Problem

As a real estate investor, agent or property manager I am looking to create personalized leads by leveraging data brokers and public records. I will take that information and cold-call or spam message the homeowner.

Solution

Limit data collection to only what you need. Many companies fall victim to thinking that more is better. In my experience, that is not the case. The harsh truth is that most do not effectively use what they gather. The data collection is more of a “keeping up with the Joneses” activity. There’s many opportunities to use public information records or public databases without the need for spam or collecting mounds of personal data.

As an example: If you are a pool professional, you only need the address and the type of pool or spa. No personal info. Drive by and deliver business cards.

Keep in mind that public records and data brokers have competing interests with a homeowner that simply wants to be. While that data is valuable and important, when it comes to establishing trust, focus on minimizing to what you need.

One final note: while many small, local and home service businesses fall below state privacy law thresholds, the collection and mismanagement of records could quickly move a company into the scope of those laws.

But beyond that, even sending an email with a mailing address to the wrong customer could constitute a data leak and be subject to potential actions. Data has value to many parties.

All of this is to say: no matter your size, take a moment to examine what you really need to generate leads, it is typically much less than you think.