Has anyone seen a proactive lister or valuer recently?

Why don’t estate agents look out of the window in the morning? … Because they would have nothing to do in the afternoon… (I’m here all week kids!) No, seriously … but if you are a Valuer/Lister (whatever the job is called nowadays), ask yourself this (if you are the Neg or Bossman/lady), what do you do between free valuations and take on’s? What do you do between calls or meetings, be honest, do you automatically pick up the phone chasing old vals, hour in, hour out, day in, day out. Do you AUTOMATICALLY jump in the car and drop leaflets, sold in street, even some (for the brave) door knocking prospecting?

I had a colleague who worked in the sister office in the next town along. When we were both valuing in the 1990’s, we were both young Valuer’s, and there was only the phone and the mailing list to get the listings. I was a good Valuer, my conversation rates were good, but this guys numbers just went through the roof. I asked over a pint of lemonade Shandy at the Christmas Do what his secret was .. this is what he told me.

Every morning, he secluded himself in at office and made prospective vendor calls. He started making calls at 9:30am, sarnie for lunch, then in the afternoon, if there were no free valuations, back to the phone or jumping in the car until it was time to go home.

In those days, we didn’t have RM, Zoopla, fancy touting systems .. it was pick up the phone from the mailing list and woo the vendors. You see, it was all about prospecting for listings. Day in day out and then the free valuations came, and after he did the free valuation, it was back to prospecting. Lots of people were better Valuers than he was but no one made more calls. Bottom line was this .. prospecting (aka hunting or touting) was his default.

As a young Valuer, no one had to tell him to chase the business. He didn’t know what else he should have been doing. Just think about it, there still aren’t many real choices available to you, because when you need new business, you have to make your calls.

… unless there is another way. Wouldn’t it be easier for it all to fall into your lap? So you have to make no cold calls, no phone calls, no touting? .. because there is another way. Instead of you having to go to vendors and landlords, wouldn’t be easier for the vendors and landlords to come to you? You can either carry on hand to mouth, and hunt for the business .. or you can nurture and cultivate it (or as I call it ‘farm it)’. Farmers are richer than poachers.

The other way is the cultivate people, cultivate potential vendors, cultivate potential landlords .. so they come to you when they need a free valuation or market appraisal. I keep banging on about this in my blog (www.landlordfarming.com/) and guess what it, it works .. I guarantee it works for both FREE VALUATIONS for sales and lettings if you do it properly .. so what’s stopping you or is the view through the window so much more interesting?

Christopher Watkin

I teach, guide, support, mentor, consult, counsel, partner many hundreds of UK Estate and Letting Agents in their quest to grow their estate and lettings agencies business. Old school techniques of touting, landlords wanted leaflets, ring us for a free valuation, we have sold this in your street leaflets don't work anymore. There are too many competitor agents .. meaning cheap fees are epidemic, overvaluing is almost a norm to get the stock and don’t even mention about the online/hybrid threat. So a few years ago, I set about looking around the UK and spotted that certain agents (not many mind you) in certain towns were still seen as the ‘go to person on property’, the person the newspaper editor rang up every week for a comment and I looked at what they did and they were doing some thing quite remarkable…. Only one thing but they were doing it so well .. and reaping the reward in terms of decent listings and decent fees, happy staff, decent sales pipeline and exchange income, managed lettings portfolios in the many hundreds .. but more importantly, they really enjoyed the job… they enjoyed getting up in the morning and people looked up to them Over 400 agents around the UK are on a mission to change the way our Estate and Lettings agency profession is perceived and looked upon, doing it town by town, city by city. I guide these 400 agents, teach them, mentor them and support them to be seen in a different light, to be seen as the ‘go to person for property’, actually be the ‘local property expert’ and prove it. Christopher Watkin 07950 147 572 christopher@christopherwatkin.co.uk

You May Also Enjoy

Breaking News

Breaking Property News – 28/03/24

Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X.   tlyfe the tenant App gets huge marketing boost from national team tour from the Openbrix team As many will know tlyfe, powered by OpenBrix, is the UK’s most innovative tenant lifecycle app, taking the stress out of the move in process and helping to…
Read More
Breaking News

Over Four Out Of Five Tenants Unaware Of The Renters Reform Bill

OVER four out of five tenants remain unaware of the Renters (Reform) Bill and its contents, according to new research. The data comes from a representative survey of over 2,000 private renters conducted by the TDS Charitable Foundation, which works to advance education about housing rights and obligations in the private rented sector. The Bill…
Read More
Estate Agent Talk

What is Property Damage in a Personal Injury Case?

Property damage refers to any damage that affects things instead of a person. This might include damage to your car, house, etc. As such, it is not regarded as a personal injury case. However, when an individual is injured when the accident occurs, the affected person can file a personal injury claim. A typical example…
Read More
Love or Hate Rightmove
Breaking News

Rightmove comment on new 99% first-time buyer mortgage product

Matt Smith, Rightmove’s mortgage expert said: “It’s encouraging to see lenders continuing to try to innovate in the mortgage market, even after the government abandoned its own plans to encourage lower deposit mortgages in the Spring Budget. This new product has the potential to help some first-time buyers who fit the affordability criteria, but are struggling…
Read More
Breaking News

Breaking Property News – 27/03/24

Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X.   Coadjute ahead of the game as they are already licensed to provide digital TA6 Forms to property stakeholders This week, the Law Society announced its TA6 Form will now include Material Information as per the the National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agency Team…
Read More
Breaking News

Breaking Property News – 26/03/24

Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X.   Sharing Success: The Guild Conference and Awards celebrate Member achievements The QEII Centre in Westminster, London, was abuzz with excitement on Friday, 22 March 2024, as The Guild of Property Professionals hosted its highly anticipated annual Guild Conference and Awards. Under the theme ‘Sharing…
Read More