I know this is in widespread use in the South of England, but us more sedate and laid back agents here “oop North” tend to look down on canvassing as not being cricket.

That said, we’ve done a load of it for our forthcoming new office in Warrington, and have put a load of properties on without even having an office yet to show them off in, so it makes me think that the one thing we need now is a full time canvasser, who’s sole job it is to drop leaflets and knock on doors, in effect getting our name out there and teeing up appointments for our listers (who also canvass to a certain extent) to deal with.

Is this a method any of you use, and what’s your opinion on it? And sorry if any of my statements are quite obvious – as I say, estate agency doesn’t tend to be as “actively cut-throat” in the North.

Or conversely, am I barking up the wrong tree totally?

Neil
http://www.nr-associates.com

As someone who moved to the UK from the US I find it funny to hear that “agents here “oop North” tend to look down on canvassing as not being cricket.”

Like trying your best but never winning is good enough. Agents who are truly running a business rather than just employees should be more entrepreneurial and competitive.

John Corey

Yes, thanks John.

Would you like to answer my question, now?

Neil,

1. I am not an agent.

2. Canvassing works well for those who are serious about success. Many investors use it to get the jump on deals.

John Corey

Thanks Neil – a perfectly timed reminder for a blog post I was planning )

Martin

http://www.modernestateagent.co.uk/2010/02/9-faults-and-fixes-for-estate-agent.html

You might be interested to know and far be it for me to blow our own trumpet but some of our most successful clients are going great guns with a particular module we have in our RPS software.

Some of the more forward thinking software houses have had the ability to import leads from the portals into their software directly without the need to rekey the emails sent to them.

This has now been extended and our clients now have the facility to import properties directly into RPS and it drags all relevant details like price, bullet points, description, address, listing Agent contact details.

Many use it for a comparables tool, obviously in double quick time you have the most comprehensive listings all under one system to report on.

But the potential for prospecting is obvious with the ability to schedule contact with the vendor. Would be delighted to talk it over in more detail.

Simon – are you saying to go after your competitors leads rather than canvass? Just trying to understand what you are saying?

Neil – to answer your original question. we had someone do this for us for 2 weeks (4 hours per day over 4 days). just a couple of weeks ago. we have had NO phonecalls or emails. Judging by the money I paid this woman, leaflet cost etc I would say not very good ROI. In terms of raising awareness, we took a little ad in the local paper at £55 and we have had 3 phonecalls and other people I know (suppliers etc) have noticed we were in the local paper. Does that help?

Sam

http://www.yourgorgeoushome.com

Two very contrasting stories, but not dissimilar to my experience in truth.

In Wigan, canvassing is not particularly well received as people tend to respond, even in THIS day and age, to a massive press advert, almost it seems, at the expense of everything else. Our canvassing plan in Wigan hasn’t been particularly spectacular.

Warrington, however, seem to have moved almost entirely away from press, and business is pulled in principally by canvassing.

These are two major towns that are literally right next door to each other, but attitudes are completely different. Don’t get me started on St Helens…

Hi Neil, please see my opinion below, i am not saying i am right and this is the only way to do it, but i know it works for many of my clients!!

Is the answer to the question not dependant on what you are looking to achieve from the canvassing?

What sort of return are you looking to get? Tout/canvass letters are going to be sent to clients who have recently placed a property on the market with another agent, who is likely to have tied them into a contract and be actively marketing and generating viewings! Whilst you may know that the agent with the instruction is useless and you could do a far better job, it’s unlikely that the vendor will be unhappy at the point you (and i imagine every other local agent) first tout the property!

Is it not better to write saying you have noticed they are moving but have not registered with your company and in order to provide your clients with a fantastic service, you go to great lengths to ensure you have every buyer looking locally registered, hence your letter, this gets them to register which provides you with contact details which in my opinion, is job done, if your staff are on the ball then a rapport is built and that vendor can be spoken to every week without thinking you are just trying to get the instruction.

Is the most important question-Why were you not called out initially?

Leaflets do work but only as brand awareness, if you were to drop 20,000 flyers, only about 7% of them people would be looking to move at the point you drop them, leaflets need to be regular and give a reason to be kept or remembered, do not tell people how great you are as it will be chucked out, give them something to interact with, it does not need to be associated with property, puzzle them or make the flyer appeal to kids, then it will be kept or remembered, if this is regular, then when they come to sell, you will be the first name they think about??