How To Build A Follow-Up Machine

3 “new” marketing techniques to transform your drip follow-up to cut manual follow-up in half, keep follow-up on auto-pilot and prevent deals from slipping through the cracks.

From our data, we’ve realized that the majority of deals (60%) are from follow-ups. 

You hear this constantly, every day, on social media: 

“The fortune is in the follow up”

But few actually act on it. 

The most commonly asked question in forums and wholesaling groups revolves around lead generation. 

But for many, their problem isn’t lead generation…

It’s deal conversion.

Marketing costs money. 

Every lead and call you acquire can cost anywhere from $100-$300 per. Everytime you DON’T follow up or don’t follow up effectively… It’s like taking a $100 bill and burning it.

Fortunately, you have CRMs that have the technology and applications in place, to make follow-up easy — and ReSimpli makes it effortless for you!

So we asked expert copywriter and marketer Paul do Campo, who creates custom follow-up systems for investors over at www.reiOmniDrip.com, for his tips and tricks on creating an effective drip follow-up system. 

3 tips for effective “drip” follow-up — a short interview

[start of interview]

Sharad: What are some different ways you approach follow-up marketing?

Paul: Well first off, many investors look at “drip” as an “after-effect”; in other words: only done when a seller is unresponsive.

When I design follow-up series via sms and email… (not just in REI), I look at the total package, asking things like:

… Is there a process for how many times they (the client) manually follow-up?

… When do they activate sequences?

… What type of sequences do they have?

… Is there a system/sequence for when someone books an appointment, misses an appointment, etc?

It’s more “holistic” and effective when you look at the entire process of what happens when a lead falls into your CRM. This cuts the chaos. It cuts leads falling through the cracks.

So, that’s my first tip: look at the WHOLE thing; not just a “drip” system when they stop answering.

Sharad: That’s interesting. But is that needed for newer investors?

Paul: I would say yes and no.

The thing with new investors is that they typically have lead volume problems or appointment problems.

Like, not knowing how to run an appointment or not realizing they need a LOT more volume to keep up with their initial goals.

But then the catch-22 is they’re not working their leads hard enough, either.

For example:

• They take “No” for a final answer. 
• They’re all over the place when it comes to a cadence of follow-up.
• They let “feelings” determine when they follow up. 
• They let the seller’s retail asking price keep them from calling/texting back. 

Avoiding your “feelings” in follow up

Like mentioned, often we let our feelings get in our way. 

So, The way to avoid feelings getting in the way of following up is by having a process in place. 

AKA, an organized group of sequences that send the auto SMS/Emails and the tasks.

And you STICKING to it… is key.

Fortunately, sticking to it is easy to do if you have a system in place, and the nice thing is CRMs like ReSimpli make that easy.

If a new investor is just too overwhelmed with that right now, they can always just temporarily plug in whatever free drips are available. They can check out my site www.reiOmniDrip.com for some samples.

But there’ll be a point where you need your own process. You’ll have too much lead flow to manage and having a simple drip for “no response” isn’t enough.

This boosts your conversion of leads in the long run. That’s what we mainly focus on at OmniDrip: delivering a “system” of follow up via organized sequences and copy-driven messages…

Alright… 

… Let’s move into the top 3 tips for building follow-up “Drips”…

• 1. Say more than just “Are you interested in selling?!?”
  
  When I evaluate people’s existing follow-up messages, it’s just a repeat of any variation of: “Are you still interested in selling?”
  
  That’s dry, boring, and gets ignored.
  
  We can only send so many auto-SMS and emails, so we might as well take advantage of that advertising space and use BENEFITS to “sell”.
  
  “Cash isn’t a benefit its a feature”
  
  Many investors assume that the seller knows EXACTLY what “cash” brings to the table. But many sellers forget and need reminding of what “cash” means.
  
  Cash could mean…
  • It saves them from the embarrassment of showing their messy house to countless buyers.
  • They don’t have to go through the hassle of getting rid of all their junk in the house.
  • They don’t have to time the sale perfectly because they need to find another home — they can close on their timeline, not the buyers.
  • They don’t have to worry about finding a buyer while their new job starts next week out of state.

There are about a dozen or so features and benefits that we can send small reminders about.

Here’s a real-life example of a client of mine, Mitchell Martin (who’s also a very active ReSimpli user), whose gotten (saved) deals from using OmniDrip.

Mitch said this:

“I just got a contract [signed]… Set an appointment, but he canceled before I could go. I Put him on the “appointment missed” drip… 12 VMs and 13 SMS before he responded: “If selling your property, we buy without banks involved. So you don’t have to wait 60 days to sell. Call me to reschedule that offer – New Day Properties LLC “…. The seller responded with:  “Okay. I’m ready to sell.” on Dec 31 22 (6 months later)!   Looks like a solid 20k deal.   — So, thank you for the awesome drips!”

So the message he sent was this:

“If selling your property, we buy without banks involved. So you don’t have to wait 60 days to sell. Call me to reschedule that offer – New Day Properties LLC “

The benefit/feature in this message: They don’t have to wait 60 days to sell.

The Call to action: Call us to reschedule an offer.

So there you go, a way of saying “Are you still selling” without directly asking, and instead inputting a real feature and benefit for the seller.

• 2. Keep things insanely organized with event “triggers”
  
  I briefly mentioned earlier, but I look at follow-up as a complete “funnel” or system; where I follow the lead from beginning to end.
  
