Do you think you could mail 100 letters to a neighborhood, generate 10 calls and take 2 listings? Helaine Forte just did…and she’s going to show how you can do it too.

Every now and then we discover a marketing strategy so powerful, it could end up making some agents downright rich. I think we have found one of those ideas.

The value here is not just in seeing this idea first-hand, but in understanding the brilliant marketing behind it and applying it throughout your business…

One of the marketing subjects I teach agents is the profitable use of direct-response marketing. I’ve been doing it for over 30 years in various industries and it’s never failed to make millions.

Once you understand the elements that motivate consumers to open, read, believe and act on your behalf, the real estate world becomes your treasure.

Today I want to share with you a brilliant strategy used by agent Helaine Forte (no relation at all).

Helaine sends out a simple targeted letter that is loaded with powerful strategy and psychology, and you’d hardly know it just by reading the letter. But before showing you this deceptively simple letter, I want you to understand the elements at play so you can use them correctly yourself.

First and foremost, Helaine learned that consumers sort their mail while standing over the trash. If your letter doesn’t make the “A” pile (bills, birthday cards, personal letters, etc.), it’s going into the “deep six.” You could be offering Free Gold Coins, but your message would never be seen.

So here’s what Helaine does (in her own words)…

“I never use labels. Going along with what everyone else was doing, I used to get free labels from the title companies when I farmed for business. I never received a response, until one day I was out of labels and addressed the envelopes by hand.

I received 10 calls out of 100 letters and got 2 listings! Since then I experimented with using larger envelopes of higher quality and got even better response. Instead of tossing my correspondence in the trash, homeowners felt I was really interested in them and that they were hand-picked by me.”

OK, so Helaine’s been paying attention with her marketing, and discovered the magic of “A-Pile” mail. But she didn’t stop there. Take a look at her letter and then read the important elements she uses below it.

I’ll bet you’ve seen lots of letters similar to this one, but this one is different in subtle but important ways. Here’s what Helaine says…

“As you can see, I tell the sellers a little about their new potential owners. I also give them a chance to contact their own REALTOR^®, which gives me credibility. It makes it more believable since lots of agents tell owners they have buyers. Oh, and the people I describe are REAL BUYERS that I am working with.”

Do you think you could use a simple letter like this to generate lots of listings? The secret is…

1. Get your mail delivered by making it “A-Pile.” I would add to this using a monarch size envelope, hand addressed with a 1st class commemorative stamp and hand signed. Hand address your return address, or use those personal labels you use with holiday cards (do not place your broker on the envelope unless required by law).
2. Make your mail very personal – meant specific to the person receiving it (so they think they’ve been “hand-picked”, as Helaine puts it).
3. Create credibility by mentioning something specific about your buyers (who they are), and ask your reader to call their agent.

“I’m marketing a listing in a very desirable subdivision in a town which Family Circle Magazine just named one of the ‘Top 10 Places To Raise a Family’ in the entire country. How? I’m using my 800 line to let the neighbors tell potential buyers how great the neighborhood is!

“I sent direct mail pieces to all 200 homes in the subdivision asking them to call into my 800 line and leave a message about why they LOVE living in the neighborhood. I took the voice mail messages the neighbors left (which I receive digitally via e-mail), picked the best ones and edited them down into my own outgoing message.

“Now in my marketing for my listing, I direct potential buyers to call my 800 line with a dedicated extension which features actual neighbor testimonials about what makes the subdivision so special. ‘Don’t take my word for it, I’m just the Realtor whose job it is to sell this home, but listen to what actual residents had to say about life in Dianna Estates….’

“My sellers absolutely love it, and I’ve got a few prospects for more listings within the subdivision from the direct mail request piece!”

Editor’s Note: Agent Inner Circle™ Recommends www.SixFigureHotlines.com.

In a previous real estate marketing article of Agent Inner Circle™ I described some of the techniques to building a successful business.

Here are five more million dollar-marketing strategies that will help you generate more clients and build a long-term viable business.

