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Calling clients instead of emailing them has helped one agency lift its conversion rates and maintain its fees.
Badenoch Real Estate general manager Symon Badenoch told RPM that the Canberra agency receives daily emails asking for price quotes – but refuses to respond electronically.
Mr Badenoch said he responds to every email with an immediate phone call and will not send a commission quote until he’s spoken with the client.
“There has been a huge change in the industry with clients now ‘cold emailing’ for commissions and a list of services and not supplying phone numbers,” he said.
“If they refuse to provide a phone number, we won’t supply a quote as our statistics show that we convert less than 10 per cent of these clients.”
Mr Badenoch said these phone calls are also an opportunity to see whether or not the client has been referred to Badenoch Real Estate.
The calls also allow the agency to discern the client’s previous experiences with property managers.
“We ask what is important to them when selecting a property manager; this way we find out their motivation quickly,” he said.
Mr Badenoch said that this approach has allowed the agency to stand firm on its fees, which he said are more expensive than most.
“We know we will miss a large amount of listings due to a higher commission, but we have been around for 18 years and it only takes 12 to 24 months until we get the return call from the client who went with a cheaper commissioned agent and regrets it,” he said.
“We believe in higher fees, higher service level, and pay everyone well above the industry award.”
[Related: Want to cut the number of calls around fees and charges?]
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