Millennial Buyers Aren’t Going To Stand For This
My morning routine is to make a cup of coffee and peruse the Inman Headlines in my inbox. This morning, I was intrigued by the lead article: The 6 texts you should send every online lead.
I (naively) assumed that the article would cover 6 different types of text messages that are most useful to clients or see the highest engagement. Since we only work with home sellers at Virgent, we use a lot of automated text messaging to schedule showings, notify people of offers, etc.
Instead, I got an article about how to spam people. The Inman speaker, Wendy Forsythe, recommends that agents text (and/or call!) buyer leads 6 times in 24 hours if they don’t respond to the initial outreach.
How annoyed would you be if your friend texted you 6 times in 24 hours without waiting for you to respond? Now imagine how much worse it is from someone you’ve never met before. I previously skewered Zillow for offering to reach out to leads 3 times a day on my behalf, but that seems passive compared to what Forsythe proposes.
As a millennial, I would instantly block anyone who texted or called me 6 times in a day without waiting for a response. Maybe other generations are more responsive to this onslaught, but millennials don’t want to be sold to like this. You’re never going to text me into purchasing a home. When I’m ready to buy a home, and if I think you’re the one to help me, I’ll let you know.
Until then – stop texting me.
Bryn Kaufman
Posted at 18:29h, 04 AugustBen, I agree with you. I think you saw my GeekEstate post about successful Realtors being a pain.
http://geekestateblog.com/successful-realtors-pain/
The mentality with some in our industry is you need me, I am doing you a favor by texting you 6 times in 24 hours to offer you my services. You are lucky to be getting attention from me, whether I am knocking on your door uninvited, or texting / calling you 6 times in 24 hours. They feel it does not even fall under rules for soliciting, as the client needs us so bad you are not selling your service, but just offering to help them.
Not everyone doe this of course. I like the Russell Rhodes approach.
http://blog.kw.com/2013/01/04/delivering-customer-value-the-russell-rhodes-way/
JimWhatley
Posted at 08:28h, 05 AugustOnly text me if you need something from me, you have something I need to be made aware of, if it is hilarious or makes me money. I have a mom don’t need another one. Don’t do to people what you would not want done to you.
Bryn Kaufman
Posted at 10:08h, 05 August“Don’t do to people what you would not want done to you.”
Great words to live by.
Sam DeBord
Posted at 09:02h, 05 AugustI’m not sure this has anything to do with being a millennial. It’s just an extension of the 10 days of pain mindset that values immediate conversion potential over long-term personality or relationship building. It’s not for everyone, and there are those in every age range who will hate it.
Jim Duncan
Posted at 04:56h, 07 AugustIt’s not a millennial or generational response to be offended or put off by spam (and those encouraging such spamming); it’s a human thing.