Well that’s £1000 well spent!

Like most agents at this time of year, you may well be gearing up for (or already started) the traditional ‘awareness raising & valuation generating’ early New Year mailshot?

How much are you planning on spending? £300, £500, £1000? More? per office?  You’ll be rationalising that you only need one instruction and it’s paid for itself hasn’t it? Even if you don’t get anything right now, it’s all good for the future. Sow the seeds today, for growth tomorrow and all that…

Or do you privately feel, that just like your last mailshot, you’ll be left feeling slightly damp at the gills that you won’t be called out to that many additional valuations? If any? Or maybe of the ones you’re called out to will more than likely be tyre kickers, that may at some point in the future, come back to you to sell. Or not? Brand building for the future is all very well, but you need instructions now!!

Above all, like every other agent up and down the country, whilst you’re handing over tons of cash and hoping that all your leaflets get delivered, you’ll probably be wondering if there are any other cost effective, measurable ways to drum up business, get your branding out there and get those phones ringing. Is there anything new – something cost effective and immediate  that can help drive traffic and generate leads?  Something that produces tangible results where the motivation for you doing it is not just because the ‘other guy up the street does it’.

A board that was just for Christmas?

Did you do a Christmas fayre sponsorship for the local school, or are you planning to do the the Easter fete or similar? That’s another set of boards (& slips), the board contractor’s costs. Your time in setting it all up! Your staff’s time fielding all those calls from locals who can’t (or can’t be bothered to) read properly. It says “Christmas fayre sponsorship – not ‘for sale’ stupid”!  But again, at least your agency is interacting with the locals….

After every event, every board promotion, every marketing drop, there’s always the nagging feeling that although you’ve done it and it’s been crossed off your list, where is the bounce  – the tangible uplift in instructions. I bet it’s negligible. And of course, I also bet that you don’t measure it. Most agents don’t. Do you ask where a particular valuation lead came from, every time? And even if you did get an answer, how accurate is it?  It’s not top of a vendors list to remember where they saw your name or why they called you out. They just want their home valued!

At the end of the day, there are other options available that will produce a great bang for your buck and produce great results. Ones which will help generate leads and bring more business to your door (or phones) more or less immediately.  – Where your primary motivation is not just to ‘shut out’ your competitors from doing it instead of you. You’ve just got to know where to look!

Have a great 2016!

Alex Evans

You May Also Enjoy

Breaking News

Housing market trends highlight a changing landscape

The housing market has seen many challenges across the year to date and, in many ways, the property landscape has been a year of two extremes already.   At the start of the year, there was a quiet but optimistic consumer confidence in the air.   However, with the global economy impacting almost every aspect…
Read More
Breaking News

Mortgage rate rises loom as major lenders reprice

Major lenders have moved to increase mortgage rates to catch up with recent rises to swap rates, according to Moneyfactscompare.co.uk analysis.   Over the coming days, more lenders are expected to review mortgage rates in response to higher swap rates, with HSBC and NatWest so far the biggest banks to increase rates since the start…
Read More
Breaking News

Average house price edged down in August

House prices in August 2026 were -0.4% lower compared to the same month a year earlier.   Average house price edged down in August as market remains subdued • House prices fell slightly in August ( -0.2%), following a -0.1% decrease in July • Average property price now £298,468 compared with £299,153 in July •…
Read More
Estate Agent Talk

A derelict property will still set you back £240,000

The latest data from LandSale, the property portal dedicated to land and rural property, reveals that buyers looking to breathe new life into a derelict property could face an asking price as high as £237,500 on average, highlighting the substantial value still attached to redevelopment opportunities across Britain.   Britain continues to struggle with a severe…
Read More
Estate Agent Talk

Selling an Inherited Property in Scotland: A Clear Guide

Selling an inherited property in Scotland can begin only once confirmation, the Scottish equivalent of probate, has been granted by the court. Until that legal authority is in place, the executor cannot complete a sale, so grasping the sequence early saves later frustration. Families who would rather not manage a long marketing process sometimes approach…
Read More
Breaking News

Breaking Property News 3/9/26

Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X.   The imminent interest rate hike is going to be a real reckoner for property   When interest rates rise again, Britain’s housing market will discover what it is really worth   Thought Leadership by Andrew Stanton CEO Proptech-PR For more than a decade, Britain’s housing…
Read More