I asked the agents how they determined who the cards would be mailed to and discovered very quickly why the agents were meeting with the wrong home owners.  The bottom line is these agents were sending the cards out without researching the area first.   They were leaving their success completely to chance instead of increasing their odds for success by sending the cards to the right houses.  What are the right houses?

If you are sending a CMA card out to someone who purchased their home within the past 2-3 years you are probably going to be meeting with owners who have little or no equity.  If, however, you do the research and only send your cards to home owners that have owned their home for let’s say 10 years or longer, you have a better chance of helping these potential home sellers and obtaining a listing that can be sold.

So before you send out your first piece of direct mail ask yourself, are you reaching the right houses?

I would suggest you incorporate the following system into your direct mail campaign.

Call.  If you are going to spend money on a direct mail campaign it would be in your best interest to send your marketing pieces to homes where you also have the telephone numbers of the residents.  This will 
help you in receiving the full value of the direct mail piece.  After allowing enough time for the postal service to deliver your flyer, postcard or newsletter you should start calling them.  Your conversation might go something like this;

” Hi this is Greg Staker, is this ________?  Great! The purpose of my call is to make sure you received the important information I mailed you last week?”

If they have received it you can then ask if they have any questions, do they understand the benefits that the information offers them or some similar question the relays to them the importance of the marketing piece sent directly to them from you.  If they have not received it or do not recall, then you can offer to personally deliver the information or drop them another one in the mail.

If you make it a practice to follow up and call those who receive your direct mail you will find that you will convert additional business from your direct mail campaign.

We all have received a post card, letter or flyer in the mail as part of a car salesman, insurance agent or tax preparer direct mail campaign and maybe we glanced at the message before throwing it into the trash can. How many times after we received the mailing did we receive a call from the sender following up on their postal message? Not very often if ever, right?

The facts are following up on the direct mail you send out to your farm or center of influence with a phone call asking the recipient if they received the card or letter, and if they have any questions or comments about the topic of the message and if you can be of any help with regards to real estate increases your chances of securing them as your customers and clients. Because you plan on following up with a phone call or visit after your mailing, you will want to spend extra effort on the message or content of the piece you are mailing so that it catches the interest of the home owner.

The next time you send out direct mail, try following up. You direct mail will result in more sales, more contacts and more chances for success that your competitor.