Below I outline some of the best ways to find private landlords for your estate agency or letting agency. Some of these are quite obvious for anyone operating an estate agency currently.
1.Social Media
I see a lot of agents doing social media correctly and some doing it desperately.Social media channels should be used to engage with people and agents while showcasing some of your works and achievements.
Linken and twitter seem to be the channels of choice for letting agents and spending some time on them every day can yield dividends for your agency.
A good youtube channel is a must now a days in my view and all agents should be uploading video tours to their youtube channel and you can share it across social media channels after.
To upload to youtube only takes 3 mins for a 2 min video tour walk through. Landlords will be searching for competent agents who can achieve results fast at the best rates possible and video is a great way to qualify and quantify your leads without wasting too much time.
2.Your website
A lettings agency or estate agency prospecting for landlords should have a well structured website that is designed to acquire need landlord leads.
Tenants and buyers are going to the property portals to source their properties and not really the letting agency or estate agency websites.
I would focus 80% of the content to your landlords and vendors when designing a functioning website. So what are the important things you need to focus on when landlords and vendors bounce onto your website.
Below List some of the main elements required.
- Recent let agreed and sale agreed properties
- Well structure about us / our team page
- Live chat
- Blog page
- Services page
- Testimonials
- Drip campaign widget
- Email capture form
- Search leads enquiries
- Video tours listings
- Live viewings
- Contact us page
- Regulatory compliance certificates
3.Referral
Referrals are the heartbeat of most letting agents and estate agents and something most agents don’t focus on.
I would make it a priority that agents follow up with landlords or vendors at least within the first 3 months of a property going let agreed or sold asking them where they happy with the service and outcome and could they recommend an other landlords or vendors for leads.
You could probably afford to come up with a referral fee model where the landlord or vendor will receive a gratuity for the referral depending on the income generated from the lead.
While you are there we have a really good crm software for free allowing agents to reach out to owners for referrals. Check it out
4.Local flyers
When I see a to let or a for sale sign go up in a property it is always a memorable occasion for the neighbors.
They have their head out the window or are online checking out the neighbors house on the letting agencies website or estate agents to how much its going for. Every one loves known how much their home is worth on the rental market or for sale and its always a talking point in the house or at a meal.
Local flyers are a great way to remind the potential landlord or vendor how it all works, how much you charge, how many lead enquiries and viewings you had to secure the deal.
Some agents even like to hand write their flyers and post them through doors. It is no co incidence that you see a to let or for sale sign for the same company for homes only yards from each other. Signs breath signs.
5.Referencing tenants
When checking up on tenants references this is an ideal opportunity when speaking to landlords to have an open conversation on the property market without been too salesy.
You could mention to them that if they need an help or guidance in the future with managing the letting or property to give you a call.