Reaching your dream landlord can be difficult.
Creating an opportunity, when your dream portfolio landlord is already satisfied with their current agent and when they have no compelling reason to change agents feels like mission impossible … yet you are in the business of being the No.1 letting agent in your town and nobody is going to get in your way
… but do you mean that?
You might be tempted to seek more receptive prospective landlords with the idea that you can show them why they should use your letting agency.
But if you want to grow your lettings agency and increase the number of managed properties on your books - in a what is quite frankly a mature market, then as a letting agent, if you want to be No.1, you are in the business of taking a serious amount of business off your competitors.
Truth be told in Lettings
There is a reason some landlords aren’t using your lettings agency; they don’t need it.
They already have that base covered .. they already have a letting agent.
.. and they are reasonably happy with the agent
And don’t even get me talking about those
‘full management tease landlords’ that talk the talk, telling you they don’t like their letting agent .. but don’t walk the walk when you offer to take their portfolio on board
‘full management tease landlords’ that talk the talk, telling you they don’t like their letting agent .. but don’t walk the walk when you offer to take their portfolio on board
.. because when you do manage to speak to those friendly prospective ‘teaser’ landlord, just because that prospective landlord is receptive is no indication that they have a compelling need for your services as a letting agent… no matter how much they grumble
Nor does it mean that you can create a compelling case for them, no matter how good your pitch, and no matter how good your fees.
The stark reality about selling to landlords who don’t buy what you sell is that they don’t buy what you sell. .. harsh I know .. but stay with me on this …
If they had a compelling need to use your agency, they would swap to you (or some other letting agent).
Some of the most approachable, nice and receptive prospective landlords you will ever meet will never use your lettings agency. (Nice landlords – but time wasters)
.. yet here is a very interesting fact of life.
Some of the least interested prospective landlords you call will (eventually) spend enormous sums of money with you in management fees
Let me explain ..
Stop Trying to Persuade Time Waster Landlords To Use You
The ‘Use me I am better than your existing letting Agent’ type of marketing, which 90% of UK letting agents use takes longer and rarely produces big numbers.
If a landlord doesn’t have the belief that they need what you sell, it takes a lot of time to make your case convincingly.
That time would be better spent with your dream landlords who already understand why they need what you sell and how it benefits them.
Avoiding What Is Tough
You already know who your real target landlords are, you just wish selling your letting agency services to them was easier.
The biggest reason why most letting agents continue to try and sell their services to those nice/teaser landlords mentioned in the first part of this article (who we all know are really time wasters) is it simpler to call on those receptive types of landlords …. then it is to call on unreceptive dream portfolio landlords who already have a half decent agent that provides what you sell.
If I am being honest, the coldest ‘dream’ landlords on your list are the most important targets for you to chase.
The longer it takes you to begin nurturing them, the longer it will take you to win their business.
The sooner you begin to cultivate (or farm) those relationships and persevere in your pursuit, the sooner you will have an opportunity.
That opportunity will never present itself if you spend your time with nice and easy going (yet time waster tyre kicking) landlords
So what is the answer to get those dream landlords?
90% of you reading this will won’t take the personal responsibility of the issue at hand and realise you have an issue of increasing your managed portfolio, you will ignore it and you will put you head in the sand…
I don’t blame you ..
That is a natural human reaction.
Yet some (10%) of you will look yourself in the mirror and understand the urgency of the situation and know half-measures simply won't do.
10% to 20% of your income needs to be replaced when tenant fees get banned.
You know the only way to grow as a letting agent is to abandon your strategy of “we will just what I did yesterday, but we will do it a bit better”
If you are that 10% of letting agents, you will know, in 2016, the past ‘old school’ accepted wisdom of attracting landlords as the local, professional letting agent, who is qualified, offers a great service, who has some many offices, open 8 days a week and works 26 hours a day, that worked in 2006 … doesn’t work anymore.
..and the answer ..
Make Those Dream Landlords Come To You
You are in a battle against your competitor agents in your town and the fundamental key to success is to know your competition.
You need to recognise the hurdles you need to overcome.
Do you know who your biggest competitor is?
Do you know who or what is stealing your prospects’ attention and keeping them from buying your letting agent services?
You may be surprised to learn that your biggest competitor isn’t the other letting agents in your town.
If you thought that, you’d be right that they are competitors but they’re not your biggest one.
Who then is your biggest competitor?
Your biggest competitor and obstacle to growing your letting agency business is your prospective dream landlord’s indifference!
If your prospective landlords aren’t responding to your letting agency marketing, you are not
1. Grabbing their Attention,
2. building their Interest,
3. earning their Trust,
4. to move them to be Motivated
5. to eventually gaining their Commitment to use you
There are hundreds of landlords who could benefit from your services as a letting agent.
Why aren’t they flocking to your door?
Why aren’t you massively increasing your managed stock every year?
You can overcome your prospective landlords’ indifference too by giving them the information they want in your letting agency marketing.
Notice I underlined the word they want.
What do landlords want?
Landlords are obsessed about the value of their property, their rent, their yield on their property… nobody reading this can deny that.
.. but what do we do with our letting marketing?
We are just like the boring man at the party that talks about themselves, brags how wonderful they are.
Don’t believe me?
Look at your letting agency marketing. If it talks about your firm, your services, what you have let (or sold), your fees, how many offices you have, how long you have operated, how many years you have been in business .. you might be interested .. but I am sorry to break this to you .. prospective landlords aren’t.
You are an awesome letting agent that goes the extra mile
You feel like you are walking through treacle and it gets harder and harder each year to be a letting agent … 2016 was tougher than 2015 … and 2015 was tougher than 2014 .. you get the drift
I help hundreds of letting agents around the UK and I want to help you .. but you have to help yourself first.
You have to open your eyes and realise the old ways of marketing don’t work anymore
That isn’t your fault
The world has changed – but the way letting agents market themselves hasn’t
It’s time to stand out from the crowd and be the goto letting agent in your town, the Mr (or Mrs) Local Property Guru, the leading Authority on Property market and that is how you will beat the established agents in your town ..
..and how do you do it?
Become the Local Property Expert (and not Purple variety!)
All you need to do is talk about your local property market, prices, rents and yields and you will beating landlords off with $hitty sticks
When you become the local property guru, the authority of the local property market, you will talking directly to these landlords and what these landlords are obsessed, passionate, fascinated, interested in .. and their motivation will soar.
Want to find out how to generate more interest from prospective landlords and motivate them to use you and become the local property guru?
Write (or have Ghostwritten for you) .. articles and newsletters like these. Get them printed and mailed out to your landlord database , get them emailed out, posted on Facebook and Linkedin, newspaper editors love these, it even helps get resi-sales business
Have a look at these PDF newsletters (20 examples) via this safe Google Drive Link of what these letting agents are doing and how they are growing by 20% to 30% every 12 to 18 months
If you still need help after all these, don’t worry, drop me a line and I’ll show you how to get it.
kind regards
Christopher Watkin
UK’s No.2 Letting Agency Growth Specialist
07950 147 572
How to get More Landlords To Use Your Lettings Agency Blog (400+ Blog posts) www.landlordfarming.com
Video of a Letting Agent that Increased Managed Portfolio from 950 to 1150 in 21 months after years of stagnation https://youtu.be/kTD5Ni_-3Mo