Reports2Go

Some Tips for Promoting your Letting Agency Business

When you run an estate agency/letting agency one of the most important things that you can do to grow your business is to concentrate on building your list of landlords. New vendor instructions are great, but they are, after all, only a one-off source of income. But landlords you have in your business provide continual cash flow every month and, provided that you look after them, will continue to do so for years. And after the year we have just had, everyone can do with some extra income.

You need to consider carefully what motivates the landlords that you want on your list, and most especially the issues that keep them awake at night. If you can solve those, then you are on the right road. Timely collection of rent, ensuring that all legal requirements are faithfully followed, and repairs quickly undertaken. These are some of the key issues for landlords.

One of the most important things is to ensure that your website is properly optimised for Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). It needs to look great and be easy for a landlord to navigate, and of course it must contain current, up to date information.

You should also ensure that you have a blog and that you keep it running with regular, fresh content - at least one new article a week, because one of the things that Google wants to see is fresh content on a regular basis. If you haven’t got time to write articles yourself, you can get them written for you by writers who work on sites such as fiverr.com, upwork.com, or textbroker.com. Make sure that articles include references to local businesses and things going on locally, and also cover things such as dealing with rent arrears, which are likely to be hot topics just at the moment.

Furthermore, ask your landlords for testimonials that you can place on your website. If you look after them properly, you should find that they will be willing to provide you with their comments, and the worst that they can do is just ignore your request. You could also ask them for a quick review on sites such as Trustpilot and Google My Business.

You can also join groups on Facebook and LinkedIn. Many tenants will follow groups on social media sites, and you can share tips and advice there. You might also want to start your own Facebook group for landlords where you can offer tips and advice, and not only will it get you noticed but it will give you a source of ideas for articles for your website.

Attending networking events is another way of being noticed. As we are all under virtual lockdown at present there will be local chamber of commerce and other business events taking place virtually where you can make your presence felt. In addition, you might want to try some of the last century practices such as direct mail or leaflet drops. Ironically, so much is done online today, that direct mail now tends to get opened and read, because there is hardly any these days compared with just a few years ago when most of it got trashed unopened.

You might also consider targeting properties that are to let in your area because the landlords may be open to switching agents, or if they are DIY landlords, be made aware of the benefits of using your services.

Anther line of attack is when you carry out interim inspections of your landlords’ properties and produce a schedule of condition survey report for them. Mid-term inspections are an important part of the job because it enables you to check that everything is working as it should and also check on the conduct of the tenancy. Many letting agents today use the free app that we provide at Reports2Go because it saves a considerable amount of time carrying out the inspection.

You can download the app from Google Play or the App Store to your mobile device.

When you then produce your schedule of condition survey report you should send a copy to your landlord. Perhaps at the same time you can ask to be referred to other landlords who might like to use your services. Personal recommendation is zero cost and highly effective.

Panos, 29 January 2021