The Art Of Cold Calling...
Today I sent out 67 hand addressed letters to people in pre-foreclosure and although it was not extremely expensive, I can't help but think that calling them may be easier and faster.
I have read the posts about cold calling and there was indeed some good information in there but not what I am searching for.
I am looking for a phone script specifically designed for those calling on pre-foreclosures. If anyone could help me out I would really appreciate it.
I have hundreds of people that I could be calling instead of trying to send letters to and trust me when I say to those who are going to start sending letters out...get self adhesive envelopes.
Andrew
Letters, calling, or knocking. All can have pros and cons, but the one thing they all have in common, is the "30 second window of opportunity" In those 30 seconds, you need to develop a line that will grab peoples attention. Mine basically consists of, " I can stop your foreclosure, at no cost to you, and very possibly also put money in your pocket" This seems to get attentions
Andrew:
I was sort of thinking the same thing, but then I thought: What about the National Do Not Call List?
Do I have to make sure they're not registered or face some kind of fine for telemarketing?
Anyone have any info on this, like who is exempt from being considered a telemarketer?
Andy
Lots of discussion regarding the "Do Not Call" list. Here is the definition directly from the governement.
Who May or May Not Call?
Q: Who is covered by the National Do Not Call Registry?
A: The National Do Not Call Registry applies to any plan, program or campaign to sell goods or services through interstate phone calls. This includes telemarketers who solicit consumers, often on behalf of third party sellers. It also includes sellers who provide, offer to provide, or arrange to provide goods or services to consumers in exchange for payment.
The National Do Not Call Registry does not limit calls by political organizations, charities or telephone surveyors.
It is my opinion that we do not fall under the guidlines. Although we arrange services for people, we are not doing so for payment from the homeowner but rather making a profit from the house itself.
This is just my opinion, I am not a lawyer and am not providing legal advice, be sure to check your state and local laws.[ Edited by tarrx3 on Date 04/23/2004 ]
I think you will be under those guildlines. My attorney was telling me of a guy in the landscaping business cold calling people and was notified to stop or face a fine. I would think what we do is to most people a service for profit and any old lady who dosent see it that way will call and might get you in trouble. But I would do it until I received that call telling you to stop.[ Edited by senatorcbp2 on Date 04/23/2004 ]
senatorcbp2,
I dont see the similarity. I'm not asking the homeowner to pay me for what I do. I'm sure that the landscaping guy was attempting to find new paying clients, i.e. the people he was calling. I want to buy, not sell.
Jeff
The similarity is the fact that you are looking to make a profit on the house, either by reselling or keeping as a rental. The house still belongs to the seller and you can't do anything w/o speaking to the owner first. You might say your service is free and might want to help the owner out, but you also want to make some money, thus is now classified as a business call. And because the owner never asked you to call them, it is an unsolicited call and falls under DNC laws.
I deal alot w/ preforeclosures and cold calling them but I make sure, by my attorney's advise, that my list is scrubbed against the DNC list.
If you were solely looking to purchase the property as your own residence, then it might not apply, but I would still get some legal advise. Remember you're dealing w/ desperate people here, and they will try anything to save their house, Including sueing you for violating the DNC if they are registered. Better safe then sorry, I'd get legal advise before doing a cold calling campaign.[ Edited by jmBROKEr on Date 04/24/2004 ]
I signed up for access to the DNC registry online, it only taskes about 5 minutes and you get up to 5 area codes for free. Lucky for me Arizona only has 5 so it didn't cost me a dime. Now I can look numbers up online to see if they are registered and if they are, they will either get a letter or a visit instead. Better safe then sorry I guess. Just FYI I want to add this excerpt about "Established Business Relationship" stating that you may call a person up to 18 months after a business transaction or 3 months after an application or inquiry regardless if they are on the list or not so long as they have not asked you to stop calling them.
"Established Business Relationship. We have modified the current definition of
“established business relationship”886 so that it is limited in duration to 18 months from any
purchase or transaction and three months from any inquiry or application. The revised definition
is consistent with the definition adopted by the FTC.887 We concluded that regulating the
duration of an established business relationship is necessary to minimize confusion and
frustration for consumers who receive calls from companies they have not contacted or
patronized for many years. There was little consensus among industry members about how long
an established business relationship should last following a transaction between the consumer
and seller.888 We believe the 18-month timeframe strikes an appropriate balance between
industry practices and consumer privacy interests. Although businesses, including small
businesses must monitor the length of relationships with their customers to determine whether
they can lawfully call a customer, we believe that a rule consistent with the FTC’s will benefit
businesses by creating one uniform standard with which businesses must comply."
I would still like to find a script geared towards cold calling preforeclosures if it's out there.
Andrew
[ Edited by tarrx3 on Date 04/24/2004 ][ Edited by tarrx3 on Date 04/24/2004 ]
Hey,
One, I believe in a court, we fall under DNR rules. But frankly, that is not going to happen. You call someone who is on the list, they tell you "&%(//% I am on the DNR list" and you say "Oh I am so sorry, I will take you off our contact list." End of story. This does not have to be so complicated.
Back to the orginal question, you don't want a "script". No one responds to a script. You want to have a conversation with the person and end with "I will come right over."
BUT, good luck getting this people on the phone!!! Do you really think you are the only person calling them??? How about Visa, MasterCard, Exxon, etc? These folks stopped picking up the phone a LONG time ago.