Course Overview:

Texting For Your Wholesaling Business:

When it comes to texting, a few things to keep in mind.

It’s the lowest cost marketing strategy
It’s the marketing strategy with the highest rate of return 25-35%
It’s the quickest option (send multiple texts in seconds vs hours with cold calling)

But…

Its also a strategy that is quickly becoming regulated. So that means change, and lots of it.

What do I mean?

Carriers are constantly changing rules and regulations and trying to prevent spam texting.

So the companies we use are always changing policies handed down to them by carriers.

A good example is now people wanting to text are required to register what is called 10DLC and you will need a company that you register if you want to send large amount of texts and get the best delivery.

Below you will see the most recent instructions we have to get started with texting.

Keep in mind that if you set this all up, in the future you may have to make adjustments and do other things to continue texting if carriers make other adjustments.

So keep an open mind with texting, even if you have to jump through some other hoops in the future its still likely to be the lowest cost marketing strategy you will have.

Getting Started Texting:

The company we use and recommended is called Smarter Contact and you can get started right here. You will need to reach out to them if you want to get billed monthly. They currently offer yearly and quarterly plans at a discount.

Why smarter contact?

There is no denying that there are many companies out there that can offer texting services.

The reason we choose to use Smarter Contact is for several reasons.

Their support is stellar
They work just with real estate investors
They are very competitive with their pricing
Easy platform to use

Create your free trail here and get your $30 credit.

Set Up Your Smarter Contact Account

We use smarter contact for texting. If you already have gone through the process of registering your 10DLC with another TCPA compliant texting platform then you can skip this part and keep your texting account.

If you haven’t not done this or do not know what I am talking about please follow the steps below.

*A note about texting platforms – So when it comes to texting, we cannot use most services out there because they are not compliant. You will need to use a TCPA compliant service like smarter contact.

If not you may be in some potential legal trouble.

Texting is very regulated, and there are many hoops we have to jump through but once its set up its usually pretty easy. And I will walk you through below each step, step by step.

The main set up will be what is called 10DLC and this is required by Twilio who will be sending your text messages through smarter contact. Think of smarter contact as like the interface you will use to communicate but twilio is behind the scenes working with the carriers to get your messages delivered.

10DLC stands for 10 Digit Long Code and is basically a code assigned to each person who will be sending out text messages.

Why is it important. Its basically set up to protect you and the people receiving the messages. They want to know that you are a real person and company and not a bot sending mass text messages.

We suggest smarter contact over other services simply because of their support. They handle much of the set up for you. Their support has been stellar.

Click here to set up your account with smarter contact

**Smarter contact bills by the quarter or year instead of monthly. You can get a monthly plan if you let them know you are a student of mine.

Which account to set up?

You have 2 options.

The Basic Plan – this uses a 800 phone number. This allows you to get started quicker but when texting from a 800 number you will get less replies. I highly suggest the next option for long term use but the basic plan is the quickest way to get started but your results won’t be as good.

The Starter Plan

Setting Up The “Starter Plan” this is an overall better plan which allows you to use local phone numbers.

There are a few requirements with the starter plan. This can take a few days to a few weeks to get approved and started. The following items will be what you need to get set up to be approved. Follow these steps will make it easy to get going but may take a little bit to be approved.

These are required by all texting providers and handed down by the carriers. Not the texting companies.

You cannot get around these requirements and they are actually good for you.

By following these, you will get the best delivery and the best results.

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STOP RIGHT HERE:

The next steps will be required to be able to get approved for 10dlc and start texting. However, it can take a few days or up to a week to be approved.

If you do not have the following items already:

LLC
Website
Business email address

We can split your onboarding up into 2 parts.

We can build out your buyers and sellers lists and at the same time you can follow the steps for the 10DLC approval and by the time we are done you should be approved and ready to send out your marketing.

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What needs to be set up before you can start texting

There are a few things that must be done BEFORE you are able to start texting. These all need to be completed and set up before you can register your 10DLC because you will use this information on the registration.

I know it may seem like a lot of hoops to jump through but texting is a regulated industry, its also the cheapest marketing method that gets the most replies so we need to use it.

They require you to do the following things before you register. If you already have these you can skip the step ( as long as its all set up properly)

Do not worry though I have detailed instructions on exactly how to go through each process step by step.

