The 5 best questions to ask your competitors' vendors...

We know the industry-wide statistic that more than 50% of all vendors end up selling with the second (or sometimes third) agent they work with, so, knowing how to respectfully target these motivated sellers is key to exploding your market share.

To coincide with our on-market full address data release in Homesearch, we put our heads together around the Zoom table one evening and came up with what we thought was a pretty reasonable best practice to follow when chasing down the low hanging fruit in your market.

Here’s where we landed and thank you to EAT for the opportunity to share.

Our 5 key questions to ask your competitors’ vendors

Week 1: What would you really like to buy?

Ask this question ASAP. As soon as you see a new instruction, send that letter. Better yet, if you match the address in your CRM and you have their details, pick up the phone.

Ask all the usual questions to really understand their requirements. If you’re a Homesearch user, show them their entire universe of suitable property, not just what's on the portals. And use their immediate need to prospect new vendors, not yet on the market.

Week 5: What has your agent suggested to change during your weekly meetings?

This question is all about laying landmines for their current agent. Chances are, not much has changed in four weeks. If you ask about the feedback in their weekly meetings, and they haven't had any weekly meetings, you're planting the seed of doubt in their mind.

Week 7: What offer would you accept?

This might be a contentious question for some agents. It might feel like you're almost helping the current agent get a price reduction, but the reality is you're showing your true professionalism by asking the courageous questions, and you're setting up the price conversation when you do come to instruct the home in a few weeks’ time.

Week 9: Are you calling your agent more than they call you?

Now you've built a relationship (and hopefully haven't said "switch to us" just yet) you can afford to be a bit cheeky. Ask them straight up, "Are you calling your agent more than they call you?" or better yet "Am I calling you more than your agent?"

Week 10: What is your post three-month marketing plan?

Time to get serious. Most vendors who switch agents will serve notice around week 10 if they’re not getting what they need from their current agent.

Now is go-time. You've done the hard work, now it's time to win the business.

Asking what their +90-day marketing plan is does two things.

1. Shows you have one if it’s ever needed, and;

2. Shows their current agent doesn't.

When the inevitable answer comes back to you: "We don't have one", it's your time to strike. "We do. When can I come and talk you through a refresh in strategy? There is still time to maximise this market."

When to follow up

Helping these motivated vendors see the light is all in the follow-up and this tip comes straight from Simon Gates, the head of training and development here at Homesearch.

"I used to prospect on-market properties Monday morning or Friday afternoons as it was a time when we had sales/exchanges/completions happening & made the conversations better when speaking to them.

Because I knew the full addresses, I would hand deliver reports and send direct mail using a consistent, timed, approach but send them on odd weeks rather than even to make sure my letters worked and didn't lost amongst the crowd."

I hope you found some value in the above. As the market starts to tighten and people are more cautious in their moves, it’s all about controlling the stock. If you list, you last. And we’re here to help with that.

Good hunting!

Find out more about Homesearch here.