If you want more new landlords, the messages that you portray to the outside
world, to potential new landlords should lead with information about the solving
problems of landlords and creating opportunity for those landlords, not information
about the services you offer.
Remember
....
No one goes to B & Q to buy a Bosch Drill, they bought it because it was a Bosch drill (in fact they couldn’t care less if it was a Black and Decker or any other make) ... they bought it because they wanted to drill a hole!
What this
means for you is that instead of providing information about drills, you should
deliver information about making holes, or in your case letting agents, you’ll
get a lot more landlord leads and build more rapport with prospective landlords
if you think that way that way if you chuck out stuff that solves the problems that landlords experience
and creates opportunity for those landlords.
No one cares about service, no one cares about the
name across your door (except you and your Mum), no one cares if you are ARLA
registered or you open 8 days a week, no one cares you have let 20 houses this
month, no one cares if you are the most professional letting agent in town. ..
landlords (in fact people as a whole) only care about themselves and how they
can employ someone to help them solve their problems and create opportunity.
...( and PS when I say solve problems, that isn’t s.8 vs s21 notices, landlords
don’t give a monkeys about that – that’s
YOUR problem Mr(s) letting agent, not theirs – that’s what they pay you for).
They want someone that can just do the job and in whom they can trust.
This is
NOT an add on fellow letting agents. It is an entire shift in direction that
has created effective results for other letting agents (see the 45+
testimonials below). You should incorporate this into everything you do, from
your market appraisals, leaflets, website, Rightmove Banner adverts (which if
done right get shed loads of leads), to landlords seminars and blogs, to newspaper
advertisements and press releases.
I have
fine tuned this to the point where results always show an uplift in market
appraisals and new business of 20% to 30% in year. What if you got that uplift
of 20% to 30% in landlord leads and market appraisals as you do now? How would
that change your revenue forecast for this year and another 20% to 30% next
year and the year after? If you diligently apply this principle, you will get
phenomenal results. This is absolutely one of the most important concepts in
the entire ‘landlord farming’ system.
Fundamentally
you accomplish this by capturing your collective knowledge and expertise local
property market and publishing this knowledge like crazy. You then find an
audience for this information through newspapers, blogging, finding 100’s and
1000’s of email addresses of the landlords in your town, a bit of social media
(not too much) and local property market newsletters, and the results are
nothing less than amazing.
Letting
agents constantly ask me how I do this. It is quite simple – talk about
something someone is interested in, and eventually they will make contact with
you if they believe you can solve their
problems (what’s happening to the local property market to MY property) and
more importantly, create opportunity (where is the next BTL property they are
going to buy) .. and if you still don’t know what ‘landlord farming’ is all
about, these two THREE minute videos explain everything ....
The
‘landlord farming’ system looks at every detail of publicising yourself and
publishing, including:
- A lead generation tactic for email that consistently generates hundreds or thousands of email addresses of landlords in your local area – without spending one pound on advertising.
- How to write press releases that make it to the top of the pile on an Editor’s desk and most of the time, put it in for free.
- How to hire ghost writers who can actually write the local property market reports for you.
- Insider secrets of the lettings industry on networking – the short cuts that most letting agencies don’t know.
- How to get paid for landlord seminars – and getting your landlords to beg you to let them in.
- How to become an expert in your local property market that you currently don’t know well enough
- Use landlords seminars and workshops to generate lists of qualified prospects.
- How you can target potential landlords with razor edge precision – with an ordinary letter with a stamp.
- How get local professional businesses to sponsor and pay for your local property newsletters – example newsletter http://goo.gl/ZE38TG
- How Rightmove Featured Agent and Home page banner (the one on the search screen that is the shape of a postbox) can become a powerful tool that bring you shed loads of potential new landlords every month.
In a
nutshell .... ‘landlord farming’ makes
landlords of other agents contact you Mr(s) letting agent wanting your help,
advice and opinion because they see you as the local property market guru. If
you think lettings is a people business and people do business with people they
like AND if you are like most letting agents, when they say, ‘Just get me in front
of the landlord and I will convert them’ .. I make landlords walk through your door, eager to speak with you, you
do the rest .. simple.
If you
follow the principles; it’s proved (see link
http://goo.gl/rzHPA2 ), it’s tested
and I guarantee it works every time. It’s hard work mind you, and it takes time
to kick in, months before you see anything, but if you are in lettings for the
long term, that doesn’t matter. After
you have adopted the landlord farming system and see it working for you, it’ll
be like your mobile phone, Sky TV or email: you’ll wonder how you ever survived
without it. It changed my life, and it can change yours. .. if you want more landlords for your
lettings’ agency .. we need to talk... and soon.
Christopher