Realtor Mail - Direct Mailroom

To mail or not to mail … ?

Don't send out half-baked materials.

by Jim Gillespie

So how is your mailing campaign going these days? Do you have top-quality mailers going out to your prospects and clients on a regular basis? This is one area in real estate sales where top-producers generally beat the pants off of everyone else.

I have a suggestion for you: Be completely committed to having the most professional, top-notch mailing campaign of all the agents in your territory. Otherwise, don’t spend much time sending out mailings.

Have you ever looked at the mailings your competitors send out? Some of it really is junk! I often wonder what goes through agents’ minds when they send out mailers like that. In some cases they would improve their image if they instead sent nothing at all!

On the other side of the coin, some agents design absolutely brilliant mailers. What this does is position these agents in the minds of your prospects as the top agents in your territory. Mailings can be very powerful.

Now, I’m going to give you another suggestion: Get a hold of all the mailings your competitors are sending out in your territory. Ask your best clients to save them for you. Then take a look at what everyone else is sending out.

Remember, these agents are sending out their mailers with the intention of having your prospects call them first instead of you. Think about it—what good are your mailers doing you if they have your prospects thinking about calling you third or fourth when they need to buy, sell, or lease? Is this really the effect you hoped for when you spent your hard-earned money on a mailing campaign?

Doesn’t it make sense to find out what your competition is doing before sending out mailers of your own? Hey, you might even come up with some great ideas on how to improve your materials by looking at those of your competitors!

If you’re going to send out mailers to your prospects in the hopes of having them call you first, make sure your mailers are the best, most impressive ones in your territory. Spend some extra money if you have to. All it takes is one or two additional sales from these mailings to more than pay for the additional expense. And if your direct mail is continually the best in your territory, you will generate far more business than one or two additional escrows from it.

If your mailers are the third, fourth, or fifth best in your territory and you’re not planning on improving them, save yourself some money and aggravation. Don’t bother sending them at all. One exception—you can still mail materials to your loyal clients and prospects you already have a good relationship with.

If you’re committed to being the best agent in your territory, recognize that sending out the best mailers will put you on track to achieving that goal.