New Letting Agency

[jimjamuk1]

I am looking to start a Letting Agency. We won't have a physical shop, we will use the various property portals to advertise.

I would ideally like to aim at luxury apartments and houses that have a high rental potential.

My question is to do with marketing and actually launching the business. If I were to have some very professional leaflets printed and then I delivered to a small area, do you think this is the best way to go?

Or you have an alternative marketing ideas these would be appreciated.

Any advice would be gratefully received.

Thank you.

Kind Regards


James

 

[Vectis]

Have you got any experience of being a letting agent?

I only ask because I read so many times about people deciding to start up in the industry and very few of them actually seem to know anything about it. It's seen, for some reason, as an easy way to make money.

But then, if you do have experience, I guess you wouldn't be asking about how to market an agency.

What's made you think of starting an agency?

 

[jimjamuk1]

I do have experience in this field.
But I worked for a well established and well known firm of letting agents so if people did get a leaflet through their door it was from a name that everyone in that area knows.

I haven't started my "own letting agent" before so how would I know how to market from scratch, that was why I was hoping to get some feedback

 

[LettingExpert?]

Hey JimJam,
I would agree with Vectis as I deal with lots of agencies in their early stages of business. Having a marketing plan other than just leaflet's is going to be really important. Unfortunately I have come across lots of people who have set up an agency but after a few months ceased trading.

I always had thought that leaflets were a waste of time but more recently I spoke with quite a few agents who say otherwise. For example one says he does drops of 10,000 every quarter and gets on average 2 or 3 new listings each time.

Check out my blog below as it might be of some assistance to you with lots of information on Setting up a letting agency.

Best of luck

 

[ethical PR]

Before you look at marketing your new service, you will need to think about your brand.

What is your business, how are you different from your competitors, what are your key benefits, what sort of personality do you want your business to have, who are your target audience, how do your prices compare to your competitors.

Once you have developed your brand positioning, you can think about a corporate identity.

Use your brand positioning to develop your marketing plan and identify your budget and key messages. Marketing Donut is a great resources for developing your plan.

In essence what you want to be able to do is identify your marketing objectives (make sure they're measurable), who you want to talk to, what you want to say, what are the most effective channels to use to reach your target audience.

As you rightly say the brands you worked with, were already established and had a reputation so when they had a leaflet drop people were already like to know of them and their reputation. A leaflet drop would also be part of a wider range of activities.

For a start up, once you have developed your brand and messaging, have a look at a plan to launch your service, establish your brand and a six month plan of activity. Make sure you only carry out activity which you can measure.

Review every three months and do more of what works and less of what doesn't.

 

[danieldd]

Aren't leaflets too oldschool? In my opinion, people will soon look no further than the internet. Haven't you thought of making something on that front? There are quite some ideas popping up in my mind without even trying hard.

 

[200host_Steve]

Never rule out the good ol leaflet through the door.

I have used at least 1 lettings agent after being leafleted.

 

Leaflets are surely going to end up 99% of the time on the doormat of the non-landlord home-owner or a tenant, neither of whom has an interest in passing on the leaflet.

Just an idea off of the top of my head:

Could you notice other To Let boards etc. or blag the addresses off of other local agents and then look up the address at the land registry for £3. This would give you the name of the owner and other addresses associated with them. You could then contact them directly and offer your services. It might seem a little expensive, but if you're aiming for the higher end of the market then £3 a lead might not be too cost prohibitive if you can persuade them to use your services. In fact there's probably many cheaper ways of obtaining the owners details through Google and the internet too.

Targeting houses already up To Let would certainly help to focus your marketing budget.

 

[dag-uk]

>>> I would ideally like to aim at luxury apartments and houses that have a high rental potential.

if this is your target market, where do your target customers live/work/socialise/relax/excercise etc. ? You could leave leaflets (in a stylish holder) in these places.

Existing prospects in luxury apartments or hosues will probably have access systems etc which make "popping a leaflet in the postbox" very difficult.

Where do the existing agants for this sort of property advertise ? Maybe try what they do but do it better or more targetted ?

David

 

[DarrenMcCabe]

If it was me I would be speaking to a marketing guru like Ian Kirk of Opportunity marketing and get a well thought, planned and targeted marketing plan.

It sounds like you are trying what we did at the beginning which was a "scatter gun" approach to marketing, it can have mild success, however chances are you will waste some money and a lot of time for little results.

Spend a little more money and less time to get better results in a more planned and pro-active manner.

 

[jimjamuk1]

Thank you for everyone for all your feedback, it is very much appreciated and has certainly given me a lot to think about.

 

[Root 66 Woodshop]

Just let me know if you need any signs

My Landlord has his made through a friend of his, saves him a small fortune plus he sells them to other letting agencies and landlords all the time.

 

[meg77]

hi all if any one can help me i would appreciate it, Am looking to start a letting agency up from home and i need all the help anyone can give me please. i would like to start in about 6 weeks thanks

 

[ethical PR]

Meg probably best to start your own thread outlining what sort of help you are looking for?