Be honest: you're not prospecting for new sellers as much as you should in your estate agency.
It is widely accepted that you need to prospect for new business to have a successful estate agency. Shout from the rooftops that your agency is great, and sure, you will get some homeowners to choose you. But selling a home is a huge decision and not one that homeowners take lightly. As much as we would love to have a steady stream of clients that come to us, your results will be much better if you prospect. You will likely have a call list of potential homeowners currently on the fence, or you diarise to contact valuations that have been lost to the competition regularly to get them to switch to your company.
For many years now, there have been tech companies that offer direct mail marketing, allowing you to send letters regularly to properties that are on the market to speak directly to their current situation and milestone, which will, in turn, have a much better effect than doing a blanket leaflet drop in the hope that property sellers notice your leaflet.
When you sign up for these tech services, you are given template letters to allow you to get started straight away. But what if another agent is sending out the exact same letter? Who has written those template letters? Have they captured a friendly, caring tone of voice, or are they written by AI with a hard sales message from the get-go? No warm-up of the client, no helpful hints and tips, simply "At XYZ estate agents, we believe passionately that…" or "Call us today for a free valuation."
Whilst these sales messages will undoubtedly have their place, you will turn that homeowner off entirely if you go in with a hard sales message on the very first point of contact. It is the letter equivalent of a cold call, and we all know how we feel when those double-glazing or solar panel people ring.
Properties that are already on the market for sale are the low-hanging fruit. These clients are committed to moving and are actively trying to sell their property. And yes, of course, you might know who these clients are and be able to add them to your call list. But if they have never contacted your company, you simply don't know who they are and cannot speak to them. This is where a structured letter campaign can work wonders. The idea is to gently nurture the homeowner through your marketing funnel, with the intention of, at the very least, gaining their telephone number or email address so that you can call and email them with your nurture journeys. Of course, the best result would be a valuation appointment, but this is not likely to happen from one hard-hitting sales letter. It takes time, patience and consistency. Imagine if they receive a letter from you each fortnight, but they are not even getting a phone call from their own estate agent?
Benefits of direct mail -
Allows you to speak to the owners of the properties that are on the market that you don't already know.
Target the message to resonate with the stage of the process that the individual sellers are at. - this will result in a higher response because it makes sense to the sellers.
Progress the homeowners through your funnel and nurture journey using letters where emails and calls can't
Develop the relationship with the homeowner, increasing the 'Know, Like, Trust" process.
Direct mail is the stepping stone between 'known' customers and 'unknown' customers.
Direct mail is the stepping stone between known and unknown homeowners
If property is about people, knowing the homeowners in your area is perhaps one of the most important prospecting tools.
But what if you don't have the property seller's phone number or email address?
Enter the solution - DIRECT MAIL 🥳
📧 Direct Mail allows you to contact homeowners trying to sell their properties with other agents even when you can't call or email them.
📧 Direct Mail allows you to nurture those homeowners with useful, helpful information that develops their awareness of your agency and builds rapport.
📧 Direct Mail is a fantastic way to build your stock levels and win more instructions.
🔹 A full suite of letters to send to homeowners for every possible milestone in their property-selling journey,
🔹 Professionally written for you with a gently warming up sales pitch, rather than template letters that go in for the hard sell straight away (the number one way that your letter will end up straight in the recycling bin).
🔹 Ready to plug into your prospecting tool immediately
🔹 Editable so that you can add your own flair and flourish, making your letters truly bespoke to your company.
