Skip tracing and cold calling with Batchleads-Expectations?

Question

I've been cold calling daily for several weeks.  I work full time which limits my time to roughly 2 hours a day M-F from 6pm-8pm for calls, 4 hours a day on weekends.  I use Batchleads to pull my lists, skip trace and call with in app dialer.  I'm not using Batchdialer but am open to upgrading.

I'm focusing on tax defaults primarily and stacking with absentee, high equity.  I'll use those same filters and add vacants to get a very targeted list in my selected zips.  I use the treasury site to verify tax status and amount owed.  My lists are usually around 100 properties when I filter heavily.

Data quality is just ok, lots of wrong numbers and DNC numbers getting scrubbed by Batchleads eliminate half my skip traced leads. The people I do get on the phone are tired of wholesalers so it's been challenging. I have a simple intro I start with;

"Hey, is this [Name]? ... Hey [Name], my name's Josh, I'm a local real estate investor here in Detroit — I actually buy properties in the [street/neighborhood] area. The reason I'm reaching out is I came across your property on [Address] and wanted to see if you'd ever considered selling it. Is that something you'd be open to talking about for just a second?"

Most people say no and hang up.  I've dialed over 1000 numbers, I do have 2 sellers I'm actively working with follow-ups.  They are in deep tax default late in the process on a ticking clock, but most of my calls are dead ends.

I'd love to hear what you guys are doing in terms of your cold calling strategy to keep some of your leads on the phone a little longer to justify follow up.

Travis Goodwin · Answer

Honestly, for working full time and only having a couple hours a day, 1,000 dials with 2 active follow-ups is better progress than you think. I’d focus less on dialing perfection and more on volume plus sounding natural. A lot of owners are burned out on investor calls, so try a simpler approach like, “Hey John, this is Josh—I was calling about the property on Elm Street.” Then pause and let them respond. Also, don’t over-filter your lists too hard—the most targeted lists are often the same ones everyone else is hammering. Keep going, because two tax default leads can turn into a deal fast with strong follow-up.

Joshua Allgeyer · Answer

@Drew Sygit yes sir, Im going with Batchdialer which is an auto dialer.  It will save me a ton of time.  VA will be a next evolution.

I see you're in Royal Oak.  I'm in Highland, love to chat sometime.

Drew Sygit · Answer

Shoot me a DM

Joshua Allgeyer · Answer

@Carson Nordmann I appreciate the feedback.  I am going to trial Batchdialer this week, gives me a triple line predictive dialer.  I will have to spend some time wiring it to my crm, this is why I've waited! Getting 2.5x the connected calls per hour is worth it though.

The next lever is improving automated follow-up.  I use GHL which has great features for sms follow-up.

Drew Sygit · Answer

STOP dialing yourself!

It's a pure numbers game that you have to scale for success.

So, either:

1) Hire a VA to do this2) Use an auto-dialer

Carson Nordmann · Answer

Pickup rate on tax default lists tends to be lower than general absentee because the owners are already getting mailed and called by everyone running the same filter. The treasury verification step is smart, kills wasted dials. If you're going to upgrade anything, a real dialer beats a list upgrade at your hours. More dials per session is the lever.