When you have few (or no) valuations in your diary, it’s hard to get momentum.
Around this time last year, I was talking to Kevin, then a 55-year old owner of a small agency in Herefordshire. “I’m ready to get out, Sam” he told me. “I’ve had enough of scraping a living and I’m sick of agency”.
I was sad to hear this. Kevin was a good agent, with a small, loyal team. He’d worked hard for decades and was still struggling financially. It didn’t seem fair.
We were supposed to be discussing his exit, but with no lettings, his sales-only business was worth pretty much zero. So instead, I reviewed his agency performance, so I could rank it against the hundreds I have in my files. Here are the numbers I added to my Agency Performance spreadsheet that day:
May 2025
0 Letters sent
4 Valuations
1 Instruction
1 Sale
£42,500 Pipeline
12 Listings
£39,000 Listed fees
£3,250 Average fee
£0 Banked this month
Not exactly a healthy business – or sustainable. Kevin’s numbers had actually declined, year on year, for over a decade. Strong competition in the area from eXp and TAUK had left his little agency looking a little dated and sad. And once a decline starts to happen, it’s hard to stop it from getting worse.
On the Zoom, Kevin looked utterly defeated. He was ready to close his business and simply walk away. He couldn’t financially retire, so he was considering getting a job delivering for the local supermarket. “At least then I’d have a regular paycheck, and paid time off,” he said, sadly.
I couldn’t let this happen. I knew Kevin could turn this around and build the business back up to where it was a decade ago, thriving and giving him a decent income. He was one of the good guys – an agent who truly believed in service and doing the right thing by his clients. He’s the kind of guy who will do a Sunday morning viewing, and take the bins out for an elderly client.
But now it was time to look after himself, and his family.
After a little pep talk from me, Kevin agreed to try one last push. He had a little personal money saved, which we would use for stamps and printing. We got to work creating a direct mail plan.
It’s fair to say that Kevin was sceptical. His brand desperately needed a refresh, but there wasn’t the time or the money for that. We just needed to get his diary booked up with quality valuations.
Here’s Kevin’s June 2025 direct mail plan:
1000 NOMs (not on market)
250 OTMs (on the market)
50 ‘Try Agains’ (withdrawn properties)
10 Novelty Deliveries (cupcakes, biscuits, plants)
Kevin followed the plan exactly. A model student. By the end of the month, he’d got 6 new valuations, all over £400k. Plus 2 new instructions at 1.25%. (We’d work towards 1.5% and beyond).
He was delighted. I could see his confidence was visibly returning and he was starting to believe this could work.
July was the same plan, then in August, we added 40 door knocks too. Now, before you judge, door knocks are an absolutely essential ingredient of getting momentum in an agency, but with a caveat – only door knock homes that have had 3 letters. That way, they know who you are and the conversation is warmer and more welcoming. (We have a whole training on door knocking inside the AJ Mastermind – it’s quite a skill when done right.)
By the end of August, Kevin was on a roll. Nothing from the new plan had yet banked, but the business as a whole was looking so much healthier”
1st June – 31st August 2025
3,900 Letters sent
37 Valuations (+825%)
11 Instructions (+1,000%)
6 Sales (+500%)
£97,210 Pipeline (+129%)
19 Listings (+58%)
£152,800 Listed fees (+292%)
£8,042 Average fee (+147%)
But these figures, great as they are, don’t tell the whole story.
Because the real difference was in Kevin. He was practically a new person, almost unrecognisable from the Kevin I’d seen in May. In just three months, he’d done what he thought was impossible – he’d turned his tired business around. He’d hired a new member of staff, a young and enthusiastic young lady who would keep him on his toes. His wife was helping him out, getting homes styled, photographed and listed. He’d even made a start on refreshing his (dire) social media, with the new lady’s help.
And he honestly looked ten years younger.
“I can’t believe how much my business and life have changed in just three months,” he told me. “I just wish I’d joined Mastermind earlier but I was scared of making an investment I wouldn’t get back.”
I get it. Trying to effectively relaunch a business that’s been dying for years doesn’t seem like a very smart investment. But here’s the thing – Kevin wasn’t investing in his business. He was investing in himself. He had decades of experience – real skill in understanding what clients needed and helping them to achieve it. He knows more about estate agency than I ever will. He just needed my marketing skills.
A year later, Kevin is doing brilliantly. His agency is thriving, and he’s making plans to acquire a lettings portfolio locally to add value to his business. He’s a real success story, and I couldn’t be prouder. Even though we run a successful agency ourselves, I find our clients’ successes even more rewarding than our own.
If you’re reading Kevin’s story and nodding, let’s chat. Don’t leave it until you feel broken and defeated, like Kevin did. A chat with me costs nothing but 45 minutes of your time. Book a call with me here and let’s see what you’re struggling with, so I can prescribe the remedy. I’ll give you a robust plan to go away and implement yourself, or you can join the AJ Mastermind and we’ll work with you – the choice is yours.
Book your call here now and let’s get you started.
Sam
