Sometimes old school works best when raising capital.
My phone was ringing yet again from a client I just spoke with an hour earlier.
“So what’s happened in the last 50 minutes?” I asked.
The launch of their new real estate syndication was off and running for ten days, and the interest we’d generated was overwhelming. My client had received verbal commitments beyond the syndication, but there was a snag.
He started fast, “I forgot to ask you, I have a few investors who gave me verbal commitments a week ago and now I cannot get them to fill out the forms. Plus, I cannot get a response from them. What do you think went wrong?”
I followed with, “So they’ve agreed to invest and then they went dormant?”
“Yes, and I feel I messed up somewhere along the line” he worried.
“Probably nothing significant. What did you send them?”, I asked. He responded with, “I sent them links to the online forms to complete and sign and less than half completed them.”
How to Close Cold Accredited Investors
I knew the problem…
“Easy fix, overnight them the docs and flag where they need to sign. Include a copy of the docs for them to keep and include a pre-paid return label to you and the package envelope. Make it super easy for them.”
“Seriously? You think they just will not complete the online forms?”
“Just send it and tell me what happens. I gotta run…” One week later, I received this email:
I hate it when you’re right.
I FedEx’d the packages as you suggested and got all of them back but one. Okay, lesson learned. Some people are just not living in 2018. Thanks, Matt!
Yes, sometimes old school works best. Paper is still around and closing deals.