2021 has been a fast moving year for the property market, and none more so for the technology that drives that market behind the scenes. With that frantic movement has been some very interesting developments in the portal space, which has led to a wider discussion about data.
After all, the portals are reliant on an agent’s data, as it fills the virtual shelves of their property supermarkets. This might be obvious when we talk about properties that we are currently marketing, but what about the data from previous transactions? The good news is that there is just as much ‘gold’ stored in that data, it all comes down to the way that you manage it.
We are all sometimes guilty of overlooking this fact, as the better we manage our data, the more we stand to gain. Here are a few short tips around data management that might help you extract value from the records lying dormant in your CRM system.
Happy Anniversary!
How often do you hear from the Estate Agent that sold you your house. If the answer to this is never, then don’t worry you are not alone and as the vast majority of agents don’t have a keep in touch policy. But it’s easy to start one and it is a great way of staying from and centre of an audience of potential house sellers or landlords.
Within your CRM you will have details of all the sales that have been progressed and completed through your agency. Simply go out and buy a stack of happy anniversary cards, or you can even have some printed with your own logos and themes. Send one to every buyer congratulating them on the anniversary of their house purchase. If you like you can choose to add further value by sending a market update or a report that they might find interesting. There doesn’t need to be any hard sell, just simple, friendly contact. You can rest assured that when it comes to selling their home in the future, they will remember the agent that bothered to keep in touch and celebrate their significant milestones.
If you don’t know how to access these details, speak to your CRM provider who should be able to assist quickly. Veco customers can build an automated process for this which can be used either on its own or with well known third party application to deliver the same result with very little management or effort.
As Richard Murray, CEO of Veco by Eurolink says “We can help agents with automated processes and automated messaging that make sure that these vital items are not forgotten.”
A great conversation piece
To begin a great prospecting call, it helps if you have a genuine reason to get in touch with the person. It could be that you recently sold or rented a house on their road, and you want to tell them about the success that you have recently achieved with one of their neighbour’s houses. It’s the simplicity of the 20:20 letter, but a call really helps to ensure engagement. Just make sure that the questions you ask are ones that seem like you genuinely want to help and add value. One of our favourites is the simple classic: “We’ve achieved a great figure for number 23, and to be honest we have had to turn other buyers away because we can only sell it once. If you know of any neighbours that are considering moving, then please get in touch as I am sure we can help do the same for them.”
What did you notice about your house during lockdown?
An agent in the north of England recently started using this question in their marketing as Britain starts to emerge from the restrictions of lockdown. It’s a simple yet powerful question, that you should be asking of all your previous market appraisals that didn’t end up coming to the market.
The idea is that we’ve all had time to see the good and the bad in the places that we live in. Many of us are working from home and need a dedicated home office, many of us recall trying to work and homeschool the kids all at the same kitchen table, some of us wanted larger gardens, more outside space, perhaps even a move to a more rural location. The list goes on and on. There is plenty to talk about and a lot of us have thought about moving very seriously. Spend some time talking to all the people that called you out to value their home in the pre-pandemic years. The chances are that they have begun to think differently about the place that they live in and might want to or need to move. When they tell you about the wish list of things that they need their next property to have, why not follow up with the question: “If I could achieve a superb price for your house, that might allow you to move up to the house of your dreams, would you consider selling?” The answer is invariably: yes! What a fantastic opportunity to visit them again, refresh their valuation figure and perhaps even sell their home!
There is a wealth of value sat in your CRM system waiting for you to use it. Just a few minor adjustments to your routines and processes is all it takes to start turning that data into pounds in the bank and Veco can help you get there.
