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Julian O’Dell is founder of TM Training & Development
TheDilemma
“As a new agent in town, we need to build up our available resale stock. It is so frustrating when we see our competitors getting instructions on properties that we are not even invited out to. We have tried distributing leafl ets which has had a fair response but any other ideas would be welcome. Any tips?”
JULIAN SAYS: Research continually demonstrates that vendors instruct the agent whose competence and integrity they most trust. The best way to win such trust is through face to face contact at an appraisal. However, if you don’t get the chance to have a ‘face to face’ then you don’t get the chance to establish your credentials. Estate agency utopia would be to get invited out to every single market appraisal in your area – so how can you move closer to this perfect scenario? If local people were asked, “Who is the most
active estate agent in your area?”, would your fi rm come up regularly? It is important to raise your profi le and be seen as successful, proactive and above all, the best option. You must be on every potential vendor’s radar to ensure you are at least ‘in the frame’ as their possible agent. It may not mean that you take on
everything that you are off ered – a prudent agent will decline instructions which do not enhance their off er. However, it is crucial to have the opportunity. Does every element of your marketing scream that you would appreciate more property to sell? Wanted ads on your website’s home page, in the offi ce window and in publications, give customers the message that you want their business. Generic leafl ets and specifi c letters to local addresses work if constantly employed – however, this canvassing must be planned and constant. E-marketing via newsletters to your client
database ensures that they are constantly made aware of your brand, your activity, your successes and your incentives. There are some fantastic options for the design and distribution of newsletters via email, and as not all agents use this approach, it is a key method of diff erentiating yourself. Ensure that the community is aware of
every successful sale you agree, possibly by way of a regular newsletter or perhaps ‘sold in your area’ leafl ets. Such methods will get your brand noticed and will increase the chances of your fi rm being asked to future valuations.
www.the-negotiator.co.uk Really outstanding fi rms also recognise that
there are other ‘customers’ to consider outside the obvious categories. Anyone who interacts with your company should be seen as a customer – some of these relationships are less obvious but are equally important. To manage these ‘customers by association’
it is important to identify who they are – the lady in the newsagents where you buy your paper, the tyre fi tter who worked on your car, the board contractor, the offi ce window cleaner to name but a few; everyone you deal with should be viewed as potential business. These ‘customers’ merit great service in the
“If asked – is your fi rm the fi rst that locals would recommend?”
Community activity is eff ective – leafl ets/ cards in the local store, hotels and pubs, supporting school events are all proven successes in building an agent’s business. Always maintain contact with previous customers to keep your name in their mind. Beyond this background work, agents with
large market shares are, unsurprisingly, those who focus on the provision of excellent service. Staff recognise the concept that every vendor is a potential recommender and repeat customer, every applicant a future vendor, every tenant a future buyer. Separate the applicants with properties to
sell from the rest of your database and up the level of service given to them in terms of telephone and email contact. This will help convince them that you are a more diligent and customer-focused agent than your competitors, leading to an increased chance of them returning to you.
way they are handled. How much eff ort does the team make in creating a rapport with the aforementioned examples? Do they receive an impression of our fi rm that would lead to them recommending us? Have we suggested that we would recommend their services in return for them recommending ours? Poor service to less obvious ‘customers’
loses business. One estate agency which sent staff on one of our seminars had not paid and was sent a polite reminder by email. With payment still outstanding and following a number of further reminders, a colleague popped into the agent’s offi ce with a copy of the invoice. It was eventually paid the following week – more than three months after the seminar.
During this saga, I was asked by a relative if
I could recommend an agent that I considered would be suitable to sell three newly built homes in that area. The delay in payment of our relatively insubstantial invoice led me to only three possible conclusions about the agent in question; that they were disorganised; that they could not aff ord to pay the invoice (less than £300) or that they were simply avoiding payment. None of these conclusions made me feel comfortable in recommending them, so the potentially lucrative business went elsewhere for the want of common consideration. The message for this market is simple: “In order to get houses – get your house in order!” ●
TheNegotiator ● June 2012 ● 37
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