How To Get More People To Use Your Lettings and Estate Agency Blog

Every Estate and Letting Agent wants to attract new vendors and landlords using social media, email marketing and websites these days. Difficulty is, not many agents know how to do it correctly. Lobbing up a website, getting on FB, LinkedIn, Twitter etc and going on unceasingly about yourself, your agency or your agency’s services won’t work.
Instead, you need to talk ABOUT the landlords and potential house sellers and also, you need to talk WITH them as well
Try not to play it safe either.. don’t fear a bit of left field controversy or wary talking about the hard-hitting topics. Grow a robust and sturdy personality around your morals and ethics — a distinctive and individual brand voice that your prospective landlords and potential house sellers can communicate with and relate to.
Ultimately, be an authority, an authority of your local property market, because by doing so, you will appeal to authoritative clients as well as getting the results you deserve

We all hate losing a listing to the competition … cheap fees, overvaluing, silver tongued BS merchant that over promises etc .. the same reasons I lost listings 25 years ago are the same reasons today … and let’s be honest, sometimes it is wise to walk away on overvaluing or cheap fees .. BUT .. what strategy have you got to get them back?

This is so important with the market tempering in many locations in the UK
The vast majority of listers reading this might make a diary note to call the week before the last of the sole agency (and if we are being honest) .. might ring once (if we are lucky) .. twice if its  a slow week … only to see it swap agents to another BS agent a few weeks later.
So what I am suggesting?
Ring them up .. constantly and get them to ultimately say no for a second time
Getting your ‘lost listing vendors’ to say no a second time, is critical to improving your overall level of new instructions. 
Too often Valuers / Listers say no on behalf of that lost vendor and it cost…

Anything on the news about the Property market and guess who has a microphone in front of him .. Russell Quirk from eMoov. In the last 12 months a regular on the national radio station Talk Radio and Radio 5 Live, seems to be on BBC TV more often than EastEnders, a Sky News property market pundit, he has in the Sunday Times ‘Top 100 British Innovators’,and appears to have more column inches than Brexit in The Times, Daily Telegraph and the Evening Standard combined .. its like he has become the de facto spokesperson for the UK Estate Agency industry
Looking the exposure that Russell gets, you would think eMoov was the biggest estate agency player in town if you looked at media .. and even though you might not agree with Russell, his estate Agency model or what he stands for … I want to scientifically look at what I believe Russell is actually doing, his intent and the context he is doing it in and how you as a High Street Estate / Letting agent in your town or city that you operate in …

The vast majority of time, people buy from people they trust .. not companies they trust … people they trust
Yes, there are the ‘super-brand’ league status of the likes of Marks and Spencer, Apple, John Lewis or Waitrose … where people trust the companies blindly … but no estate agency – not even Savills are in that league
So, it intrigues why most estate agents are trying to force their ‘agency’s message’ on potential house sellers when those potential house sellers much more prone to be convinced by their fellow house seller? 
Why the hell do you think Purplebricks put so much on their Trustpilot scores in their marketing.
Still dont believe me? You based spending half a month’s salary on the words of a complete stranger after looking at TripAdvisor
Yet, I believe people are starting to disbelieve some review sites. Some say they are made up… and should be taken with a pinch of salt.
I agree.
So, I thought, there has to be another way. Another way to get that review, that testimonial, acro…

When the average Brit clicks on their Facebook or LinkedIn icon on their phone-they are going to their social media to find stuff online that they can connect with, engage with, engross themselves in, have a laugh with and even learn stuff- from people and companies they trust. 
They haven’t gone on to find out how many houses you have sold/let this month, you are no.1 for market share (and have a Rightmove pie chart to prove it) to read about your charisma-less dull vanilla estate agency. 
You might be interested in market share or the fact you have smashed your listings targets-but nobody else is (apart from your Mum or Boss- and they don’t count)
If you are looking to boost your engagement on social medial and generate more freeval leads, ask yourself this; How can you, as an agent, provide content that’s going to ring true with the values of the potential landlord/house seller instead of your listing targets? 
What can you give them that is going to instantaneously interest them, intr…

The transactional estate agents do …. but the successful ones do something different. Those Estate Agents instead sell the idea of somebody moving to the next chapter of their life in their new home.
They sell the ‘stories’ about their new home, and what it will do for new owners life with summer nights on the patio, the local Bistro down the road that you can pop down to on a Saturday morning with the family, pick up the fresh bread from the Deli, the Country pub, the freedom of  having ones front door.
You are going to say .. “that’s all Bo**ocks Chris” .. of course it is .. I agree with you .. yet this Bo**ocks works  (and no, I’m talking about having flowery brochure descriptions here either)
There are substantially more people interested in the idea of moving home, the decoration, the location, the lifestyle etc etc than there are people who own a house and want to sell it.

