COMMENT
Taking stock. Finding new properties to let is a challenge; Glynn Trott has a secret weapon – and he’s sharing it with PROPERTYdrum
G
lyn Trott, MD of
LetMC.com, was one of the speakers in the Innovations Forum at the PROPERTYdrum National
Conference in May. Through Glyn’s involvement with letting agents across the country, and his first-hand experience with LetMC’s sister company Pinnacle Letting Agents, he has found that all agents face the same problems – gaining landlords. In 2008, Rightmove showed that there
were around 1000 properties to rent in Cardiff. Looking at the same statistics for 2012 shows that there are still in the region of 1000 properties to rent. So if the stock is the same why has it become increasingly difficult to acquire landlords? The answer is simple – there are now four times more agents doing lettings in Cardiff than there were in 2008. This means there are four times as many marketing budgets aimed at the same landlords, and four times more choice for them. So what Rightmove is telling us is that the stock is still there, we just need to fight to gain it. What many agents tell us is that getting
in front of a landlord is the most difficult task but once there, negotiators are able to work their magic. You may not have realised it, but one
way to get in front of a landlord is through referencing. Software designed by LetMC gives agents the ability to perform instant credit checks directly from within the system, and through the referencing forms you already have the details of the applicant’s previous landlord. So why do so many of us outsource this valuable opportunity to talk to a prospective landlord? A referencing company is in essence an insurance company and will attempt to sell insurance to a landlord – rather than your services. Keep referencing in-house, and use this opportunity to talk
60 JUNE 2012 PROPERTYdrum
‘The stock’s there, but it’s harder to get to!’
directly to the landlords that are right in front of your eyes! Adding a few questions to your
referencing forms about the previous property, such as how many rooms were in the property and how much the rent was will enable you to match the property to a list of applicants you have on file. You can then feel confident when calling a previous landlord for a reference that you have sufficient information to develop a conversation about their property. The pitch is simple; you lead by
explaining to the landlord that you don’t use a referencing company as you prefer a more thorough reference; which you believe only you can provide. Ask about the tenants’ conduct at the property; was there any damage, any rent arrears while at the property or complaints from neighbours. Follow with a question that can lead to a conversation about their property now – did the tenants let you know that they were moving out? This one question will allow you to lead
a conversation around what they will be doing to find new tenants and gives you the
opportunity to let them know how many tenants you have looking for a property like theirs. The key to this approach is to treat this
as a sales opportunity and not an administrative task. Get your negotiators to make the calls – this is what they are trained for and they won’t take the first ‘No’. You may find that your negotiators already know the landlord and may have already met them, which makes it a much easier call.
What if the tenant gives you the details
of another agent and not the landlord? Use the new inbuilt Land Registry search functionality within LetMC to find the landlords name and home address, the process then becomes a letter instead of a call but the same approach can be used. When Pinnacle Letting Agents first
adopted this approach there was some concern about the loss in revenue from the insurance products provided by referencing companies. At first glance, it may seem a lengthy extra task to specifically contact a landlord for a reference in the hope of converting one. However, if you have 40 new tenancies a month and are able to contact 35 previous landlords from the records you obtain, the sums stack up well; even if only 10 per cent sign on with you it means that you’ll be gaining 42 new landlords every year. That is the equivalent of an extra month’s worth of business through one small change to your referencing process. For Pinnacle Letting Agents this approach has proved a significant source of new landlord details and the expenditure on marketing has been significantly reduced – why not try it yourself?
Do you have any views to share?
www.propertydrum.com/articles/landlordsletmc
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