  So at OmniDrip, we have a sequence for almost every event that can happen to a seller; in almost every “phase” of the seller there’s a sequence.
  
  Why?
  
  2 reasons:
  
  First, it creates an organized system of follow-up so our “feelings” don’t get in the way.
  
  Every time a seller expresses: “Your offer is too low”… there’s a sequence that leverages that event with multiple tasks for manual follow up, auto-SMS (which ReSimpli can easily do), and Auto-Emails (which ReSimpli easily does).
  
  Now we know that the “selling” is being done without having to keep leads in our “headspace”.
  
  The second reason is we can leverage direct response copy.
  
  Apart from being an investor and getting my chops started as a wholesaler,  I’m a direct response copywriter at heart; It’s what I do every day for my active income. And one of the principles of GREAT copy is targeting the lead with their specific problems and with a specific, targeted, “Call to action”.
  
  These targeted sequences — that follow the lead — allow me to use the specific pains and problems the seller is going through.
  
  For example, If it’s a landlord with tenants who says to you:
  
  “I’m just going to keep the property for now”…
  
  … then there’s a sequence for that.  It leverages THAT specific problem (keeping a house with tenants, tenants vacating, tenants damaging the house lowering the value, etc).
  
  Plus, I know EXACTLY what the right CTA is going to be: “Text me for a (new) offer” (Depending on where the lead is in the sequence I may pitch getting a new offer).
  
  Here’s a quick list of some of the sequences that we build for investors at OmniDrip:
  
  – Missed appointment
  – Signed with someone else
  – Offer too low, Landlord (we also do Vacant house lead, and Owner Occupant)
  – Selling delayed, Landlord (we also do Vacant house lead, and Owner Occupant)
  – Deal closed, ask for a testimonial
  
  Those are some, but you get the gist. Just know that once a lead hits the CRM, there’s a sequence.3. Follow up isn’t only about “getting a response”.
  
  In this day and age, people want credibility and trust.
  
  They won’t make a decision to do business with you until they’ve crossed the “trust threshold” with you.
  
  So, for those that have online creds (testimonials, websites, authoritative articles), we leverage that by “driving” sellers to see them.

Don’t be mistaken to believe that sellers will trust you just because they’re in your CRM or you spoke with them once.

Sellers are HIGHLY skeptical these days and it’s proven when you add “trust mechanisms” you increase your conversion.

Also… Don’t be mistaken to believe that you’re the only homebuyer that’s reached out to them; that you’re the only homebuyer that has this lead in their CRM. 

Most likely, your competition is ALSO using the generic drip sequences given by their CRM.

So how do YOUR automated messages compare to theirs? Is it generic? Constantly saying the same thing? No value?

Instead, you can build actual goals into your drips to help stand out from others and build trust naturally.

For example:

• 1. Build credibility/trust — If I work with a client who has testimonials, I want to make sure those are highlighted front and center. Social proof is a real thing in selling that can help with your conversion rates. Might as well use it.
  
  2. Build authority –– If you have online articles, might as well use them. A well written article (that’s targeted for that specific sequence) can display your expertise and authority in real estate.
• 3. Leverage pain — As noted above, you can say a LOT more than just “Are you still interested in selling?” by leveraging features and benefits… but you can also leverage problems (done right and subtly). For example, for emails, I’ll dig up a real story online about bad tenant problems. Or for SMS, inside my “Offer too low fixing it themselves” sequence, I’ll subtly remind them in a text message how prices are going up every month and the sooner they fix the house, the less it’ll cost them (bringing in urgency and reminding them of the pain to fix the house or just finally take your cash offer and walk away).
  
  4. Stack touches — It’s been said that you need 7 touches with leads… However, with all the digital data out there, it’s been shown that you actually need on average 13+. When people think “touch,” they think only about the 1 message they send. But if a seller clicks the link in your email/sms and lands on your site, that’s 2 touches (and more if they start browsing). And if you have re-targeting ads set up, that could be tens of touches… A goal of marketing is to get people into your world; it keeps you top of mind, memorable, and reminds them what they have to do.

What happens to manual follow-up?

Sharad: Paul, last thing, are you saying you eliminate manual follow-up?

Paul: Not at all. Manual follow-up is key for building rapport early on and connecting with sellers. We just spread it out a little more than what investors typically do (we do include SMS, email, AND tasks for manual follow-up in our sequences).

Yes, some sequences make 100% sense to have HEAVY manual follow up, like if the person received a contract but hasn’t signed yet. But when it makes sense we also add (on top of tasks) the auto messages that do just a good job of selling as a manual follow-up.

But even with that…

People are using too much manual follow where they don’t need to — and a personal, well-written, auto SMS can do the same thing.

For example, client and ReSimpli user Stone Saathoff said this regarding manual follow-up:

“Hey Paul! Yeah, these drip campaigns helped me close multiple $10,000-$15,000 assignments and a $50,000 net profit flip with ZERO manual follow up…!”

That’s a true statement from Stone after I asked how the drips are doing.

Summary

[end of interview]

So as you can see, Follow Up Marketing is much bigger than just “drips” and getting a response. Just like lead gen, you want to have credibility, rapport, and authority built in. Response only happens when they trust you. And you can help nudge that a bit with better sequences and copy. 

So if you want to see how Paul does this, He’s have free samples and a demo at www.reiOmniDrip.com