Saturday 2 October 2010

Slow Off The Blocks & A Sprint Finish

August was a great month for sales at Coast & Country. But for every experienced estate agent, there is something a bit special about September. Every year when the children return to school and the holiday season ends, we get excited. We look forward to a flood of new instructions, high levels of sales and a rush, as Christmas approaches, to ensure completions take place. Autumn is often the best season to buy or sell.




Just like every year on the 1st September, we expect 20 instructions and 10 sales. This of course never happens. The holidays aren’t actually even over. We begin to worry and wonder. Will all the additional advertising and promotions we have planned for our clients’ homes, be a waste of time? Each year, we try to recall what exactly occurred in the twenty previous years, when we found ourselves in the self-same situation.



This year we are doing more than ever, with a view to capitalising on our position as one of the top performing offices in the area. We are doing more advertising than any other estate agency office we are aware of, as we aim to promote our clients properties beyond those of other agents. We are using extensive Internet marketing and our largest ever team is working harder and longer for our clients. This means getting results is all the more important.



During the first half of September the phone slowly began to ring more often. We received positive feedback about our increased advertising and the valuations started to roll in. Once we had the opportunity of demonstrating to potential vendors what we do that the others don’t, these valuations turned into a selection of great new instructions. Good instructions, as all property professionals know, lead to sales. So in the second half of the month as autumn officially started so did the run of sales. We think it’s likely to be a record month for us, and that’s only the beginning of the best selling part of the year. Just like most previous years September was slow off the mark and is finishing with a flourish.



Looking ahead to next year, we must remember that September has a slow start. Of course by then we will probably have forgotten again. We will be caught up in the excitement and expectation every successful sales person feels, when they know they will be cutting deals, making sales and outperforming their peers.