5 Time-saving tips for sowing properties for sale
INDEX:
2. 5 tips to save time when showcasing properties
2.1. Shortlist visits to the property
2.2. Sort by sales probability
2.4. Send information in advance
2.5. Testing new methods from the agency
1. Introduction
A visit to the same property at 17.00, 17.15, 17.30, 18… switching to another property for a viewing at 18.15, an appointment that is delayed by 5 to 10 minutes, another one that is a ‘no show’ and leaves the agent waiting another 15 minutes until the next one…does this sound like your average day as an estate agent? A top priority for every real estate employee is to save time when showcasing properties, since it can be dedicated to other managements as well as increasing the probabilities of closing a deal.
That is why booking appointments to show a property is one of the most sensitive areas in the organisation of a real estate agency. Keeping a busy schedule maintains interest and thus sales active, but it is also one of the tasks that takes up the most “unproductive” time.
While we are showing a property, we are not closing contracts, solving doubts of interested parties who have already visited it or even making new appointments. For this reason, this process should not be done thoughtlessly (showing the property only to those who can actually become its tenants) and should be carried out in the shortest possible time. How can we save time when showcasing properties?
2. 5 tips to save time when showing property
2.1. Shortlist visits to the property
This is one of the most important keys to the correct management of the appointment schedule: we must create shortlists to obtain the best candidates and show the right properties for them. Anything that we know in advance that does not fit the property, means wasting time for both the agent and the client.
On more than one occasion, either out of courtesy (for not appearing to be discriminatory when deciding whether a flat is suitable or not for someone) or out of misinformation, (not knowing who is given an appointment to see a property), we fill up our agenda with visits without any other filter than those who have requested to see the property.
Although we can never know for sure which property is the perfect one in all aspects (economic, functional…) for those who request an appointment, there are situations in which it is evident that it is not within reach or it is unsuitable. It is in these cases that we must politely reject it and propose alternatives that do not cause rejection.
2.2. Order by probability of sale
Managing appointments is not the same as making appointments. The rush leads us to want to fill the agenda at all costs and at reasonable intervals, giving them each a time as interest in the property grows.
While this is the norm, wherever possible we should give preference to those appointments and clients who are showing a high interest sticking with the property.
If we attend to these interested parties first thing in the morning, we may be able to close the deal immediately and not waste other clients’ time, to whom we can calmly offer other alternatives that may suit them.
2.3. Plan your visit
How does an agent who is committed to making a sale differ from someone who does his job routinely? The best way to find out is in the way he or she approaches visits.
A committed agent will not try to condense everything into a visit that lasts 15 – 30 minutes, but will instead focus on details that will make the greatest impression on the visitor.
This also applies to the “linear” method of starting to pitch the property the moment you enter the door. If the first thing we show is a tiny toilet, it will not give a great first impression to the clients . However, if we leave it until the end after having seen a complete and spectacular bathroom in the bedroom area, we will appreciate the functional and auxiliary character of this bathroom that would not have attracted our attention at the beginning.
2.4. Send information in advance
It is also an excellent way of carrying out that shortlist or filter we referred to in the first of the tips: if, before arranging a visit or before a visit takes place, we make sure that all the relevant information about the property is in the hands of the visitor. This way we will avoid surprises such as them realising as soon as they reach the third floor of a building without a lift that it is instantly not what they want.
That is why the way we organize the visit is as important as the source from which it comes: the file in the real estate portals. These cards must be perfectly presented so that they do not give rise to confusion, as well as having interactive resources that go beyond the classic advertising text and various images. In this way we can save time when showcasing properties.
2.5. Try new methods from the agency
What if, instead of motivating visits, we try to stop them from happening? It is not a matter of self-boycotting and refusing to arrange them, but of finding ways to make them unnecessary or simply complementary (to verify that the property they are interested in is really what they want).
This is possible thanks to new methodologies such as virtual tours of properties for real estate agents: a novel way to save time when showcasing properties from a distance and in great detail, from wherever you want and for as long and as often as necessary.
Thus, you can provide each of the interested parties with a 360-degree tour of the properties so that they can only make an appointment to visit them if they fall within their interests and they are really in a position to keep the property. You can even make visits to several interested parties via video conference, to be able to solve doubts live as if you were inside the property.
With this last advice, you would cover the remaining four with hardly any detriment to time: filtering, informing and detailing the property with a single gesture that can be carried out from the office or from any place where you have access to the Internet. Do you want to get fully stuck into this way of selling flats in the 21st century?