Yet, if you are an Estate Agent you might say well yes Watkin, sure, sounds good, but most of the people who ar…

Estate Agencies are selfish, self-interested and self-centred beings as they are an entity, a singular company, a thing created as a notion and idea about itself. An estate agents marketing just talks about itself and it sells its agency services only talking about itself.  (don’t believe me – look at you website or free val vendor pack .. if its all We and Us – then you do do that) .. and so as estate agents, most of us spend loads of money on our marketing .. spending £2k a month Rightmove Optimiser packages, hundreds of pounds on S.E.O a month, hundreds of pounds on targeted banner ads on Facebook and press releases about ourselves… and yet it’s all about us Meaning Estate Agents aren’t good at telling stories beyond themselves. Yet, ask most estate agents, and they want potential clients (ie vendors and landlords) to seek out and desire THEIR estate agency. To an estate agency, their estate agency service’s is the client’s goal. But let’s be frank with each other, human beings don’t a…

Back in the 1990's you just had to open your lettings and estate agency and they would come... because the house seller or landlord had few choices of agent, estate/letting agents didn’t need to give them a reason to use them .. in fact they were the new boys (or girls) in town .. so everyone tried them .. the honeymoon period .. because they were new It's now 2018 and agents up and down the Country are mourning the death of the old ways of estate and letting agency, and only some are now realising that fact High Street or Online, Indy or Corporate ... it doesnt matter. Back then, they might have only been a handful of agents in your town, now there are 52 ... and your new agency is just the 53rd agent .. and next week the 54th agent will open.. and next month 55th .. and so on and so forth. You need to give people a reason to listen to you and what your agency offers. Its just people ignore advertising and don't like to sold to... but that is what we are doing with our est…

Looking at other people’s clothes, cars, watches etc .. their lives must be better than my life - I wish I was them. The human trait of envy .. comparing ourselves to others is really a disheartening waste of time, efforts, mind space, thoughts and positive energy- and this is where we as agents compare ourselves with our competitor agents
Don’t get me wrong, it’s essential to know what your competition is doing in the Estate/Letting Agency game in your town, because that is called market research
Yet there is a thin line to be drawn between the awareness of your competition and it turning into some kind of obsession. Awareness makes you communicate and express your agency’s value and bring your thoughts and notions to the people in your distinctive and matchless way, whilst my intuition tells me - go too far into awareness and it turns into obsession, which results in irrational anxiety, insecurity, misgiving and ultimately … paralysis.
Most of you reading this have allowed yourself to …

Your Town doesn’t need another estate agencyYour City unquestionably doesn’t need another letting agencyYour Patch most certainly doesn’t need another local property [expert/professional/specialist]Your Manor doesn’t give a f**k about your “a couple years ago, I thought that had to be a different way to sell houses…” sales pitch.
Why?
Because people are trying to sort their own $h*t out
Their world is in various states of turmoil
Everyone’s perception is that are being shafted by their family, friends, neighbours, employers, or some or all of them.
They don’t get paid enough, they work too many hours, they don’t get the recognition, they are under too much stress, don’t get enough sleep, unappreciated, miserable, victimised, abused and left screwed down by their very reality.
So, sorry .. just because you are just one of twenty three estate agency’s in your town, and you have lovely Rightmove Pie Charts saying you are No.1 in sales or you have won this award or that award … NO BODY CARES be…

Some Estate + Letting Agents don't even get started on social media because they’re overwhelmed with trying to be on every social media channel .. all at the same time.
Let me give you a huge tip .. Start with Facebook - everyone is on that from the age 30 upwards .. which is the demographic of house owners.
Next, Linkedin .. as that is business people (demographic of landlords) .. after that .. you can do others - but not at the expense of the first two