Brad,
It’s difficult to say what’s going on here as there are many variables involved.
And yes, as strange as it sounds, there actually is some skill involved in putting bandits out. You could also play with the sign message to see if slight changes make a difference. Colors can make a difference as well. You might try red text on yellow coroplast or mix it up a bit. Who’s going to call after seeing one bandit sign? Not many.
Ten signs is not doing bandits. If you ask your callers, many of them will tell you they called after seeing the third or fourth sign since they were finally able to see the number or write it down, or whatever. Many callers will tell you they just kept seeing your signs week after week so they decided to call.
I called the message and it didn’t make me want to leave a message. It sounds scripted and read. I think you’d be better off just leaving a simple message like “This is Name, I can’t get to the phone right now, but I’m very interested in talking to you about your property, blah, blah, blah.”
If you’re trying to screen out the calls because you’re getting to many to handle, that’s one thing. It doesn’t sound like that’s the case here. If you can’t answer the phone because of work or something else, it might be worthwhile to play with your message and make sure you’re notified of any messages so you can call them right back.
If you’re going to do flyers, then do flyers. Response rates are going to be low so you need to put some serious numbers out there. When I was doing flyers, I was doing 2,000 per month to get perhaps 10 to 15 calls. Occasionally, I still get a call months later from someone who saved the flyer, but my point is that putting 10 flyers out is not doing flyers.
Marketing is not a science and there are so many variables you have to keep testing, even after you find something that works. Track the numbers and keep testing, in an effort to improve your results. I’d also consider getting more than two methods going.
Anyway, there’s my two cents…