Finding prospective homeowners who are ready to sell is obviously a key aspect of a successful REI business. One great way to locate such ready prospects is through direct mail letters. The problem is what to include in your letter to get the prospect to open it. Much like bait used when trying to catch a fish, the bait doesn’t reel the fish in, it just interests them enough to bite.
You certainly don’t want to add just another piece of junk mail to your prospect’s already overflowing file. To get your letters opened, and acted on, you need to give them a good reason to look inside. Here are some ideas that can make your letters to prospective homeowners more interesting and more effective to get them to act, whether with a phone call, an email or a visit to your website.
- Use a creative tag on the envelope. Something like “This is the letter you’ve been waiting for” or “Here’s Your Chance!” will draw attention and help you get more opens overall.
- Include a short worksheet that your prospect can complete and fax to you. Be sure to add a place for their contact information. This will give you a realistic overview of their situation and give you a starting place for discussion and negotiation with such information as mortgage amount, payments, financial issues, etc.
- Include a call to action. So many new real estate investors forget this all-important portion of an effective letter. Ask your prospect to do something! “Call me now…” or “Visit my website for more information…” or even “Hang onto this letter for future use!” Whatever it is you want your prospect to do, ask them to do it.
- For the best results, put your call to action at the bottom of your letter, right above your signature. You can also include a postscript (P.S.) with a shortened version of the call to action such as “Call me now and let’s get started!” You may be surprised how effective this simple strategy can be.
- Once you’ve written your letter, proofread it and polish it until it shines. Remove any redundancies, shorten your sentences, remove jargon that an average homeowner may not understand, and more. Be sure your letter is the best example of who you are, what you can offer and what you want to say.
Writing a good prospect letter isn’t rocket science. It doesn’t have to be complicated. It just needs to contain some simple creative elements like these to make your prospect want to see what’s inside, and once there, make them take the action you’re hoping for.
