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Eddie Speed is a long-time contributor to the NoteWorthy Newsletter and the note brokering industry in general.  He is the founder of NoteSchool, which is hosting the just-announced Kick-Off Breakfast at the NoteWorthy Convention, holding an optional class entitled “Seller-Financed Notes: Phenomenal Growth, Incredible Opportunity” ($99, click here to download the sign-up form or call (800) 487-1864) and hosting a workshop entitled “Breaking News on Notes–and How to Profit from Them“ (free with Convention admission).

Imagine your doorbell rings. You answer it and find a stranger standing there. He says, “Let me buy your house for cash!” Now, the last thing you’d say is, “Okay. Write me a check.” You wouldn’t sign your property over to a complete stranger, and certainly not on the spot. Odds are, you aren’t even thinking about selling your home. This encounter won’t likely prompt you to consider it.

Too often, note brokers approach their unsuspecting targets as aggressively as this unwelcomed visitor. They wave cash at unacquainted note owners, expecting deals to close when it’s only the doors that do. Discouraged, they cross names off their lists, never to contact these people again. Eventually, they drop out of the business altogether, leaving promising prospects behind.

Fundamental to your success as a note broker is your ability to establish relation-ships. Familiarity leads to sales, so get to know your prospects. Your first contact should be introductory, not a cold call and a hard sell. Let them know who you are and why you’re interested in their situation. Approach them with the possibilities their notes might bring them. Deliver friendly, timely and useful information. Be interested and interesting, helpful and trustworthy. Offer a free analysis. Show what’s in it for them to do business with you. Remember, even the Fuller Brush Man demonstrated his wares before asking for the sale.

By getting to know your note owners, you can give them personalized service. You might recommend, for example, that the individual should consider a partial sale, receiving less money but at a smaller discount, instead of relinquishing the note altogether.

When note owners are familiar with you, guess whom they’ll call when they’re ready to sell. And guess what they’ll say. “Okay, my friend. Now you can write me a check!”