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Landlords for free

Well a few months ago, Mrs Chris and I, together with some friends
(yes I have them!) went to a local Indian restaurant in town, you know the ones where there are few curries, as many bhajis as you can eat (yum!). We went early and it was lovely.... filled my plate a few times .. it is eat as much as you like! A few weeks later, 12 of us from Round Table went to the same restaurant, but towards the end of the evening, and let’s just say, it wasn't as brilliant.

One of the Round Tabler’s said, when looking at some rather dry bhajis, "Oh, don't worry about how fresh the bhajis are, after all, they're free”. Indeed, as far as the kitchen is concerned, each individual item on the buffet is free of charge (FOC) in the sense that the customer didn't spend anything extra to get that item. The problem is obvious, of course. Once you start thinking that way, then every single item on the buffet gets pretty dreadful, and the next thing you know, the customers you seek don't come.

It’s like going to a hotel, who says, "With this so many people using the free wifi... we do tend to encounter a slower connection speed with our free wifi". But is it free? The hotel has totally misunderstood how to think about the free wifi they offer. It's not free. In fact, it might be the one and only reason someone picked their £100 hotel room over that hotel down the street. Sure the hot water and the towels and the quiet room are all free in the sense that they're included in the price, but no, they're not free in the mind of the hotel guest.

Successful letting agents beat the competition by changing the buffet problem ...upside down. They say,"Let's make our company the best letting agent service in town--who knows, next time, that landlord might recommend us to his other landlord friends?"

So next time Mr (or Mrs) Letting agent, don’t offer free rent guarantee insurance, or free inventory’s or free epc ... nothing is free is this world. Just offer the best service possible, give the best service possible, go the extra mile, be remarkable (see my post from the earlier in January 2014 .. link here ).

Also, take calculated risks (see  my post from the middle of January 2014  link here and you will get landlords coming to you... the best bit .. it will be the cheapest and most effective marketing you'll do all year.

Well its very wet here in Grantham. The dog (joey) was whining to go for a walk until he realised the rain was coming down, pardon the pun, cats and dogs. He soon shut up! Shalom and keep getting those landlords!