Written by Jeffrey R. Armstrong – President/Owner of Armstrong Capital
Your favorite Master Note Buyer – Straightforward, Honest, Fair…
I believe that most people go into the note business backwards. They develop their website, get business cards and then sit and wait for note holders to come to them. Yes, those tools are a must these days to incorporate into your marketing efforts, but instead of waiting for them to come to you, it’s a million times easier to actually market to the exact note holders with the notes that we want to buy. So I will share with you some knowledge about how to find our ideal client, or rather, our ideal note holder.
Do you know your market inside out? Whether you are a new note broker or have been in the note business for years we can make sure we get to know our market inside out. We need to have a picture in our mind of our ideal note holder so we know what they look like when they cross our path.
So ask yourself some simple questions like:
- Who is your ideal note holder?
- Who do you love to deal with?
- Who makes you the most profit?
Describing your ideal note holder – The questions above will get you thinking and help you define your ideal note holder in useful terms. But I want to point out that you need to describe your note holder from multiple different angles. Because while most people may focus on demographics I believe their psychographics are much more important for really being successful. So what exactly does this mean? Demographics – I think of demographics as all the statistical data you can collect on your market. Things like their age, type of property, note size and terms, location etc fall in here. But this is where most market research stops and I believe misses the real point of understanding your market.
Psychographics – While there are more technical definitions I view psychographics as the psychology of your market. This is where you really get in touch with your ideal note holders hopes, dreams, problems, feelings and so on. This is where you really start to understand your ideal note holder on a deeper level because as we know if there is no need (hope, dream, problem, etc) there is no deal.
I always find the best way to understand your market is to be part of it. This means that you’re solving a problem or fulfilling a desire for your note holder that you once shared (needing a lump sum of cash). If this isn’t the case (you’ve never needed a lump sum of cash) then you need to do your best to feel empathy for your note holders and really understand where they’re coming from.
Discover your ideal note holder’s story – I find a very powerful way of getting in touch with your ideal note holder is to write down their story. This means describing everything about them so you understand completely where they’re coming from. By doing this exercise you’ll have a detailed description of your ideal note holder and can then be on the lookout for them every day.
What you do next – Have a thought session about who your ideal note holder is and then really dig deeply into their psychology. From there you’ll have a lot more clarity about what drives them and be able to discover their story. Once your ideal note holder is in your mind you need to ensure you always communicate with this person throughout your business’ operations.
This information should help you start to try to understand the ideal note holders that you are looking for. Once you figure out your ideal note holder you will begin to attract the right kinds of business to create success.
Remember, success demands action! Keep on marketing, it’s going to work! TWITA! (That’s What I’m Talking About!)
Hi Jeff,
Thanks for the great advice, as usual. Would you prefer to send a letter to a note holder’s home address or to their P.O. Box?
Thanks for the question Gabe! IF I had 2 different mailing addresses I would prefer to use their home address. But honestly I would probably send them a letter to both addresses. Hope this helps, TWITA!