I finally got around to secret shopping and I didn’t realise what an eye opener it would be.
We often don’t win the business and I needed to know why so I called the competitors who won the business I was vying for and was not surprised at what I got.
Scenario: My son had just bought his first home and was possibly being transferred away for work and may have to rent it out.
I called 25 offices some of them LPMA members. 18 of them gave me their fees and discounted before they even said any thing else.
Out of that 18 only 8 sent me information I asked for.
6 offices either didn’t answer or told me to call back later
2 of the Big Agencies didn’t want to know anything other than an email address and to get me off the phone.
The conversations were stilted. I tried not to use ‘PM speak’ and dumbed down what I was asking and even then I didn’t get a professional and well rounded response.
The information I did get was so ‘in-house’ that was poorly written and everyone said the same thing on how to get the right tenant, how to fix stuff and how big/small their agency was. Very generic.
No one told me:
- How to set up a property for rent to maximise tax benefits
- What to do to get the property ready for rent.
- Why I should chose them.
- Asked me what was my biggest concern in renting out a property. Other than a contact name and the property address they didn’t ask me anything.
- Value added information on themselves or the property.
They didn’t have a compelling dialogue as to why to chose them.
I didn’t speak to a BDM. I spoke mostly to PM’s who seemed young and inexperienced.
Sutherlands! We have all this and more in our scripts and yet Landlords are fee-focused.
My brochure is perfect. My fee structure is comprehensive. My conversation is professional yet has personality. My focus on their call is engaged and offers valuable information for free.
What. The. Actual … What else can I do to win the business without fee matching?
SIDE NOTE: Having said all that I did come away feeling so good about myself and the service we offer.