Getting the most out of your estate agency boards
As any Estate Agent will know the duty of erecting and maintaining for sale boards can be a time consuming and cumbersome task. Between viewings, contracts and new instructions, remembering what boards you have on the streets and further more remembering to maintain and update slips slowly creeps further down the to do list!
Working with professional board operators such as Agency Express provides a simple and hassle free way to manage your board work. Not only does it boost efficiency by getting boards erected and slips updated faster it also reduces an agencies work load effectively cutting costs for the business.
Now over 100 operators strong nationwide we currently erect boards on a daily basis to over 35% of all the UK Estate Agencies. With over 15 years of experience within the industry our company and operators have valuable insights to every aspect of the business from design and print to erection and storage. While ultimately working with a professional board operator will save you time and money there are measures that can be taken to ensure less loss and more pounds in your pockets.We have compiled our knowledge and experience in to 5 top tips on how to get the most out of your boards financially.
1.Keep it simple
When designing and placing a print order keep in mind that fewer colours on the board will mean less production costs. Simple clean boards with bold colours are just effective on the streets as those with several colours .
2.Take time to check
Checking on your boards regularly can be time consuming but a poorly erected or missing board could do more damage to your pocket! With the winter months now upon us sales slowdown and boards are outside houses for longer. A board that is poorly erected will tilt in the wind, this is not the best advertisement for any agency and a board that has toppled over or is simple missing dramatically reduces or eliminates adverting the time outside the house which is neither good for the agent or the vendor.
3.Sold slips
According to recent statistics one in four sold properties does not have sold boards erecting outside them. Having a sold sign outside a house is the most effective selling tool for an Estate Agent. Not publicising that you have successfully sold or let a property is a much missed opportunity.
4.Retrieval, retrieval, retrieval
Don’t let your board become the next washing line post. The reality is that the number of un-retrieved boards is extremely high when a board contract is not used. The average usage of a board is 1.5 times when when serviced by and agency member of staff. With Agency Express and the SignMaster3 board management system the average use of a board is 4.2 reducing the board production cost by more than half.
5.Storage
Storage is crucial to a long lifespan of a board. If you have taken the time to retrieve the board, then keeping it stored correctly will increase the usage and improve your return. Boards should be stored in a clean and dry space and where possible racking should be used to reduce the risk of damage.
Our top tips will ultimately improve your return on your boards but needless to say sometimes there are just not enough hours in the day to get every job done. The manual side board management is time consuming and problematic. In addition to this monitoring the location of each board at any one time can be difficult and frustrating task all together.
Our advise to Estate Agents is to work with professional board erectors such as Agency Express.This is the most cost efficient way to manage estate agency boards on a daily basis. Agency Express board operators will erect, maintain and service the boards, attach ‘sold’ slips, then retrieve the boards, clean and store them ready for re-use.
Our comprehensive Signmaster3 system provides the history and current status of all boards and enables Estate Agencies to order and manage all sign board and movements at the click of a mouse. The services we provide are simply not achievable in house and would take up much valued time.
If you would like more information on the professional services that Agency Express offer then please head to our estate agency board service page.