Speaker 1
Hi there. So I just wanted to deal with some questions that have come through from various different Harbour clubbers, these have come through after doing the Harbour Club, then going out and trying to implement, and these questions have kind of come up after it. So the first one is somebody asked, “Are there any kinds of shortcuts on the letter writing process? Are there some ways that you can get the director’s home addresses a bit quicker? Because the whole thing seems quite time consuming.” This is a really interesting point because over the years, I mean obviously the first letter I ever sent using this method was in 2006. So we’ve got over a decade of experience in using this process, and the products that are available on the market have changed really significantly since then. So for example, the first credit checking software we ever had, you could only search by typing the company in first and then it would come up with the credit rating.
Speaker 1
Now you have all these sophisticated products where you can search by really complex criteria. So you can actually search by a company’s balance sheet performance. You can search by geographies, by industries and all that sort of stuff. But what’s really fascinating is that the more complex the products have got, the worse the data output forms, in terms of the letter writing structure, which is why on the course we talk about this slightly laborious process of finding the company first through a directory service. The argument for that is that directory services are always accurate because people are looking for business. So they make sure that the directory is a fair reflection of what the nature of their business is. When you have that list of companies, you then put that into the credit checking software to shortlist a group of companies that are red flagged, or you feel you should write to, and then from within there, write to all of the directors of their home addresses.
Speaker 1
If it’s a really scant on home addresses, you can use things like 192.com, using the person’s date of birth and full name to be able to try and find the home address from other sources like the electoral roll. So this involves looking at several different bits of software and compiling several different lists. But the results you get can be pretty spectacular. So if you look at most of the successful Harbour Clubbers that are sending out letters, most of them are doing it on a consistent basis. So sending 50 to 80 letters a week for example, creating that kind of habit to get those letters out, and they’re doing multiple deals. Lee [inaudible 00:02:51] is one that springs to mind immediately. Last time I spoke to Lee he’s done 10 deals that have come from letter writing, just from letter writing and I’m sure, because I haven’t spoken to him for about a month,it’s probably more than that now.
Speaker 1
There are numerous examples like that, of people that are sending out letters regularly and getting lots of deals. So one argument is yes, it’s a bit of a pain in the arse, it’s time consuming, but wow, is the juice worth the squeeze? Yeah, if you can get multiple deals from just spending that extra bit of time, care and attention, then it’s well worth it. But that wasn’t the question. The question wasn’t was it worth it? The question was, “Can I make it shorter or better in some way?” There are two ways that you can tackle this. The first one is by division of labor. So if you get together with a couple of your other fellow Harbour clubbers, and just separate out the tasks. So perhaps one of you does the shortlist from the directory service, one of you does all the credit checking, and one of you does all the envelope stuffing and mailing, and then you just rotate around so that you each have a different role perhaps each week or every two weeks.
Speaker 1
You can also take it in turns to be the number that goes on the letter that people will call. So you take it in turns to deal with the inquiries, this solves a few issues. One of them, it kind of outsources your motivation a bit, because all of a sudden you’re now accountable to somebody else, because your the next step in the process.So without you completing your tasks, the next person can’t complete their task. So there’s a kind of peer pressure that forces you to move forwards. And so these little cliques when they formed in the past have been very, very successful at generating multiple leads. Remember,you need 20 good meetings to do a deal.So the more opportunities you can create, the better. I’ve said in a previous video about this idea that if you do have an abundance of leads, somehow it makes the leads easier to close as well, because you don’t get this deal heat, this desire to make sure that the one that you’re currently talking to has to turn into a deal.
Speaker 1
So it’s a really good idea to get this traction, and by sharing the load, obviously also share the upside. You’re sharing the equity. So that’s the other thing to consider, but you can really turbocharge your business, doing it that way. The other way that has worked quite well, Craig Boddington, who is the Harbour clubber back from 2009, who’s been very successful over the years. He outsourced all of his stuff, and I remember at the time him giving the advice to other Harbour clubbers that, “Look, if you’re going to outsource it, IE. take somebody on, Elance or Freelancer or one of these websites, to do the data crunching, It’s a really good idea if you’ve done it yourself first.”
Speaker 1
It’s very hard to outsource the task until you’ve done it yourself, and kind of understand the process, and the warts and the wrinkles, so that you can explain it to the person that you’re outsourcing it to in a much better way. And also how long it should take them, because it’s very easy for them to tell you they spent nine hours looking for records, and you have no idea if that’s a long time or a little time unless you’ve actually done it yourself.
Speaker 1
So I’d still encourage you to do it yourself first, and then the bits that are more laborious, yes you can pay somebody $3 an hour somewhere far warmer than where you live to to do the grunt work for you. So that would be the two angles that I would pursue if you were looking to make sure this is happening on a consistent basis, and shorten the timeframe. Either look to partner up with some other Harbour clubbers or to outsource to some cheaper labor once you’ve understood exactly what it is that you’re doing. So I hope you find that helpful. I’ll be sending these around on a fairly regular basis. So if you have any questions, just email [email protected] and we can do a video for the most popular questions. Thank you.
