The Million Dollar Foreclosure System - Part 3 3-5
Chapter Four
DIRECT MARKETING PLAN
Now that you understand the situation facing the homeowner in default
you are introduced to your first challenge. You must not only deliver your
message to the homeowners, but you must get them to take notice of it. You will
do this in the most effective manner yet developed -A carefully designed
program of direct marketing.
You are offering a service that the distressed owner should know about.
You have the ability to help him save his equity, credit history and self respect.
At some point in the foreclosure process some of these distressed owners will
need and want your help.
You will market your service to these owners through the use of letters,
postcards and audio recordings. This is a very important combination. This
dynamic and effective technique is being revealed in these pages for the first
time. As simple as the system may seem, using letters, postcards and audio
produces a dramatic increase in the contact/response success rate. In other
words, you will get better results from your efforts with this system than any
other. By faithfully practicing this system it will be possible to earn a remarkable
amount of money each month. Not right away, but as the system builds
momentum over the months.
Let’s take a look at each element of the system individually.
LETTERS – Here you can present your message in detail. You can use proven
copy techniques to create a persuasive presentation of your service and its
benefits.
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Your letters must be created with a knowledge of good copy writing and
direct marketing sales techniques. The thrust of each letter must follow the
guidelines that have been proven successful by other direct marketers over
years of trial and error.
You see, you are just like any other businessperson with a service to sell.
First you must be able to target those who have need of your service. That’s
much easier for you than for other businesses, because readily available Notices
of Default lead you directly to your prospects.
After you identify those who may want your service, you must do an
excellent job of persuading them to contact you. To do this you can draw on all
of the time-tested marketing and selling techniques that have proven successful
for all kinds of other businesses. Selling and marketing is not so different from
one product or service to another. Your job is made even easier by having a
good understanding of the emotional and financial condition of your prospects.
Your skillfully composed letters play on all of the knowledge you have of
an owner in foreclosure and that allows you to make your message especially
powerful. You will fashion your message to play on the distressed owner’s fears
and anxieties. It will be designed to hit the owner with the reality of his situation
and punch home your ability to save him.
For your letters to be effective they must be read. Later we will cover
powerful ways to improve your chances for that, but realize that sometimes your
letters will be thrown away unopened. After all, don’t you throw away unread
many of the unsolicited letters you receive?
In some areas of the country owners in foreclosure will receive dozens of
letters from people trying to buy their property. These owners have already
learned to fear the delivery of mail, because it has brought nothing but overdue
bills and threatening letters from creditors for the last few months. They have
reached a point where they don’t want to see a letter from anyone outside of
their circle of friends and relatives. Mail they don’t expect or recognize may go
directly into the trash unopened. It is not wise to rely on letters alone.
POSTCARDS – No one can ignore a postcard. It is just about impossible to pull
a postcard from the mailbox without glancing at it.
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A person just seems compelled to take at least a quick look at a postcard,
so you can be sure that if your message is brief and well presented it will be
noticed by 95% of your prospects.
Your postcard must not identify your prospect as a distressed property
owner or someone who is facing foreclosure. Since a postcard can be read by
anyone delivering or receiving mail you must not expose the owner’s situation to
others. That will cause him embarrassment and further distress.
Neighbors and even relatives may have no idea of his problems and one
of your prime goals must be to protect his privacy and dignity whenever
possible.
The theme of your postcards should always be your willingness to buy
homes quickly. "FAST CASH FOR HOMES!", "NEED TO SELL YOUR HOME
FAST?". These are general messages for most people, but they have special
meaning for anyone facing the loss of their home through foreclosure. You can
deliver that message on a postcard with no fear of angering your prospect.
AUDIO RECORDINGS – This is the secret weapon that puts unmatched power
into your marketing efforts. This is a breakthrough in pre-foreclosure investing.
Audio will give you a huge advantage over all others contacting distressed
property owners. There is an even stronger feature of audio of which you should
be aware.
What is the most effective way to reach and influence a prospect? The
answer is – personal contact! One of the most successful ways to buy this kind
of property is to knock on the owner’s door two or three day before the
foreclosure sale. You would get a lot of doors slammed in your face. You would
meet a lot of angry people who will make some pointed comments about your
parents… BUT, some would sell you their homes.
The truth is that most of us just cannot or will not follow that course. It is
just too distasteful. Even if you start off with good intentions it is such an
unpleasant experience that you will soon be finding excuses for not doing it.
Very few people can do it and the ones that can are a strange, thick-skinned
bunch.
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The next best means of contact was by telephone. No more. The law now
says you cannot make those types of unsolicited sales calls. And that’s OK
because there is a better way.
When you send an audio recording tape to a prospect you can be fairly
sure that it will be listened to. It is rare that anyone receives a free cassette tape
or CD in the mail. How can they resist listening and hearing what it has to say?
Here’s the best part of using audio. Your prospect will choose a time to
play the tape or CD when he is ready to listen! Get the idea? He chooses the
moment. You are not interrupting his life. He is opening his mind to your
message! He is ready to listen and concentrate on your message!
It is the next best thing to being invited into his home for a chat. You are
not embarrassing him by knocking on his door. You are not disrupting his
evening with a phone call. He now has the time, so he puts the tape or CD into
his player and LISTENS! This is a magic moment. This is the moment that can
make you rich!
