We have been talking about the Art of Closing Deals. In Part 1 and Part 2 I walked you through one of my personal Client’s deals. If I had to boil down getting deals done to just one point it would be this:
Persistence Pays Off
Unfortunately this industry promotes the ideas of Quick Cash – Quick Closings – Quick Success which sets the expectations for some that with very little effort huge riches will be achieved. To some degree that is correct. When you consider how long it takes to break even and make money in most businesses, real estate is ranks high on the speedometer. And since you can leverage a small amount of cash (even no cash) to make thousands or tens of thousands in profit, real estate investing is an amazing opportunity for anyone.
Success, however, isn’t always immediate. It may be fast, but not always immediate. Those looking for immediate gratification are often are often disillusioned and on to greener pastures quickly. Those with some persistence reap large rewards.
Persistence starts with marketing. The art of marketing is definitely not a one and done process. Prospects need to see your message multiple times before the masses will respond. In fact, studies show that it takes 5-7 impressions for marketing to become effective, yet most marketers quit after 3-4 impressions (some after 1-2). Lay out a campaign for your marketing in which you’ll be hitting the same people repetitively.
It is also important to recognize that regardless of how good your marketing and your message, if the prospect is not ready, they won’t respond. In our case, the prospect must want to sell their house, and must have a motivating factor driving the “need” for a sale. An example I often use with the Clients that I mentor is to think about tires on your car. Imagine that Michelin Tire Co. is marketing buy 2 tires and get 2 free. If you have 4 good tires on your car then the marketing falls on deaf ears. If, on the other hand, you recently tried to apply your brakes when the roads were wet and slid to a stop just before hitting the other car because your tires are bald, you will be far more in tuned to their advertising. Right product at the right time.
Ahhh, if only we knew exactly when prospects would be the most interested. If only we knew exactly which prospects will respond. Instead we must target our prospects, and be persistent with our marketing.
Persistence also applies to the lead calls that you generate. Many of the deals that I have closed over the years came from prospects that said my offer would not work or that they had found an alternative solution. Other deals have come from prospects that were not yet ready to sell their house to me, but I never stopped following up with all of them. Eventually it became the right time.
Finally, persistence really pays off when it comes to solving problems. I’d love to tell you that everything always progresses perfectly and you’ll never have to overcome any obstacles, but you already know that can’t be true. This is the point where many investors may try a simple solution and then throw in the towel. Keep in mind that a simple wholesale deal may be worth $10,000 or more and a rehab deal $25,000 or more. Do you really want to throw that profit away so easily? If you’ll recall, I said most problems you’ll encounter with real estate investing can be solved with either time or money. Step back and take a bird’s eye view of the situation. Where is the problem? How can either time or money help resolve the issue? For example: I was once sitting at the closing table with my buyers and no seller. When I phoned the seller she told me that her car broke down on the side of the highway so we’d have to postpone the closing. I thought about time and money and offered to send a car service to pick her up and bring her to the closing and they would take her where ever she wanted after. I had the buyers sign all of their paperwork so time did not become an issue for them. Once the Seller arrived, her part of the closing took 15 minutes and we were done. Never say: Oh Well…we’ll just postpone. More often than not, the deal falls apart.
Like I said in Part 2 of the series Yamato Damashi! – Never Say Die
If you want to be a successful real estate investor, adopt the principle of persistence early in your career. It will serve you well.
Expect Abundance,
Lou Castillo
P.S. If you are looking for a personal mentor that will work directly with you to build your real estate business, then let’s talk on the phone and see if we are a good fit. Just write to me at Lou@InvestorRiches.com with your phone number and the best time for us to talk.
