Five minutes.
That is how long it took an owner to answer a text last Saturday morning. Before that, he had not answered a single one of our calls in a month.
He wasn't avoiding us. His phone had been broken in a way neither of us could see. When it was fixed, the first thing that reached him was a few lines of text. The calls still didn't, and some of that was on us. I'll get to it.
If an owner you have already talked with has gone quiet, this issue is about what to send them, when, and what not to read into the silence.
The Worked Example
He was further along than most owners we work with. We had talked. He wanted to sit down and go over his options, and we kept failing to line up a night. His sale date was Monday, October 26.
Here is the month as the record shows it.
September 22 to October 20: he heard from us on 12 different days. His phone rang on 10 of them, and we left 7 voicemails. He answered none. Between September 30 and October 20, nothing went to him in writing, because every unanswered call counted as the follow-up. (Thursday's blog is about how a busy record hides that.)
October 20, 1:11 PM: I texted him myself. I said I knew it had been hard to find a night, that I still wanted to sit down with him before his date, and asked what day worked. No reply.
October 22 and 23: two more calls. Voicemail both times.
Saturday, October 24, 9:02 AM: a short text. Circling back one more time since Monday is close. No pressure, how are you doing, do you have a few minutes to talk this weekend?
9:07 AM: his reply. "Sorry for not responding, my phone did a weird thing and wasn't receiving some messages, but it's fixed as of last night. I could talk later today."
9:28 AM: we set 4:30 that afternoon. At 3:52 he wrote again: could we call sooner?
4:16 to 4:22 PM: three calls in six minutes. Every one went straight to voicemail. I texted him that the calls weren't getting through and asked when to try back. One minute later: "Sorry please try again. I was by my phone. Or is there a number I can call you at?"
4:26 PM: he called our number. It didn't become a conversation, and neither did his second try thirty seconds later.
We called him back on Sunday and left a voicemail. He hasn’t called back. His sale date has passed, and we’re still trying him.
Three things in that month are worth taking from it.
The silence was never a decision. For most of that month he wasn't choosing not to answer. He couldn't. If we had read the silence as a no, we would have stopped.
Writing is what reached him. Ten days of rings got nothing. A text got an answer in five minutes the morning his phone worked. A text waits for the owner. A ring is gone in thirty seconds.
When he wanted to talk, the phone failed again, and that time it was our side. He was holding his phone and our calls still went to voicemail.
Copy This
Three texts for an owner you have already talked with who has stopped picking up. Put them in your own words. Keep them short, and never promise anything about the sale, the bank or the outcome: say you want to talk and ask when.
After the second unanswered call:
Hi [first name], it's [your name]. I tried you a couple of times and didn't want to keep ringing your phone. If texting is easier, just reply here. If now isn't a good time, tell me when is. Reply STOP and I won't text again.
A few days later, if nothing came back:
Hi [first name], [your name] again. I know [the date they told you] is coming up. No pressure at all and you don't owe me a call. Is there a better day, or a better way to reach you?
When they reply but your calls aren't connecting:
Sorry, my calls aren't getting through to you. Here's my direct number: [number]. Call whenever it suits you, or tell me a time and I'll try you from that number.
And four rules that go with them:
Two unanswered calls, then the next follow-up goes in writing. Not a third voicemail.
One voicemail, not seven. After the first, a voicemail says nothing a text doesn't say better.
Write down when they last actually answered, and on what. "Contacted" is not an answer.
Call from the number you text from. An owner who saves your texting number should see that number when you call.
From Our Numbers
Since September 24, our calling queue has rung 222 owners at least twice without ever reaching them by phone. They averaged almost four unanswered rings each.
152 of them got something in writing after the first unanswered ring. 16 wrote back, 10 of them within a week of it.
The other 70 got nothing in writing. None of them wrote back.
25 of the 222 asked us to stop.
The Honest Part
That comparison is not a fair test, and I don't want it read as one. Most of those 70 owners probably had no number we could text and no email we could use, which is why nothing went to them in writing. Sixteen out of 152 is about one in ten. It is not a lot.
The calling side is worse than I'd like. When we checked our own line last week, the number we dial from wasn't the number we text from. It wasn't set up to show who was calling, and about one in six of our dials never rang at all. That is the most likely reason a man holding his phone got voicemail. We are fixing it now. Until that is done, some of the silence on our list is ours.
One Thing This Week
Call yourself. From the number you dial sellers on, call your own cell and someone else's on a different carrier. Look at what shows up: your name, a bare number, a spam warning, or nothing. Then text your three quietest owners from that same number. It takes fifteen minutes. You will either find nothing wrong, or find the reason half your list stopped answering.
Close
When an owner you've talked with goes quiet, what is the first thing you change? Hit reply and tell me. I read every one.
Thursday's blog has the four checks we run now so a busy-looking record can't hide this again: Motivated seller follow-up: when the phone stops connecting, change the channel
If you want to see how much of your list you can actually reach in writing, the free Pipeline Grader reads your real list, not a questionnaire, and shows which owners you can text, email or mail. We never store it, sell it or message anyone on it.
→ dealroute.ai/grader
Talk soon,
Jason
Questions readers ask
How many times should you call a motivated seller before you text? Two is a good rule. After two unanswered calls, the next follow-up goes in writing, so the owner can answer on their own time.
Does a voicemail count as a follow-up? It counts as an attempt to reach them. If an owner has stopped returning calls, another voicemail is the same attempt again. A short text gives them a way to answer.
Why do my calls to sellers go straight to voicemail? Sometimes it isn't the owner. A number that isn't set up to show who's calling can be labeled or sent to voicemail by the phone company before it rings. Call yourself from it and see what shows.