Not Mailing but hand delivering, what is your opinion.

[Morristown]

I have been mailing 2 times a month for a while now, well actually it has fallen back to about 1 time every 24 days as of late, but I alternate between sending a post card and sending a trifold envelope stuffed neighborhood market report with some extra tidbits in it as well.

Each time I mail the news letter my postage bill is about $300 and so I am likely to change how I do this until winter. What I am thinking of doing is making this same market report, trifold it, print on the back side the title of the news letter, then staple it shut and hand delivering it on my Saturday mornings which are not filled with showing homes to buyers right now.

What do you think?

Jim

[ResaleBroker]

Two things come to my mind immediately. First, good pieces pay for themselves time and time again. If they don't then an audit might be in order. Second, I would recommend only hand delivering anything if that is the highest and best use of your time. If that is the highest and best use of your time then an audit might be in order.

[Morristown]

The neighborhood I market to has gone from a historic 6.5% turn rate over the last 10 years, to the trailing 12 months having a turn rate of less than 2%. The demographics of the neighborhood tell me that we must soon return to at least the historic turn rate, so I want to continue to build my name and brand recognition.

What I am basing my assumption on is as follows
just over 1,000 homes.
I Have personally been to every door in the last year and found the following:
about 40% of the homes are owned and occupied by people over 70 years old, of that 40% my guess is about 30% of those people are over 80 years old.
Their are a number of people (I am guessing 15%) who live her who moved here knowing they would only be here in New Jersey for 5 years or less, so likely a good number of these people will also want to move.
For this area, my neighborhood, though nice, is not considered to be a upper end neighborhood, so there are a fair number of people who crave to be in a larger more luxurious home.

Of course I could be all wrong and the historic average may drift way down, but I think I am making a fairly safe bet on these 1,000 homes.

As to best use of my time, I admit it, my real estate business is slow right now. I have clients but many are on hold or taking their time and not out looking at homes real often. Also I am actually more likely to show the current home buyer clients homes on week day afternoons than Saturday morning for some reason.

I do hear what you are saying ResaleBroker, and if you have suggestions for better use of that time, please I am open to them.

Jim

Jim

[Malok]

Based on all of those conditions you described, sounds like it might be a fine idea to try, particularly since things are slow for you.


I did the same thing when I first got into the business in 1992 and I needed to drum up some business/create name recognition in my farm area.

[sellinggalveston]

be sure not to use the "mail box" ... some agents got into trouble for that... seems like a good way to make yourself known... I dont know any agents who walk entire areas... should earn you some points in the area though.

[ResaleBroker]

Here are a few ideas to consider...

• The highest and best use of a salesperson's time is engagement in the income producing activities of prospecting and selling (to include advancing the sale).

• A key to success in business is leveraging your resources (time, money, efforts, etc.)

• When choosing which resources to invest in process your options through the filter of ROI (Return on Investment).

• Keys to successful lead generation include:
  • Awareness (Does the prospective customer know of you, your company and the products/services you offer?)
  • Understanding (Does the prospective customer understand how you, your company and the products/services you offer can help them meet their needs?)
  • Attitude (Does the prospective customer have a positive attitude about you, your company and the products/services you offer?)

[Discover Davis Homes]

.

What I am basing my assumption on is as follows
just over 1,000 homes.
I Have personally been to every door in the last year and found the following:
about 40% of the homes are owned and occupied by people over 70 years old, of that 40% my guess is about 30% of those people are over 80 years old.


Jim

Jim

Because this neighborhood has a high percentage of people over 70, you may want to look into the SRES designation www.seniorsrealestate DOT com/sarec/ or do some research on generational selling. I think you will find that many of the owners in the 70 + age group and older will not be selling by themselves and you may find it useful to market both to the owner as well as other family members who will likely be involved in selling the home.

[jasoncrouch]

Carolyn - This seems like good advice for all of us who live in areas that may be desirable for retirees (Austin seems to be among those now), with the gigantic wave of baby boomers who are looking for their "destination" homes. Great comments!

[Borino]

I designed and ran several long-term direct mail campaigns for myself and also other agents. One of the largest was from 12 to 15 thousand pieces monthly.

I can tell you one thing, geographical list (farm), especially not well cleaned up and narrowed down, always brought the lowest ROI.

We had the best results from old expired lists, FSBO lists, non-owner occupied, vacant rentals, and owners over 70 that lived in the same house for 20+ years.

It takes a lot more work to set up a good set of lists like that. More research, more leg work, and more maintenance, no question (a good title company rep and their team can be very helpful). But the results are, IMHO, well worth it.

Second most important thing is to match your message with your audience. Everything in your piece must fit - not just what you say, but how, even things like the font size.

The closer you get to your potential customer, and the better you can answer their question WHY they need you, the more your phone rings.

I have some direct mail samples I've collected over the last couple of years, both real estate and other industries. I put them together with my comments in an e-book. PM and I'd be glad to email you a copy.

Jim, I think you already have it, right? Was it helpful?

[jasoncrouch]

Borino - This is going to seem a little dumb, but I haven't actually figured out how to PM on REW. Could you tell me how? Also, I would be very interested in seeing the samples that you have collected. You could email me at jason(at)austintexashomes.com. Thanks!