Does Direct Mail and Cold Calling Still Work?

Some people think direct mail and cold calling are dead, but those people are usually the ones doing it wrong. When you do these professionally and ethically, they are still power moves for finding off-market deals.

The Secret to Direct Mail

The goal of direct mail is to build a relationship with the homeowner. You want your name to mean “trustworthy” and “helpful.”

Response rates usually range from 0.5 percent to 4 percent. That might sound low, but if you send 5,000 mailers, you could get up to 200 responses. Not every response is a deal, but it starts the conversation.

Keep your message simple. Tell them who you are, what house you want to buy, and that you can close fast with cash. Mention that you will pay all closing costs and they don’t have to do any repairs. Give them multiple ways to reach you, like a phone number for texting and a website.

Cold-Calling the Right Way

Cold-calling gets a bad rap because people think it means badgering homeowners. It shouldn’t be like that. The goal is to start a conversation and see if you can help them.

The benefits are huge:

• You get immediate feedback.
• You can build rapport in real time.
• It is much cheaper than big ad campaigns.

The key is to follow the rules. Don’t call people on the “Do Not Call” registry and always respect opt-out requests. If you don’t want to make the calls yourself, you can hire a third-party company or bring on your own team.

The Mix of Quick and Slow

Henry’s “secret sauce” is mixing “quick touch” and “slow touch” strategies. Cold-calling is quick because you can reach people instantly. Direct mail is slow because it takes days to arrive.

He once spent over a year mailing a property owner with zero response. As soon as he added cold-calling to the mix, he got the owner on the phone. It turned out she just didn’t look at junk mail but she did answer her phone. He bought that fourplex for 250k when it was worth 325k.

Text Message Marketing

Texting is another modern way to reach sellers. It is fast and has high engagement because almost everyone reads their texts within minutes. Just be careful not to be spammy. Always ask for consent and give people a clear way to opt out.

Whether you are mailing, calling, or texting, the game is all about persistence and patience. Don’t give up after the first try. Most of the money is made in the follow-up.

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