How can you maximise opportunities?
Below are 7 key touch points that could help engagement with buyers and sellers.
57% of people looking for a property spend 60 or more days researching before making contact with an agent 1. So it may seem like customers sign up and take no action, but in reality they’re simply gathering information before making a move.
Make sure you maintain a high profile in on and offline communications to reinforce your brand values, so when customers are ready, they contact you.
When customers are ready to get in touch, they’ll tend to request a viewing – rather than a valuation.
Since 70% of buyers are also sellers 2, how you respond to requests for viewings? It could make the difference as to whether you’re picked for valuation.
Around one in ten email requests for information go unanswered 3 and ¼ of sellers and 36% of landlords only had one agent out to value the property 4. Are you responding to every single request? How are your managing out of hours enquiries?
Can you improve awareness of your brand in your market with canvassing or a new direct mail campaign?
Winning the instruction comes down to making a good impression – Being likeable, professional and demonstrating extensive local market knowledge.
Does your brand, marketing materials and online presence reinforce these positive messages?
Following up valuations is critical! People remember only a tiny fraction of what they hear, whereas reading and seeing information improves engagement and recall.
92% of sellers read and are influenced by the printed materials left with them. For landlords, 83% of buy to let landlords and a whopping 91% of unintentional landlords read this material 5. A professional, well designed corporate brochure is an essential but often overlooked tool for winning instructions.
Think about the tone of your messages and consider creating different materials depending on your audience for example 60% of those searching for property are women 7.
Selling a home is an incredibly personal transaction – viewings can be seen as a personal judgement of the individual’s home.
Make sure you provide feedback especially after the first viewing and a nice touch is to leave a signed call card.
For a brief period a close relationships develops between seller and agent, but it ends abruptly after the move.
There could be missed opportunities to inspire not just loyalty, but positive word of mouth. Simple acts such as sending a ‘welcome to your new home’ card, providing the vendor with ‘move cards’ to distribute to friends and family and even an incentive such as a discount voucher for referring a friend can all help to inspire recommendation.
1 Google/Estate Agency Events – Marketing Live Conference, 2013
2 Property Academy – Home Moving Trends Survey, 2012
3 Zoopla/Estate Agency Events – Marketing Live Conference, 2013
4 Property Academy – Home Moving Trends Survey, 2012 & Landlord Survey, 2013
5 Property Academy – Home Moving Trends Survey, 2012 & Landlord Survey, 2013
6 Property Academy – Landlord Survey, 2013
7 Comscore – March 2013
