Postcards are an extremely powerful direct marketing tool. They are inexpensive, non-confrontational and unlike a letter, they always get that one second to capture the reader’s attention. With no envelope to open, they immediately see your message.
For these reasons, postcards done right are an ideal marketing tool for reaching out to people in default on their mortgage.
To fully understand the process, it is first necessary to understand the mindset of a family in foreclosure. Chances are that they are behind on other payments too. There is stress within the family unit brought on by the lack of money to solve their problems. They may be contemplating bankruptcy. They are certainly being bombarded by phone calls from debt collectors and letters in the mail every day demanding payment.
To get through this shell, it is necessary to build a relationship of trust. This can be hard to do when you can’t get in contact with them to deliver your message.
The postcard can solve this problem. It can contain a non-confrontational message that addresses their problem in a subtle way that keeps their dignity intact.
Suppose you sent out a postcard saying something like "We know you are in foreclosure and we want to help you. Call us."
You just accomplished two things. First, your postcard immediately was classified in the bill collector pile and either thrown out or put in a drawer with the other bill collector mail. Second, in their mind, you just told the world that they are financially troubled. Not a very positive way to build a relationship!
But suppose you did something a bit different. Suppose the message read something like this.
"We want to buy a house in your neighborhood this month. We are contacting everyone in XYZ neighborhood because we want to buy a house in XYZ neighborhood. If you know anyone who wants to sell a house in that neighborhood for all cash in the next two weeks, please give us a call. Sincerely Jim & Nancy Buyer"
What a difference in tone.
There is no mention of the families financial troubles. There is no mention of having programs to help them out. In fact, the way the postcard is written, they will think that everyone in the neighborhood is getting the same postcard. You have just 100% diffused the "shell" around their situation.
Will the postcard get them to call you? That is hard to tell. They may still be in denial or believe they can recover from the situation and not be interested in selling.
In general, you should be thinking of sending out a series of postcards every 2-3 weeks to all the pre-foreclosure properties that interest you. The general message would be the same but it is good to use variations to keep the message fresh. For instance, the second postcard might say "We STILL want to buy a house in your neighborhood this month…"
If you build a system that keeps track of which message to mail to which person and when, you will find that this consistent activity will be rewarded by phone calls from these people. Some calls will be very straightforward and honest. Others less so. (In other words, some people may talk about a friend in the neighborhood who might be interested but have a situation and want to know if you could help their friend.) When your reach the phone stage, remember their state of mind and work to build a trust relationship - one of being part of the team working together to find a solution to their problem. The better you are at building trust - the more you will be getting those really good deals that are out there.
Marketing with postcards - or any other method - is always a numbers game. A large part of its success is having an effective message delivered to a responsive audience. By following a non-confrontational approach to contacting people in financial situations, you will immediately be head and shoulders above your competition and will shortly be finding all the deals you want for very little lead generation cost. Postcard marketing is smart marketing for real estate investors.
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