5 little changes that could make a big difference in 2016

2016 is officially here and it only seems 2 minutes since last year’s resolutions fell by the wayside in January! If, like us, you’re determined to stick to yours this year, you might want to think about setting more achievable, bite-sized goals. Here are five relatively small changes you can make that could make a big difference this year.

Every great day starts with a great meeting.

“The single most important aspect of the working day is a well-planned, disciplined morning meeting first thing every day in every branch and department”, says Nathan Emerson, Partner at multi award winning agency Pygott & Crone.

“It’s the one opportunity for you as business owners or managers to train, assess and motivate your team into action. Scrutinise minutely what was done yesterday, set targets for today and give staff responsibility to deliver. Monitor applicant and valuation qualification tightly, seek out ancillary business and use combined experiences to solve problems, resolve issues and demonstrate best practice”.

Follow Nathan on Twitter @Nathan_Emerson.

Introduce a “response time promise” – and stick to it.

It’s a fast market out there and it’s hard to stand out. Most agents aim to differentiate on “customer service”, but is this reflected in a tangible goal or promise to your customers? Giving your team a target of returning all calls or enquiries within, say, 15 minutes (and actually sticking to it) will help your agency stand out and could put you first in the queue for that next great instruction opportunity.

Keep your Out of Office reply personal.

No one expects you to return an email or call out of working hours. But instead of leaving a generic Out of Office message, take a few seconds to change it every evening to give the name of somebody who will actually be in the office tomorrow and able to respond. Having that personal touch can help you start building rapport straight away.

Never miss a future opportunity with call recording.

One of the most effective ways to train your staff is by listening to them actually talking to customers and giving them pointers on where to improve.  A buyer enquiry often comes with an opportunity to sell a property, so listening back on calls is a great way of checking that the right questions are being asked by your team to capitalise on those hidden chances to win more instructions.

Did you know you get access to audio files of the call enquiries from your Rightmove listings, at no extra cost?  To find out more, watch our quick 2 minute guide:

Celebrate your previous customers’ ‘happy move anniversary’.

Lots of home movers will begin considering their next move after 4 to 5 years of living in their property. Have you tried revisiting your buyers list from 2010-2011 to see who might be thinking about their next step?

There are two benefits of this approach. Firstly, you’ve already got a positive relationship with them from helping them last time around. This could be your chance to be involved in their next move before it’s even come to market. Secondly, you already know where they live, so targeting your marketing will be easy!

Do you have any other ideas for little changes in 2016 that could make a big difference? Let us know on Twitter @Rightmovepro and we’ll share the best of them.