Posts by Sam Ashdown
Fixflo – the App All Letting Agents Need
I met an interesting guy at a recent ARLA event, with an even more interesting product, and I thought, why not tell you about it on my blog? Rajeev Nayyar is the director of Fixflo, a really innovative service that encourages tenants to report maintenance and repair issues more efficiently, or deal with simple issues…
Read MoreDealing with the Social Savvy Seller – my Top Seven Tips
I was in a local café the other day for a meeting. We ordered food, and my crabcakes were frankly, awful. After two exchanges with the staff, I returned it, mostly uneaten, explaining why I didn’t like it. When it came time to pay the bill, I was very surprised to see that they had…
Read MoreClever Canvassing
How not to chuck your money away on campaigns that don’t work. Do you have a recent canvassing leaflet nearby as you read this? Or can you remember it? What does it say? If it’s like any of the ones I’ve seen recently, it may say: We have buyers waiting! Thinking of moving? We need…
Read MoreCan your ideal client please step up
Let me introduce you to my client, Mark; in his late forties, and running his own independent agency. Mark was working for a corporate, way back, but left when he felt constrained by their way of doing things. He knew he could be a better estate agent on his own, and has been proving that…
Read MoreWhy you Don’t need an App
Where’s your phone, right now? I bet that it’s not more than three feet from you; am I right? And there’s around a 50% chance that you’re even reading this post on your phone. When I reach for my computer to search for something on the internet, around 50% of the time, that computer is…
Read MoreYour Rightmove profile – are you wasting it?
Your Rightmove profile can be a great opportunity to connect with and engage your audience. Here are my tips to make every word count. I’ve been working with some clients recently on their Rightmove profiles. As I’ve been clicking around, checking out examples on Rightmove, I’ve seen some horrors! Some agents don’t know how to spell,…
Read MoreWhen it all goes wrong
We all have bad days; here are a few thoughts to help you keep smiling I met with an agent client recently, in Darlington. She was late to our meeting, eventually turning up in floods of tears. She had had one of those days. She’d lost an instruction to a competitor; her viewing rep had…
Read MoreWhat’s your big dream?
How taking practical and actionable steps towards your goals can make them a reality. What’s your end game? What are you doing all this for? Is your ultimate ambition to be an estate agent until they carry you out in a box? Or do you have something else you want to be? A dream? I speak…
Read MoreIs your diary running your business?
Has anyone seen my weekend? I’m sure it was right here, and now it’s gone. And when I come to think of it, I haven’t seen last month for a while either….. Time flies when you’re enjoying yourself, (I am, in my business). Before you know it, it’ll be next week; next month; next year.…
Read MoreThe Single Most Important Question you can ask a Vendor
The vitally important question you need to ask a vendor to win the instruction. From the Sam Ashdown blog, just for estate agents who want to smash the competition. I once went to see the owner of a beautiful barn conversion in Suffolk. The owner, an elegant silver-haired lady in her sixties, lived there alone…
Read MoreSoon is not as good as NOW
What are you doing – today – to make your goals work? Find out more about my free Challenge Call. Just click here This is my favourite quote, from a marketing hero of mine, Seth Godin. And here’s why: I like to work with action-takers; with clients who want to fast track their goals. I spoke…
Read MoreOnline agents versus high street agents whose side are you on?
Estate agency, as we’ve known it, is changing. Pre-internet, our job was to provide information; post-internet, it our job is to explain it. Every vendor and purchaser, landlord and tenant, not only has all the information they think they need, right there at a click of their mouse, but they also have something we don’t:…
Read MoreIt’s Not about the House
When you are in the valuation appointment with a potential vendor, what are you selling? Some agents would say they are selling themselves; their ability to convince the person in front of them that they can sell their property for them, quicker, easier and for more money than their competitors can. They will draw upon…
Read MoreCan I Instagram it?
How to get passers by to photograph your estate agency, share those images or Instagram it and go viral. New blog post by Sam Ashdown, the Agents’ Angel When you see something funny, or interesting, what do you do? Well, if you respond as around 80% of us do these days, you grab your phone…
Read MoreWhat they think of you
When people ask you, “What do you do?”, what do you say? Do you say, “I’m an estate agent”? and if so, how do you say it? With an embarrassed laugh, or with confidence and pride? Do you make a joke? Or do you then go on to tell that person with passion and pride about what…
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