[Adam P]

i'd like to pick up more regular work and agencies we've found to be an good way to do that. of course there are some bad agents that expect the miracles, but there will be plenty decent ones that are worth working with.

we work with a few smaller ones, all pretty much have come to us having seen the quality of our work after one of their tenants used us.

we've tried emailing agents many times over, emails just simply introducing us, others offering deals, others offering full house cleans for FREE, and yet we get absolutely zero reply.  Perhaps some emails go to spam folder so are unseen, others perhaps don't go to the right person, and others just simply don't need us, however i would have expected something back by now, especially the offer of a complete house clean for free.

i'm not one for cold calling, don't like it when it happens to me and don't like to do it. have thought about paying someone to do this for me. anyone gone down this route and a) how did you find someone to do it, and b) did you find cold calling agents effective.

i've gone into some before, a few just randomly popped in to introduce us and give leaflets, business cards etc, and others because we were picking up keys so took the chance to let them know we exist, but still nothing back.

i don't think i'm a bad sales person, i also think our image is good, uniform is tidy, we're presentable, message clear etc, i just think it's how we go about getting our message out there which needs the most work.

i've thought about sending in presents, something to brighten up the office with a bit of advertising with it. maybe a different way to get their attention for more than a few seconds, but also potentially an expensive way.

what do others do on here?

i'm hoping this thread can remain on focus about how to get work with agencies, rather than the downsides to working with them as i'm aware many on this forum do not like working with agents.

thanks all

[Mike Gwilliam]

Just send a well written professional looking letter to the lettings  manager. I would also begin your sentences with capital letters though . 

I did this years ago and got plenty of work from it....but perhaps these days they may be bombarded with letters, I wouldn't know.

[jasonl]

I paid Becci swan to cold call every lettings agent withing 20 miles, that was in December 2014, I still have 3 very good agents who send work and pay immediately, I had about 6 others who were time wasters and slow payers who I told politely to foxtrot oscar

[Dan Wileman]

Research the office you want on their site or google, find out the lettings managers name. Send a letter listing a couple of addresses that you have cleaned via their tenants that you are 100% had no issues. No special deals or anything just say you would love to he added to their contractor list. Then walk in the office generally mid morning about a week later (early morning they all have meetings, lunch onwards appointments start so mid morning you tend to catch the people you need) say your just following up on the letter you sent and go from there.

Too many people knock estate agents and rightly so in some cases however the business they provide is huge.

[Dan Wileman]

Whereabouts are you based as well? This can be quite key in your approach as well

[dustee]

One in five are decent and actually pay on time , the rest just take the pi$$

[Stoots]

I've just started working with one. The problem is they want to pay nothing.

Like £25 for 1 carpet. And this carpet will literally have mushrooms growing out of it.

I tried negotiating with them and was told they will have no problem finding someone else if I I don't want to do it.

As long as there's guys cleaning  carpets for peanuts estate agents will pay peanuts.

[neil 47]

Adam

Just having one is a bad leverage position .

I used to work where I visited people and it is by far the best way to get work .

Each town has lots of agents send a letter saying your calling at 3 pm Friday  you turn up Friday and ask to speak to the lettings manger and say he's expecting me ,  and take along a binder with all your ins , recommendations, and past work photos .

Then follow up pepole want good reliable firms that they know and like , so get yourself known .and liked .



I speak a lot , to much somtimes but I do get lots of work from telling people what I do .

Once you have 2 or 3 onboard you can let the bad ones go .


Personally I avoid them but starting out I did work for a good few .

Payments find out who pays and thier name . Names are very important ( read how to win friends and influence people by dale carnagie )

[GarryN]

A couple of thing you might want to note, payment will generally come when there is money in the account of that particular property so if its had a fair amount of work done you may have to wait until the next rental payment is made so a month is the norm. Clearly every agent works slightly differently but the companies (100% of our work come through agents or their referrals, we do end of tenancy cleans repairs and decorating/refurbishments) are not always the ones to pay for carpet cleaning  it can often be in the clients contract so they arrange it before their lease is terminated. So really its not just the agent that needs to be targeted but also the clients and especially relocation companies as it tends to be company lets or high end lets that request professional clean including carpets before the tenant moves in and they will arrange when the tenant moves out. I would not waste your time on agencies that have mainly low end properties they will not be using carpet cleaners and if they do they will expect below market prices and you may need a vet to sedate the carpet beforehand. So you really want to approach not just agents but also the relocation companies and perhaps ask the agents if they will put a business card in the flat or post them yourself by looking at the more expensive properties in your area that are for let and try to do it after the tenant has let the property as they will generally get binned from an empty property.

[GarryN]

And another thing you will need to be very flexible and be able to do things last minute, which may be a problem if you have a booked schedule, the oh my god the place is a poophole and the tenants start date is 2 days away is a pretty  common situation for properties even the ones which have a slow turn around.

[Adam P]

thanks guys.

i'm well aware of what agents are like when working with them. as I said i work with a fair few already, but i want more.

garryn: how did you get the relationship with the agents you work with?

[dustee]

Adam   most letting agent want a $hit hole turned into a palace and expect to pay peanuts for it , and that's the decent ones

[Adam P]

Adam   most letting agent want a $hit hole turned into a palace and expect to pay peanuts for it , and that's the decent ones

yeah i work with a fair few.

[GarryN]

By complete accident and then through recommendations, did some work in a flat I was actually renting, they were happy so asked us to do all their properties, then passed us to other companies they worked with and because everyone knows everyone we ended up working with the more established agencies and landlords with larger portfolios now use us direct. The key for us over other companies is we do everything(about to move into carpet cleaning as an addon), give detailed reports and recommendations of work done or needing done(replacing furnishings, damages or decor ect) and explain things, most cleaning companies do not they send a bill saying deep clean or surface clean which makes it harder for the client to deal with any disputes through the deposit schemes or for the agent to justify the costs to the landlord. For the carpet cleaning/mattress/furnishings we will just list the process and the chemicals used with reasons for use and a brief report on marks and areas of dirt removed, pretty much what everyone advises to tell a client beforehand but it then means they get a written record of what's done.