Most estate agents marketing is aimed at persuading or convert a house seller to use their agency just before they need a free valuation. As Josh Phegan said at his speech at the EA Masters on Friday.. too many estate agents are focused on getting the ‘now vendor’.
That can clearly be seen in the epidemic spread of such internet tools as ValPal and RoboVal. If I see another ‘Click here for an instant free valuation of your home’ .. I will scream
Agents spend hours contemplating the right pantone colour applied to a ‘click here for your instant free val’ button, or the best time to post their ‘instant fv’ or ‘properties wanted’ posts on Facebook
These are strategies to get the half-hearted house seller over the line.
Our house sellers path to their decision of which agents they will call out for a free val is intricate and long-winded. The decision is subjective and most definitely influenced by the story they (the house seller) tells themselves of the agents concerned..
“They only deal with posh/cheap houses”
“My friend Barbara used that agent 8 years ago, they were so rude”
House sellers choices are made by concerns, sorrow and regrets concerning their past, the frustration, trials and tribulations of the here and now and fears of their future.
.. but all we do as estate agents is we market our estate agency services like they are only seeing the qualities of what’s right in front of their eyes here and now.
99% of estate (and letting) agents misguidedly believe we constantly have the power to influence the decision of which agent a potential house seller will ask for a free val / market appraisal to our advantage with a strategic nudge, overlooking that sometimes the factors persuading the decision of which agent were put in motion long before they saw our marketing advert / flyer / rightmove banner
As an Estate (Letting) agent, the role of your marketing isn’t simply to help people to make up their minds which agent to call out for a free val... It’s to decide which house sellers / landlords you can sincerely help.