Inspiration

Two Things You Need To Know re This Market Part 2

Loyal Buyers. Increase your revenues by working differently with your applicants

Many of my current agency training seminars revolve around helping agents to manage client expectations, as well as implementing creative valuation strategies for sellers. However, there is another line of attack that many agents have not yet grasped. Whilst much time and effort is rightly invested in attracting and securing saleable and profitable instructions, what is your strategy with buyers?

Historically, if your stock is saleable, and you expose it to the market, then buyers simply materialise. This is a basic truth that continues to work. The problem is that if the balance of stock outweighs the availability of proceedable and confident buyers (as it does by 15:1 according to Rightmove), then something else has to be done – and the opportunity has been staring us in the face! But first, an observation:

In most other parts of the world, a buyer can choose to buy any property on the market through his/her preferred agent. This is because of multi-listing (or MLS in the USA). In other words, a vendor instructs their preferred sole agent who then invites other agents to sell the property to their own registered buyers. This is one of the reasons why customer service in estate agency in most other parts of the world is so good (except in France). If an agent looks after their buyers, the chances are that they will get a sale. The buyer has no need to register with other agents because he/she can see everything on the market via their one preferred agent. Job done!

The problem in this country is that we generally don’t do multi-listing. Buyers need to register with several agents in order to get access to everything on the market. The chance of any one applicant actually buying through you is probably about 4%-6%. Therefore we don’t tend to regard buyers as highly as we might. Indeed, many of them may well turn out to be “time-wasters” anyway. So we just stick ‘em on a mailing list and hope for the best. Then we try to increase our stock so we can advertise more, so we can attract more buyers (who probably won’t buy) who we can also stick on a mailing list. A somewhat inefficient vicious circle based on the hope that some of the mud might stick to the wall.

Have you spotted the opportunity yet? Let’s look at some more figures first. According to Hometack, people currently tend to look at about a dozen properties before they decide to buy. Remember, when there was little stock available, buyers were forced to register with numerous agents in order to gain access to that dozen properties.

But now, with more stock available, YOU, and/or any associated offices, probably already have access to those dozen or so properties. So the buyer no longer needs to register elsewhere. All you have to do is show them twelve properties that more or less fit their outline criteria and you have a sale – as long as you have qualified the buyer properly!

Once you realise this opportunity, you will change the way you work with your buyers. You will grade them, understand them, impress them, cherish them, spend time with them, help them and be there for them. Make a conscious decision to sell to your best buyers and everyone else can go on that mailing list if they must. Remember, 12 (or 8 or 5 or 15) is their magic number! That’s all they need to see. As long as you are involved when they see their number 12, or 8 or 5 or 15, then you have a sale.

With this in mind, one could argue that it partly obviates the need for printed property details. Too many agents still rely too heavily on their property details to do the selling! This is simply not good enough in this market. Indeed, property particulars can actually get in the way of a sale!

When buyers register, your job is to show them enough properties for them to be able to make a value judgement as to which one would suit them best. So your conversations with your buyers should revolve around actual viewings. You don’t even have to discuss details on the phone. I have seen great success with agents who simply say something like “I have several houses that might suit you. Could I collect you at 2:30 and I’ll show them to you?”, or “The best way for me to get a good idea of what you would really like is to see how you respond to a handful I’d like to show you today”.

Always ask how many properties a buyer has seen. If they have just started looking then you know you will have to show them a dozen or so. If they say six, then you only have to show them a few more. If they say 34, then they are probably not serious buyers!

A key point to remember when working with buyers is also that they simply do not have to see everything that is on the market. Look at it another way. Choosing a spouse is even more important than choosing a property. Yet we don’t have to check out every available candidate (although it would be fun trying!). We tend to consider a few and then things tend to click into place. How much easier with a house?! As long as the buyer can afford the property and could be happy there, then there is no reason why they should not buy it. All we have to do is show it to them, encourage them to buy it, provide good advice and efficient support services, and give them every reason to prefer to buy through us.

In the battle for market share, particularly when good buyers are thin on the ground, having a strategy that balances quality with quantity is increasingly paramount.

NB: I am currently helping estate agents set up a buyer representation service within their existing agency – please contact me for further information, or order the audioseminar, free of charge, by going to the buyer representation page of this website (see left)

Richard Rawlings is Managing Director of Estate Agency Insight, the specialist estate agency consultancy that creates distinction for its clients via radical training, marketing and prospecting initiatives. www.estateagencyinsight.co.uk 0845 838 1354.

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© Richard Rawlings 2010
Richard Rawlings is the founding director of Estate Agency Insight, which specialises in helping estate agencies harness opportunity through innovative method, marketing, publicity, and training. He can be contacted at or on 0845 838 1354.

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