The page on your agency’s website that could be your instruction killer
Something happened to me last week which made me realise the power of a single page on agencies websites.
Let me explain.
I was with my cousin Gerard who is looking to instruct an agent in Hertfordshire.
He had asked me for some advice about picking agents to come round for valuations as a starting point in the process.
He works in IT and is no mug but this will be the first home he’s sold and he’s smart enough to get some advice from others who are more experienced.
Over a Starbucks I explained what I felt he should be looking for – recommendations, good testimonials, track record etc etc.
He seemed to take it on board then we began surfing, online obviously as sadly Watford isn’t well known for its rip tides and rolling waves.
His mission was simple. Gerard wanted to get three valuations and the first two agents stood out pretty clearly as ones to get round.
However the third proved trickier.
We looked at websites together and I made suggestions. He knocked back the first two for the same reason and one that genuinely surprised me although I’ve heard it before.
He didn’t like their About Us pages and more interestingly and more decisively he dismissed these two agents due to their News / Blog pages being out of date – in one case the news section featured an article from late 2015!
His rationale was a sound one. “If they can’t be arsed to update their stuff online they might not give a shite about keeping me updated once I instruct them (I had mentioned that regular communication from agents was important when selling).” Little thing – big impact.
He selected a third agency. Job done. Ball rolling.
So there you have it.
Three agents will visit him this week. One will be chosen and potentially land a nice commission.
Gerard has a lovely apartment (IT pays better than PR obviously) in a central location and the property should sell quickly if priced honestly.
And two agents missed out on that opportunity – for such a simple thing.
Maybe it was because, like many agencies, they had set up a news / blog page on their website with all the right intentions (or maybe simply because their web designer said it’s a shiny must have).
But all importantly took their eye off of it and left it dormant.
What kind of message does that send to potential clients?
For Gerard it sent out a strong negative one. An instruction killer.
If you fall into the ‘my news is actually olds’ bracket contact me.
I can help.
Thanks for reading and here’s to your next instruction.
Jerry
PS: Bespoke blogging is cheaper than you might think. Talk to me.
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