If a seller enters their info on your website or via your live answering service, but they are not motivated or they have an unappealing loan, do you respond to them in some way? I usually send a short e-mail stating that their house doesn’t meet our buying criteria, if an e-mail address was supplied. Otherwise, I just ignore the lead. I heard one guru say that you should contact the seller because you don’t want word to spread that you don’t follow up.
Your thoughts…
Ben
I mostly ignore them. The few I tried to reply to were not happy so I really don’t care to hear unmotivated window shoppers whine. I have been however contemplating replying to all of them via email since it is less interaction. I want however to come up with an email template to justify my rejection the same way credit cards do it. Maybe they are willing to come out of pocket with some money.
I am also starting to refer them to realtors in my network.
how about ; your house doesn’t fit our buying criteria at present.
if your numbers change in the future please feel free to contact me via email. send this email to each client that doesn’t fit your criteria.
common courtesy will get you customers later , when they ARE motivated.never flush away a lead :flush. your business is built on word of mouth. a happy client may tell 5 others about you. an unhappy client will tell 10 to 20 people about you. i’ve been a business owner for 20 years & this is true enough to be carved in stone. turn people down nicely ; it’s called tact . it’s like telling them to drop dead so nicely that they look forward to the funeral . LOL
harriet(fl)
I’ve heard a figure of 54 people that will directly or indirectly hear bad things about you if you piss someone off. In contrast 10 people will hear about it if they are happy. I would definitely tread lightly on the rejections and as Fadi said it may be good to kindly tell them that it doesn’t meet your criteria but Bob the Realtor can certainly help them sell their house, etc. Give them Bob’s info and thank them for their submission.
Here is my take. Since its my website, and pat live call and my 800# as long as I have info we are going to have a conversation. It may or may not be me. But its going to be someone. Sellers are not necessary because of there home being for sale. If it has a no equity they can pay you to buy the home. Sure it may be a rare instant. But why not make an offer.
How many leads do you guys get through referrals from other potential sellers to really worry about it at this point in your career?
In response to bcinvests question, I would probably send them a brief follow-up email stating their house doesn’t currently meet your standards like harriet said. That way, people know that you are a reputable source that they can maybe come back to later on.
Unfortunately with business, word seems to pass a lot quicker and easier about bad experiences versus good ones.
Why not follow up on the lead via phone? Sellers can and will often submit a house with their best case scenario in mind. Sellers usually know if their house is a dump, but they rarely tell you up front…especially in a submission form. Surely there is not an experienced investor on this board that can honestly say they have never had a seller mislead them and then once the truth is dicovered, be willing to lower the price. This is especially true when you befriend the seller and make them like/trust you.
I look at it like this: Whatever my average profit is on a deal, that’s the amount I stand to lose by not picking up the phone to get a better feel for where the seller really is. If your average profit on a deal is 20k, it should be worth it to pick up the phone and have a 2 minute conversation. Also, I have done countless deals with sellers who were not motivated enough at first contact, but become motivated enough at a later date. Heck, in this market everyone is going to become motivated enough sooner or later.
I always call b/c its a great way to keep practicing that “seller’s script” that tells you painlessly if the seller is D E S P E R A T E or not.
You have that script, right?
Always open for new ideas. Please share. :beer
I bought Victor’s “Pre-foreclosures Short Sales” course for only $10 and it includes everything including the seller script.
his store–> http://stores.ebay.com/Cool-Real-Estate-Investing-Tools
If you then sign-up to his Yahoo group:
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/Cool-Real-Estate-Investing-Tools/?yguid=306775177
you can get this other seller-script written by Ted Wood:
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/Cool-Real-Estate-Investing-Tools/message/241
Well worth the $10 dollars! A no-brainer investment. :biggrin