Setting Up An LLC
Getting A Website
Getting A Business Email

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Step #6 – Setting Up An LLC – Click here to see the steps

Step #7 – Setting Up A Website – Click here to see the steps

Step #8 – Setting Up Business Email Address: – Click here to see the steps

Step #9 – Now its time to go through the 10DLC Set Up And Registration – Click here to see the steps

*if you have any problems you can live chat with smarter contact on their website.

Smarter Contact Tutorial:

We wanted to also include some tutorials directly from smarter contact so you can reference them for questions.

Quick introduction and how to use the software

Setting Up Your Text Messages

When it comes to texting a few things you want to consider:

Keep the message short
Don’t call out their situation – don’t tell them know you they are in foreclosure or about to lost their house

Here are some good samples you can start with.

Hey {{first_name}}, I had a quick question about {{address}}. Is now an ok time to chat?

Hi {{first_name}}, its (your name) I wanted to ask about {{address}}. Is now ok to text?

Hey, its LC I had a quick question about {{address}}). Is this {{first_name}}?

Hi {{first_name}}, do you have a second? I had a question about {{address}}.

{{first_name}}, I had a question about {{address}}. You still own it right?

Hi {{first_name}}, I wanted to ask about {{address}}. Is that still your house?

Hi {{first_name}}, Do you still own {{address}}? Would you consider a quick as-is condition sale? Let me know if now is a good time to connect?

Hi {{first_name}}, Do you still own {{address}}? Would you consider getting rid of it?

Hi my name is (your name), I had a quick question about {{address}}, is that still yours?

Hey {{first_name}}, its (your name). I had a question about {{address}}. Do you have a quick min?

When it comes to creating your text messages here are some word you want to avoid in your initial message.

Interested
Offer
Cash
Purchase
Random
Blue
Out of the blue
Investor
Consider
Selling
Property
Local investor

**These only are words you want to avoid on your first text. Once they reply you are fine.

Texting Script:

After your initial text and you start to get some replies here is a script you can use to communicate with sellers.

Download the texting script here.

Creating Macros:

We call these macros or quick replies. Basically these are responses you can set up to reply to sellers quickly without typing out full replies.

Here is a video

Here are the macros you can use.

Not Interested / Wrong Number (non-hostile response)

Thanks for letting me know… do you happen to know anyone else who might be looking to buy or sell a property here within the next couple of months?

How did you get my number?

Good question – I use a service (white pages) that helps me match public property records with owner contact info for houses I’m interested in

Yes you have the right person

Have you considered selling the property? I am looking for another purchase in the area

What is your offer?

I’d prefer not to throw out a number before I know a little more about your property

Step #2a: Qualifying Question – If correct person or they request a call:

Just so I don’t waste your time I should ask – assuming that you were happy with what I could offer for the property, would selling within the next couple months even be an option for you?

Step #2b: Qualifying Question – Asking Price

If you did decide to sell, to me or to anyone else, do you have a rough idea of how much you’d want to get out of your property? An estimate or ballpark range is fine

Step #3: Schedule a Call

I’d like to get a little more info about the property – also happy to answer any questions you have. Is there a time today or tomorrow I can give you a quick call?

Asking price too high

I’m sorry Donald, I cannot meet your price expectations. If anything changes for you, please keep me in mind. Have a great day 🙂

Who is this?

This is Will with Fair Offer Denver – I’m looking for another rental or rehab project and I like the area. We’ve reached out to others in the neighborhood asking the same question

It is leased / rented until…

I’m actually looking for another rental – would you have any interest in selling sooner if I could take over the lease?

Can’t meet price expectations

I’m sorry Donald, but I don’t think I can meet your price expectations – I’ll refer you to an agent on our team who can get you the sales price that you need. Have a great rest of your day 🙂

Price too High / Wants Market Value

I’ll take a good look at the comparable sales and follow up with you if I can make that work. Thanks Donald, have a great rest of your day

Property already improved / No repairs needed

Sounds like you’ve already completed most of the work that I like to do to add value to the properties I buy. We probably aren’t a good fit, but thank you for responding Donald

Keep Me In Mind

I understand you aren’t interested in selling right now, please keep me in mind if anything changes for you. Thanks Donald, have a great rest of your day

Phone Verifying Your leads:

This is super important because it will allow you to exclude any landlines or non deliverable people from your lists before you sent your texts.

Scheduling Your Messages In Smarter contact: