Home Sale Network News - February 2007

7th March 2007

Referral Prize Draws 2007

2007 sees the return of the successful referral Prize Draws from 2006. This year's initiative will take place between 1st April and the 31st October inclusive, providing you with a greater chance of winning.

With the chance to win £1,000 and a New Mini, the 2007 initiative also offers 1 lucky person in each qualifying region the chance to win £500 as an interim prize. As in 2006, to earn a token, you have to send a referral which comes to the market "On market" within the Prize Draw period. Launch packs containing full details of the initiative will be sent to every branch prior to 1st April.

Make-A-Wish Foundation® UK

Network agents and suppliers raised a fantastic £7,651 for Make-A-Wish Foundation® UK at the 13th Annual Home Sale Network Conference. The charity grants wishes of children and young people aged 3 to 17 living with life-threatening illnesses. Since it began in 1986, Make-A-Wish Foundation® UK has granted over 4,000 wishes ranging from meeting a famous celebrity, to being a princess for the day.

The £7,651 raised by agents funded a young boy's dream. Robert age 6 from Somerset wished to go to Disney World in Florida. Robert lives with Severe Quadriplegic Cerebral Palsy with bronchial problems. The trip to the world famous theme park and the visual and sound stimulation that he got, bought smiles to his face every day.

Thank you to every member that donated money and made Robert's dream come true. Members around the country, who wish to continue supporting Make-A-Wish Foundation® UK should contact Hannah Fountain on: 0117 9292534 or hannah.fountain@btconnect.com

New Member Welcomes

We are pleased to announce the following new companies to have joined Home Sale Network within the last 6 months:

Maitlands in Saltash, Ivybridge and Plympton joined the Network in September, for the South West Region.
John Leslie Mellor in Heaton Moor, Stockport joined in October and is an addition to the Cheshire & North Wales Region.
City Residential joined as the estate agent for Liverpool in October, an addition to the North West Region.
Timothy A Brown in Congleton joined the North West Region in November.
TroyCounty in Blackpool also joined the North West Region in November.
Robinson Hornsby in Doncaster is a 2 office addition to the Yorkshire Region.
Ian Tonge Property Services adds 6 new offices to the North West Region in Denton, Hyde and 4 in Stockport.
Cole, Rayment & White were new year additions with the joining of their Padstow, Wadebridge, Rock and Camelford offices for the South West Region.
Pennys also joined in January, adding a further 3 offices to the South West Region in Exeter, Exmouth and Honinton.

In addition to these new companies the following Full Member offices have joined existing member companies:

Brockenhurst Estate Agents in the South Coast Region, already Network members since January 2001 with 3 offices, saw their Pewsey office join the Network in September.
Townends based in the Thames Valley Region have added 2 more offices to the Network, with the joining of their Guildford and Worplesdon offices. Townends now have a total of 13 Network members.

Associate Offices joined include Michael Everett in Banstead in addition to their 3 Full Member offices and Pennys in Sidmouth along with their 3 Full Member offices.

Welcome to the Network!

Hints & Tips

With approaching 750 offices around the country there is a huge potential to share successful business ideas with one another. Here are some ideas that fellow Network members are using to great success within their businesses. If you have any hints and tips you would like to share, please send them to Claire.beale@cartus.com.

Valuer Introduction - Primedale Residential

Agents should do all they can to make vendors feel at ease and safe during a marketing appraisal. Primedale Residential suggests sending a pre-visit letter that includes a photo of the valuer and details who will be attending the marketing appraisal.

Referrals - Chancellors

Recent trials to improve the quality and number of referrals sent and also achieve valuations on 60% of referrals through their call centre have proved hugely successful. The trial occurred as a result of a lack of conversion from the referrals they were sending out. To counteract some of the common problems, the following has proved helpful:

When telephoning a referral though, ask the local agent when making contact to say that "Persons name from Company Name in Location has asked me to call you about your property". This should also be repeated on V5.
When the referral has been put through, contact the client to let them know who the agent will be, if this was not done when the referral was gained. That way they will be expecting their call and will react more positively. If the client is a couple try to ensure that both partners are aware of the agent who will be calling.
A few days after each referral has been sent, check the status on-line and contact the client to see if contact has been made, providing assistance as necessary.
For inbound referrals ensure that when contact is made always refer to the name of the Negotiator/company that sent the referral before requesting an appointment for a Market Appraisal.

Just by implementing these simple tasks the success rate at Chancellors has increased to over 70% (73.68% for referrals sent in January). For the 2006 calendar year they achieved a 50% success rate and for the current referral year a 52% success rate.

For more information on the above please contact John Porter at Chancellors on john.porter@chancellors.co.uk or on 01491 842400.

Branded Taxis - Chancellors

Another new initiative from Chancellors is the branding of 2 taxi's in Oxfordshire. The taxis are dual branded as shown. For more information on using ambient marketing tools such as this, please contact John Porter on the details above.