Time to start using a guided missile to hit your target

Gavin Nathan, Managing Director of traceWise, talks about how sales and letting agents must get more sophisticated and targeted in their marketing efforts.

“We have read a lot in the trade media recently about the increasing costs of using the major property portals and of agents bemoaning the situation as they look at their costs verses revenues.

Virtually all agents have embraced the use of the online portals but many still see them as modern versions of local press advertising. Indeed most are still spending money in both online and offline environments. No wonder profits are being squeezed!

Agents continue to fail to make the most of enquiries they receive and the contact information they obtain. Applicants who buy through other agents are deleted from software systems just when they have actually become vendor prospects and the last point of contact with sellers and buyers is often sending the invoice or handing over the keys.

There is huge value in having a good quality database of potential clients and customers and in keeping in regular contact.

Emailing newsletters and updates to customers and clients, past and present, as part of a customer relationship management (CRM) systemcan greatly improve the chances of return and repeat business and recommendation.

Most agents, however, simply spend a fortune in fairly randomly dropping thousands of letters and leaflets through doors in the hope that occasionally, the normally short journey from doorstep to dustbin will be broken and the property owner will call.

Property owner data is the lifeblood of a good estate agency. Knowing who owns what and having the mechanism to contact them is vital.

Using a scattergun to hit a target is expensive as it is invariably wasteful in resources. This is particularly true in lettings where landlords are invariably not in residence and Land Registry data on its own is out of date or lacks detail.

Now there is a way to obtain real time property owner data, names, addresses and, in the majority of cases, telephone numbers. Direct and specific approaches can then be made in a targeted fashion to help win business. Yes, the cost per trace is more than the cost of delivering a leaflet but it will provide the data needed and, with landlords retaining properties for an average of 12 years, even if one doesn’t secure the business now, the opportunity will arise again in the future.

I think it is clearly time for agents to start using guided missiles to hit their targets.”

traceWise provide property owner information by searching and aggregating over 100 real time databases in order to provide up to the minute contact information, fast and cost effectively.

Telephone: 0208 354 0337

Email: enquiries@tracewise.co.uk

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