How can agents stand out from a crowd of competitors?

We’re part of an industry that is constantly changing, with agents implementing new and innovative ways to attract business.

But with many agents utilising the same methods to secure new instructions, it can be more challenging to get ahead of the competition and attract landlords, buyers and sellers.

Fortunately, there is still ample opportunity to make some real gains, differentiate yourself from the crowd and run campaigns that are truly effective. Below, we outline four ways how.

Get creative on social media

Social media has become an all-powerful tool over recent years. As an agent, being able to interact with existing and prospective clients is extremely invaluable.

Through social media, you could post a healthy mix of engaging and informative titbits, such as local property news and local area information to establish a firmer social media presence. You may also wish to post links directing them to useful pages on your website.

Regular contact with consumers on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram can help you to build a rapport, which makes the likelihood of an instruction or repeat business that much higher.

Additionally, Facebook campaigns allow you to create and target detailed and specific audiences to ensure you reach your ideal clients. Creating campaigns focusing on those who are most likely to sell their property, for instance, could bring you multiple valuations.

Incorporate lead nurturing

Lead nurturing – developing relationships with your leads and nurturing them through the sales process – is much more than a buzzword and can be the difference between losing or gaining business.

It consists of an effective marketing strategy which targets people who have engaged with your brand already via social media campaigns and ongoing email. Of course, you will need to find a balance between reminding prospects about your brand credentials and offering useful and educational information.

The process is all about building trust and keeping a client’s attention so that when they are ready to commit, your brand is still fresh in their mind.

This approach can maximise the Return on Investment (ROI) from your marketing budget significantly, meaning you are no longer wasting a high percentage of leads you generate.

Offer the Advanced Rent Option

Now a popular service since its 2019 trial, the Advanced Rent Option (ARO) allows letting agents to provide their landlords with a year’s rent in advance, even though the agent is still collecting rent monthly.

From a monetary perspective, based on a property that has a monthly rent of £1,200, the landlord would receive a discount in annual agent fees costs of £2,592, new tenancy setup fees of £395, a rent guarantee of £432 and an emergency maintenance float of £750 from the total annual rent of £14,400. This means the landlord would receive an upfront lump sum of £10,231 by signing up to an ARO.

By providing a lump sum, landlords can better manage their buy-to-let mortgage payments and grow their property portfolio. They could also pay for things like a holiday, new car, or save the money for a rainy day.

The ARO is offered as part of a three-tier service, beginning with a standard service, a rent guarantee service and a premium listing – where the advanced rent option becomes effective.

In such a busy market, offering the ARO to promise freedom and flexibility could encourage landlords to sign up today, resulting in a significant uplift in leads.

Automate your business

All of the above could be handled manually, but automation tools are a necessary backup for your growing business.

This is because the information gathered from automated processes can give agents more visibility of their business flows, as well as control over back-end functions – providing better insights for themselves and clients.

Automation makes it possible to monitor your leads’ goals and needs without being inundated with details on a daily basis, giving you time to focus on more important tasks.

Through automation, you are able to schedule social media posts and reports, set up chatbots, identify high-quality leads, nurture said leads, onboard clients, send reminders, schedule SEO reports and much more.

Ultimately, by embracing the latest technology to incorporate property management software, you can streamline the sales and lettings process, grow your business, and generate leads effectively.

Here at The ValPal Network we can help you to achieve this and more. For more information on the services we provide, please contact us at team@valpal.co.uk or give us a call on 020 8663 4930.