, there is a way I might be able to get you what you're looking for though. I/my company work with bruised credit buyers, we match 'em up with our mortgage broker who works with them to fix their credit and get them a loan, and they pay us a fee for our services. What if could get you the price and rent you're asking by matching you up with one of these buyers, and don't charge you a dime? Would that be something you'd consider? ;)

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Also I'm not sure what your call-back rate is on voicemails, my theory on leaving voicemail is LESS IS MORE.

I usually leave my name, say I'm calling about the house in _____ I saw on craigslist or wherever, could you give me a call back at 555-1212 when you have a second?

 

I know when I get a voicemail if it sounds like a salesperson or company (i.e. formal, info-packed, etc.) I'll either ignore it (Sorry, got too much other stuff going on to return calls for services I didn't request!) or pre-screen it a little further before calling back... but some person leaves their name and says they're calling about the house they saw the sign for or the ad or whatever... well, that's someone I want to talk to!

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I have personally done a ton of cold-calling, and my thought is that is used to work better than it does now--not that it can't work. But I think things like the internet, SEO and social media can work just as well or better if done right.

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