If you’re trying to find an RV Park to buy, then one of the most important forces to harness is “volume”. Even average negotiators can come away with great acquisitions if they simply employ the power of numbers. In this RV Park Mastery podcast we’re going to review how you can put together an aggressive campaign to build greater volume of deal flow, as well as why banking on numbers is a well-proven method of being a better buyer.
Episode 121: The Power Of Volume Transcript
If you are looking to buy an RV park, your best chance at success can be summed up in one single word, and that word is volume. This is Frank Rolfe with the RV Park Mastery Podcast. We're gonna talk about why volume is such an important thing in finding a good RV park to buy. Now, the first thing you learn about volume and life is the more shots you take, the more likely you are to make one go in the basket. You probably have played a game at a carnival somewhere. You give them five bucks, they give you three tennis balls. You got to knock something down with the tennis balls. At some point, if I buy enough tennis balls, I will knock that thing down. Someone who really wants to buy the prize at those carnivals may sometimes spend $50 or $100 before they finally have enough tennis balls to knock it down and win the giant teddy bear. And buying an RV park is no different. The more RV parks I look at, the greater the odds I have of negotiating a contract, going through due diligence, and successfully closing.
In fact, there was a guy named Joe Girard. He wrote a book once, all about this concept, I believe it's called You Can Sell Anything To Anybody. And Joe Girard was the number one car salesman in American history. He sold more cars by himself than often several dealerships combined. And if you read his book, the book isn't what you think it will be about. You think it'll be about negotiating skills and tricks. It's really not. It really just is a book all about creating volume. Because Girard was the first guy to apply volume to car sales. He invented many of the things that people regularly use today, direct mail and cold calling. He was doing all of that before anybody else. And in the book, he describes volume and its relation to his success. And I hate this analogy, but he talks about how it's like a big, giant Ferris wheel. And he knows that if he loads people into every single car in that Ferris wheel, every time the Ferris wheel stops, someone's going to step off and buy a car. So he saw his goal was not selling cars necessarily, that would come later, but was filling up the Ferris wheel. That's something he talks about constantly in the book.
And that's what he's talking about, is volume. And the fact when you have lots of volume, you can often get amazing outcomes. A long time ago, 15 years ago, maybe even 20 years ago, my daughter played volleyball in school. And the cool parents, they all had third row seating. So my daughter said, "How come we can't be cool like the other parents? Why don't we not have an SUV with third row seating?" Because I only had two row seating, and third row seating meant you could take the whole volleyball team to practice or to a game in your one car. So I looked at what the cool parents were driving. They were all driving Dodge Durango's. So I looked up the Dodge Durango. I came up with the features that I would want in them. And I set about trying to buy a Dodge Durango, but literally just for volleyball. Didn't really need it for any other use, didn't haul around that many people on a regular basis. And at that time and again, this is 20 years ago, Dodge Durango's used went for about $10,000. So to make a game out of it, I decided to see if I could find a Dodge Durango in mint condition with third row seating, but for only $5,000.
So what I did was I went to AutoTrader, which is a great resource for used cars. I put in the fact I was looking for a Dodge Durango, third row seating, all the different specifics, and it turned out there was about 120 Dodge Durango's in America at that one moment, all for sale. So I started cold calling each and every one. And when people answered the phone, I explained to them I needed a Dodge Durango to haul a volleyball team around. And I had a budget of only $5000. And even though I knew they were asking 10, would they be interested in taking five? And about 26 calls later, after most everyone hung up on me, I got an architect in Chicago and he said, "Yeah, you know what? I looked online and there's about over a hundred of these available. This thing is taking up valuable real estate in my parking lot. I want to get it out of my driveway. I'll take your 5000. I just want to be done with the car". There's an example of volume in action. If I'd only called a few people, the first 10, I would have abandoned my concept and be stuck with buying the Durango for ten grand.
But through volume, I was able to find somebody that wanted it. So volume has always been key. And also, when you're talking to a lot of people trying to buy an RV park, it builds you better swagger with sellers because you send the vibe like you're not that dependent on them. You have other options. They can feel that the way you talk. So volume is also important from a negotiating tool 'cause it just sends out the vibe to sellers, "Hey, you know, I'd love to buy your RV park, but if you don't want to sell it or sell it at a good price, that's okay. I've got other RV parks I can buy", and they definitely will feel that and that power will be harnessed for you. So if we all agree the volume is the key to finding a good RV park, then how can we increase our volume to find more deals to look at? Well, the first thing is to be more like Joe Girard. Now, I had never read his book back in the early 80s when I got in the billboard business, which was my first business that I owned, I did it for 14 years.
It's same as RV parks. Different. I was just trying to buy or build billboard signs along highways. But I had a little erasable board, I put little black rule lines on it. And my only goal in life is to fill up that board with potential billboard locations. Because I learned that if I kept that little board full all the time, I would have a new billboard to examine. So I set about trying to create as much volume as I humanly could to fill that board. And that's a trick that I suggest anyone looking to buy an RV park embraces, 'cause that really will pay a big dividend to you. Also, I would hit every single RV park broker that you can find. I wouldn't just call two or three of them. I would hunt down and call all of them. As many as you can find out there on RV Park Store or LoopNet. Because again, volume is key. Each of those brokers, remember they're going around trying to get listings in volume with a lot of other sellers. So now you have basically volume times volume, and that's really important. Also, do direct mail in areas that you think would be good, and then follow that up with a cold call.
That's an easier way to cold call. That's like cold call light. There's really no rejection that comes of that. You call people up and say, did you get the thing I sent you? Then they're either gonna say no, and you tell them what it was, or they say, yeah, and you say, "What did you think?" Or they say, "Well, yeah, I'm kind of thinking about it". And you just start that point of contact. So that's another really good way to get some volume going. And don't forget all those online listings when you're prowling around looking for brokers. Let's see what the listings are at RV Park Store and LoopNet. Maybe there's some out there that we can call sellers on. When you call sellers on those online listings particularly, be creative. Don't feel like you're stuck with the price that they're asking. Often, if you see it sitting there for a long number of days, you know they're gonna be flexible on the pricing. Also, expand your turf. Most people like to start looking at properties that are, you know, four to five hour driving radius from your house. Well, maybe we could expend up to seven hours or eight hours.
The more real estate that you're looking at as far as the footprint, the more you're going to see. Also develop a system to follow up on deals where people tell you no, because a no means nothing. A no is just at that one moment in time, though the answer is no. The next day could be a whole new thing. Maybe by the next day, the Mom and Pop owner find out that, you know, they've got a health issue or they just wanna move somewhere. So don't just give up on all those different leads that you find with volume. Check back on them. It doesn't mean they're not gonna sell it to you until literally it's been sold. And even then, not always. We've bought RV parks from people who bought an RV park, found out they didn't like it, and then they wanna resell it again. But don't just churn your leads. Don't just treat them like trash. Don't just throw them in the trash basket. Continue to work them over and over. Because you may find in the end, by virtue of sticking with it, you may actually end up buying that deal.
The bottom line is, I've never seen anyone who employs a focus on volume fail. Most people come to me and say, "I can't find an RV park to buy". I'll say, "Well, what's your system? How do you look for them?" And then I'm appalled at how low volume they utilize. They'll tell me, "Well, I called a broker". A broker, that's not gonna work. Those who focus on filling the Ferris wheel, those who focus on filling the little board of prospects, those are ones who always prove successful because they harness the power of volume. This is Frank Rolfe, the RV Park Mastery Podcast. Hope you enjoyed this. Talk to you again soon.