7 top tips for post-sale success!
You’ve made a sale! Great! Now there’s more work to do as you don’t want to lose it. We’ve come up with 7 top tips on how to make sure your post-sale service achieves the results you need to get your sales to a successful completion.
- Manage timescale expectations
It’s easy in the excitement of an agreed sale to start talking about timelines, about how with a cash buyer the process should be really swift or with there being only 2 properties involved it must be a quick job. Whilst we all want that to be the case, you really don’t know how long it’s going to take because who knows what will come up in the title, the searches etc. Don’t over-promise; instead make it your mission to over deliver! 10-12 weeks is the industry average time it takes, so use that when talking to your buyer and seller. Instruct them to keep in contact with their solicitors and outline their timescale expectations to them appropriately, then do what you can to ensure there are no unnecessary delays.
- Qualify your buyers
We don’t need to tell you that qualifying your buyers to ensure they can follow through with their offer of sale is paramount to getting the sale completed. So make sure you qualify effectively to ensure you don’t waste time and effort.
- Get the solicitor instructed ASAP
Ensuring you get that sale to the conveyancers’ quickly will give it the best chance of starting swiftly. Make sure the buyer and seller have chosen their solicitors and are ready to instruct them. If they’re not, assist them in getting that task done as soon as possible.
- Prepare your customer
Unless you are dealing with a seasoned property investor or a frequent mover, it’s easy to block out the memories of big, thick A4 size mounds of paperwork they get through the post. The first pack of documents a seller gets can seem insurmountable if they’ve already got a lot on their plate. Until those documents go back your sale is going nowhere, so it’s important they’re ready to get them back swiftly. They will also need to be prepared for going to the solicitors office, and/or providing ID documentation amongst other things so they will need to dedicate some time to those things during the process.
- Know your customer
Are they going on holiday anytime in the near future? Is there a time they need to move by or something driving their move? How prepared are they? These are all questions that can give you a valuable insight as to what their personal expectations are. It also gives you a chance to build a real relationship with the customer and that will help if things don’t go as well as you hope during the process.
- Be everyone – mostly the optimist!
During the sales progression process you have many hats; Counsellor, project manager, estate agent, parent, communicator etc. You need to be prepared, and willing, to put on any one of them at any time. The situation can change for better or worse from one day to the next so you need to be able to manage that effectively.
It’s not always an easy job but be the optimist. Your goal is to keep moving forward, little by little, but there are so many obstacles that can appear it’s easy to get a bit pessimistic. Being the optimistic one helps you see solutions rather than problems! Anticipation of and quick response to issues is key to avoiding delays.
- Be proactive!
Don’t assume everyone is doing what they need to do. Things come up, life happens, so check in regularly to see if things are moving along. If they’re not, get them moving! Not everyone is aware of the impact their particular piece has on the whole process so make sure they know. Don’t expect things to just happen – and if someone says they are doing something today, check they did it the day after. Don’t expect a hassle free ride.
Truly pro-active sales progression requires a significant investment of time, dedication and patience but the results are worth it. If your sales team are responsible for both selling and progressing then you should review whether you’re getting the best results at both ends. A dedicated resource for sales progression can be expensive but an outsourced solution can help you achieve the results with less risk and costs. Focus the right people on the right tasks and it could transform your business!
Savvy Sales Progressors provides outsourced sales progression services for estate agents. Take a look at our unique online calculator to see whether you can reduce your costs by outsourcing. You can access the calculator by visiting our website: www.savvysalesprogressors.co.uk
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