Putting a code on mailers for tracking?

Question

Has anyone thought or tried putting a code on their mailers to make it easier to track when someone calls?

I hate it when a seller calls and leaves a message that sounds like "This is John Jidfheeemdfuhfsdhf calling about my property at 213 biiigeshoopf dr. my number is blah blah blah." Where as with a mailer code I could have in my message "leave your name number, and postcard code to get an offer on your house... call you back soon... blah blah something sounding professional." That way I hear "John Smith 555-555-5555 and my code is A23, Thanks!" I can look up it up in my mailing list to match the name and property much easier so I can call back going in warm instead of cold.

I can see that this may not get a great response rate because it comes across as gimmicky. This post may be more of a vent about people that can't leave clear messages haha, but has anyone tried this? What was your response rate vs. no code on the letter/postcard?

Jeff Fairchild · Answer

you can track by having each mailing go to a different ph#

Adrien C. · Answer

I understand your frustration. I don't think that will help for the exact reasons you mentioned. They'll be several who call and don't have the letter in front of them as well. I just call back all numbers even the ones who leave mumble jumble on the vm.

Michael Lerch · Answer

Alright, I decided to go with call fire for now and got my first number setup to my google voice number to track incoming calls for my first mailer.

I'll have to just suck it up when it comes to hearing incoherent rambling mumbling sellers. How do you guys answer or deal with sellers who have thick accents? I've got a few asian accented sellers that have called me in the past and It's been a huge turn off to try and call them back or deal with them because I can't understand them at all. Probably good for a different topic :)

Tim Herndon · Answer

@Michael Lerch I agree with @Jeff Fairchild we use separate tracjing numbers that provide analytics for each campaign.

Matt R. · Answer

Disclaimer: I've never sent out mailings like this.

Advice: If you do this, use an all numeric format for the code. That way, you only have to distinguish ten different sounds, rather than 36.  (It's hard to figure out if somebody said "D" or "T", or "P" or "B", over the phone.)

If you decide you need more than about three or four digits, try separating it into a couple of pieces with a dash, like 12-345 or 123-456.  It's easier for people to accurately read it off the postcard that way.

If whatever source you use for the addresses gives you ZIP+4 codes, and you print them on your mailings, maybe ask people to give you that.  For the post office, that narrows it down to a block or less, and for you, it probably will identify just one property on your list.  On the other hand, you may not get those from your source, and I think people will tend to just give you the 5-digit part of the ZIP code, rather than the ZIP+4.

Justin Silverio · Answer

Try using Call Fire.  I pay $1/phone number/month.  I have all the phone numbers forwarded to my google voice number so I can pick them up from 1 phone.  When I miss a call, I get an email with the phone number who called me and what number they called in to.  Check out the picture of my gmail inbox under #6 here - http://www.thebostoninvestor.com/creating-a-lead-d...

By the way, I have no affiliation with Call Fire.

Evan Roberts · Answer

@Jeff Fairchild has the right idea but I think you'd have a heck of a time setting up those numbers with callrail or whatever service you use to route all of your calls to your phone. That being said, if you use callrail to route your calls to your phone you will also have a record of everyone calling you including their first and last name (it has a very accurate caller id) and their phone number. 8/10 times I am able to take that name and do a search of my spreadsheet I used for mailings and determine who called me and what property I had mailed about.

Not a perfect system but it's a heck of a lot better than what you get by just listing your personal phone number and dealing with people's incoherent ramblings into your voicemail!

Putting a code on mailers for tracking?

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