Inspiration

Proactive Prospecting in Estate Agency

RAT 35 (Rawlings Agency Tip)

With such intense focus on on-line listing and portal efficiencies, many agents overlook the importance of their off-line presence. After all, most of your target audience (ie local residents) only go online when they actually have a need to do so. By this time it may be too late to attract them! You need to brainwash them repeatedly over time - that's why boards are so effective!

One of the key messages you presumably want to impart is that you are a highly proactive agent who is intensely involved in the local market. You don't just list your stock online and wait for it to sell (I hope).

So, as part of your canvassing activity, why not drop a note to everyone in the immediate vicinity of a new instruction making them aware of the fact that one of their neighbours is selling, and include the property details. These are unlikely to be thrown away as they are highly relevant to the value of the prospect's property, and will keep your agency front of mind. They will also provide a talking point when you next contact that homeowner. And of course when they receive a "sold in your street" note a few weeks (or hopefully days) later, this completes the exercise perfectly.

I have just written a series of prospecting letters, including one suitable for use as above. The collection of letters is available free of charge to all my current Publicity Programme clients.

And my quote of the day is from Warren Buffet, "In the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield"

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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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