1. See Life from Your Client’s Perspective. Most agents try to sell what they think the client wants. They don’t take the time to ask questions, understand the personal issues and what the client really wants. When you shift out of your own shoes, and into your prospect’s shoes – understanding their fears and desires – you will instantly connect with them and increase your business. An old marketing adage: “WIIFM”, “what’s in it for me?”

2. Learn How to Make A GREAT Presentation. Listing or buyer presentations – to stand out from other agents, you need to master the process and make an impact. There’s a great, free, pre-listing package example at www.AgentInnerCircle.com. Your presentations have the greatest impact with you demonstrate something unique about your services – something other agents don’t do or don’t have. For example, I know agents who create a hotline description of a client’s home, then during the listing presentation, the client calls the hotline and listens to info about their home. At the same time the agent’s beeper goes off with the prospect’s phone number on the screen, revealing the ability to quickly respond to inquiries. Others create web pages with the home listing so the client can actually see and feel the marketing of their home.

3. Become a Closing Expert. 98% of agents will tell you they are fantastic closers – and they are deceiving themselves. In reality, only about 15% of agents are truly good at asking for the sale. It’s something you learn, and if you never learn it, you’ll always struggle in real estate or any sales profession. Buy a Mike Ferry or Tom Hopkins book and learn their canned approaches to handling objections at closing.

4. Make Your Mailings (or other contact) Get Opened and Read. Most agent farming is a complete failure. It never reaches a reader’s eye. Why? Because it gets ID’d as “junk mail” and is trashed before ever opened. Have you ever heard of “lumpy mail”? Lumpy mail is the process of inserting “something” into an envelope or doing something “unique” to make it stand out, involve curiosity and get opened. It’s also known as a “grabber”. The “thing” you include must tie-into your message inside. For example, one agent mails their farming pieces in a small brown paper bag with a stamp. Inside, the letter headlines, “Here’s Why There’s No Free Lunch When Selling Your Home…” The letter talks about “you get what you pay for — so why would you use a discount broker and steal from yourself?” The letter then talks about the risks of using a discount broker, all the ways the agent can net the homeowner as much or more than a discount broker, makes an irresistible, completely risk free offer for a “Free Home Audit” and a “Free Special Report”. The agent also uses a few great testimonials and statistics about their success (proof). The letter is then followed-up by a second and third notice. Can you see how that gets noticed and acted upon?

   Another way is to make your mail look so personal, the reader thinks it’s just for them. Hand addressed, return address is personal, commemorative stamp, monarch size envelopes, etc. all have a personal appeal vs. junk mail – and they get opened. But remember, curiosity alone won’t get you business. You also need to be marketing to a hot prospect, give compelling proof, a great offer, and call to action.

5. Multi-Sequence Contact Always Out-Pulls Single Contact. This applies to follow-up with leads or with farming an area: Never send just one mailing. Send your first mailing, then a second notice, then a third notice, etc. Send as many follow-up mailings or contacts as is profitable for you.

This idea was submitted by an agent who prospects in high density areas, such as co-ops and condos. But it could work wonders in any area – especially if using direct mail. The idea effectively uses a “grabber” to call attention to it – and notice that the “grabber” ties well with the “hook” of the promotion. Make sure to make your offer very visible in your package – perhaps something with checked lines around it, so it’s easily seen by the recipient. Here’s his idea…

I’m an agent with Park Terrace Properties in NY. Certain areas of NY are cluttered with Co-ops and Condos. I’ve have had a lot of luck with getting listings in Co-ops and Condos with my clever and cheap marketing strategy.

In a regular business sizes envelope place a letter stating something about the current sales of Co-ops or Condos in the area and that you are offering a free market analysis. Also place your magnetic business card in the letter. The outside of the letter is simply stamped “Refrigerate After Opening”.

Then all you do is slide the envelope under everyone’s door. If you find an area that has a cluster of Co-ops or Condo’s, you can slide a few hundred every day. You are almost guaranteed a few immediate phone calls…or at the very least a few phone calls in the future because they kept your magnetic card on their fridge.

If you are not comfortable soliciting that way, you can also mail everyone the same envelopes, but you will obviously also incur the cost of postage. Good Luck!