Posts by Sam Ashdown
Love your competitors
Never knock the competition. My dad taught me this; he was a star sales rep in the 70s, way before social media made it so easy to do exactly that, but if he were still around, he’d give me the same advice now. In some ways, it’s more true now in this new transparent world…
Read More5 Estate Agent Websites I love
I’m working on a few estate agents’ websites at the moment, including one for a real estate agent in Chicago. Your website is such an opportunity to showcase your agency and attract new clients, but most agent websites just miss the mark. I’ve put together here my top 5 website tips to help you evaluate…
Read MoreSwap ideas for pizza
inShare Most days, I chat to an estate agent about their biggest challenges. Up and down the country; single office or multi; their challenge is almost always the same: they aren’t getting through enough doors. There’s nothing more frustrating than a board going up on your patch that you haven’t even been invited out to,…
Read MoreThe Best Valuation Blueprint
At HomeTruths, we – that is, my consultants and I – offer a free consultation to homeowners who are struggling to sell their property. This is usually an hour-long visit, and over the last decade, we have collectively done hundreds of these consultations, honing them along the way, until they are the refined and polished…
Read MoreWhen tech doesn’t work
I conducted a mystery shop this week. I called an agent, and spoke to a lovely lady called Carol. Carol sounded like she was busy. Obviously, she wasn’t just waiting for my call, so no doubt she was doing something important like answering emails, writing property details or updating the company Facebook page. But…
Read MoreWho’s running your diary?
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 MoreWhat estate agents actually do
How to add huge value with a little show and tell Ask Mr and Mrs Joe Public what an estate does for his fee, and you’ll get a variety of hostile answers, most of them unprintable. Of course, we’re all fighting with the legacy of unscrupulous agents who came before us (and those who are…
Read MoreCall yourself a photographer?
Have you seen my Wall of Shame? Here’s the link – grab a cup of coffee and marvel at the wonderful property photography there, courtesy of your industry colleagues, your competition, or perhaps even you….. In case you aspire to the lofty heights of such fame, here’s a handy checklist to make sure that your…
Read MoreHow to attract PERFECT client
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 More7 Ways to Get More Valuations
How to get through more doors, more often. Marketing advice for estate and letting agents that actually works, from Sam Ashdown. Too long: didn’t read? Skip to the bottom and see all 7 It’s so frustrating, isn’t it, when you see a great property launched to market and you didn’t even get invited to value?…
Read MoreCan you add £100k this year?
How you can easily add £100,000 or more to your topline by having a marketing system that does the work for you. Let’s do the maths: Take your average fee and multiply it by your conversion rate. What figure do you get? That’s how much every new market appraisal is worth to you. So:…
Read MoreYour Complete Client Attraction System
The 4 Ingredients you need to automate your marketing How independent estate and letting agents can create and implement a marketing system that brings in new enquiries every day, automatically. Are you a natural marketer? Most of you will probably answer no to that question. But unless you have a hefty budget to outsource all…
Read MoreDon’t Forget your Buyers
In his film Phenomenon, John Travolta plays a character who gets hit by lightning, unexpectedly rendering him a genius, temporarily at least. One scene in the movie stuck with me. Travolta’s character, George, is initially perplexed by the fact that a rabbit is somehow getting into his vegetable patch, and resolves to fix the problem.…
Read MoreEstate Agents don’t need Apps
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 MoreEstate Agent Communication is Changing
I took my daughters to London this weekend. They made complex arrangements to meet various friends, at several different locations, throughout London and Surrey over the two days. What is perhaps notable, is that all these arrangements were made without actually speaking to anyone – their entire agendas were accomplished via iMessage, text, Snapchat, Whatsapp,…
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