The audio message must center on how he can solve his problem with
your help. It must be delivered in a warm, friendly manner. The voice must be
pleasing and the delivery must be non-threatening.
Here again, you will use proven sales techniques to persuade the prospect
to contact you and accept your help. The message on the tape must be carefully
constructed to make the most of that magic moment when the prospect opens
his mind.
(Now that it is practical and relatively inexpensive you could substitute a video
presentation on cassette or CD for the audio tape… or send both.)
Letters, postcards, audio – the three building blocks of a successful pre-
foreclosure, direct marketing system. Used with skill and persistence you have
an all but fail-proof program. A program that has the potential to provide you with
a cash flow of exciting proportions.
It is very important for you to study and learn in two areas. The first is your
state’s foreclosure laws.
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We are stressing the pre-foreclosure period in this manual, but we will also
touch on other opportunities that can be found in the process. To have a real
chance for success you must fully understand foreclosure law. This knowledge
will allow you to not only make the most of every opportunity, but will keep you
out of trouble.
The law is not difficult to learn. A few hours spent with a practice guide will
do the trick. It is often a good idea to look in the law library for the one or two
books that will be the most helpful. Then contact the publisher and see about
purchasing a copy, so you will always have it available for reference.
The second area where you must gain knowledge is in marketing. In this
manual we will provide you with everything you need to get your system up and
running profitably. You will find the complete marketing plan explained in detail
with examples. All you have to do is personalize it and put it into action.
The reason you need to gain marketing knowledge is that situations
change and your marketing methods must change with them. For example
Because your material will produce results you will find that others may copy it –
EXACTLY!
As distressed property owners invite you into their homes for consultation,
ask them to show you what they have received from other investors. At some
point you will start to see copies of your letters, postcards and perhaps even
audio recordings.
Audio is a new concept and it will take longer for others to get the hang of
it, but success attracts copycats.
Most of your competition will never understand that the marketing of pre-
foreclosure skills is more important than any other aspect of this business. If you
stay up-to-date with new developments in marketing techniques you will be
miles ahead of the others. You will never have to worry about anyone copying
what you do, because you will be modifying and improving your marketing
material whenever necessary.
It is becoming very practical to produce and make copies of your own
audio CDs and videos. At some point you may use video instead of audio.
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As computers become common in every home you may search for the
distressed property owner’s e-mail address and reach him that way (be aware of
anti-spam laws). Just watch for new marketing opportunities.
Million of dollars are spent on direct marketing research every year. Much
of that information can be yours for just the cost of a few books or a magazine
subscriptions. By keeping up with new developments in the field you will
discover scores of ideas that will improve your marketing material and the
results they produce.
You will find some marketing resources listed in the appendix of this manual.
Search for current marketing books at Amazon.com. Do an Internet search on
Google for marketing information. You'll find plenty of material to keep you on
the cutting edge.
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Chapter Five
WHEN TO DO WHAT
In this chapter we will cover your marketing schedule. What you do and
when you do it. We suggest you begin by following this schedule exactly. At
some point you may wish to test some variations, but in the beginning follow the
proven path.
Here is the situation. You know who your prospect is -a homeowner in
default on his mortgage payments. You probably know where he is located -in
the property that is being foreclosed. You know his condition -distressed. With
this basic information you can plot a very effective strategy.
You must let him know you can solve some of his problems by purchasing
his home. That sounds easy, but remember he has retreated into a shell to
withdraw from his troubles and he hopes they will be gone when he comes out.
You have to do your very best to have your message coax him out of that shell
and notice what you have to offer.
There is just no way you can be sure of having your message in his hands
on the exact day that he decides to take action. To have the best chance of
reaching him during that critical period you must get your message into his home
again and again. You can do that by using direct mail marketing techniques.
The system is based on mailing your message to him every ten days. As
you learned earlier, many foreclosure actions take about four months from the
time the Notice of Default is recorded to the time the home will be sold at
auction. That means you have a chance to contact him as many as ten times.
With that frequency you will find the system produces very profitable results.
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You want your system to be as simple and easy to operate as possible.
You may be mailing hundreds of pieces of mail each month. If the system is
cumbersome and difficult you will find you just won't stick with it.
The letters, postcards and audio will be created so that they are
appropriate for use at any point during the pre-foreclosure period. You won't
have material that must be mailed in a certain sequence to any particular
homeowner.
Each of your mailing pieces will stand alone and be designed to motivate
the prospect, whether they are received during the first month of the process or
the day before the sale. This makes the system much easier to implement.
If you have a series of letters that are designed to be sent at a particular
time in the foreclosure period -that is, the first letter must be sent only during the
first month of the period, the second letter during the second month, etc -the
system becomes very cumbersome.
If you will follow the schedule described in this chapter you will find it
effective and efficient. It is so simple that the direct mail portion can easily be
turned over to a minimum wage employee after you get it up and producing.
Here is the schedule.
You will mail on these days each month:
1st of the month.
10th of the month.
20th of the month.
Three mailing per month allow you to reach your prospect about every ten
days, giving you a good chance to hit him with your message near the time his
mind will be open to it. Yes, it is a game of chance. You will reach some
prospects at exactly the correct time. You will miss on others. Still others will
save some or all of your mailings and act on them when they are ready. This document and accompanying materials are designed to provide authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered in it. It is for illustration purposes only and presented with the understanding that the author and publisher are not engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional opinions. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought. |
