I would like to know what my fellow investors think is better? I personally started with an 800# disguissed as a local # and had all my calls go to a greeting. That didn’t work out so well because I would get a lot of people not leaving messages.
I then started using my cell # and took all calls. It got me in the action and combined with more experienced gain put some deals together. I remember one cell phone call where the guy didnt leave a message. I called the guy back who was a young guy who was shy and said he didnt like to leave messages. Long story short he happened to be my first wholesale deal and I made $15K. A returned called profited me $15K , I’m not making this up.
I now have lots of marketing and leads are coming in so I want to automize this if possible. However I am afraid to lose deals because of people not leaving messages. I currently also use a Google # that forwards calls to my cell phone #. It has started to get confusing as I find myself using both , the Google # and my cell # on marketing material.
So what do you guys think ? Cell phone vs 800# vs 800#/local # (Google voice)? Do you think it makes a difference with regards to sellers vs buyers? Thanks!
Very broadly speaking, an 800 number is appropriate for buying, since many sellers live out of the area and appreciate not spending money to call us long distance. Also it does appear more businesslike. However, more importantly than an 800 number is a live answer when they call.
Sellers have options, and if they’re in a jam, they’ll keep calling people until they get someone who’ll answer the phone.
On the other hand, a local area code and number is more appropriate for selling. It’s non-threatening to buyers …and this is a different psychology we’re dealing with. We can afford to allow buyers to go to voice mail, since many of their questions can be answered with an outgoing message. Otherwise we’ll be starting at scratch with every single caller. That’s what outgoing voice mail messages are good for.
Even then, at the end of the message, we give our buyers a way to get a hold of us personally with a push of a button. This is also why subscribing to a service such as voicenation.com is good. They’ll give us a local area code and number and provide as many extensions as we’ve got houses to sell. We can record a different outgoing message for each extension.
So, we would have a dedicated line (800 or not) for sellers that we answer personally; have another dedicated line for each property we’re selling; giving callers the option of talking to us personally.
After saying all that, it looks like you’ve answered your own question about using 800 numbers or not. You’ve found it’s better to have a local number, so either way, we would stick with what works best in our farm.
I would perfer to use your Google Voice # as a voicemail. Because, when they hear the phone ring they normally don’t leave messages. I found out in my studies that sending it to the voicemail is much better. And you still can call out from your personal cell phone for your GV# to show on there called ID. Stop the incoming calls from GV. Other wise they control you if they can call you when ever they want.
thanks guys. Hey Travis are you referring to letting sellers or buyers go to your GV#? I also use GV # but Im not sure whats so great about it other than hiding your real # .
I love my answering service. I’ve only ever had one person hang up with out going through the operator. When they call it goes through a 2 min explanation of how we buy houses (first they say press 0 at any time to talk to an operator).
Answering calls at all times of the day gets old. It’s hard to give them all the same effort and time when you’re at the bar and it’s 11pm! or the game is on!