We all have thoughts about door knocking, and in general it can be quite controversial. Some of us adore it and some of us find it abhorrent, but what the two sides tend to agree on is that, done right, it can be a very effective lead generation tool and instruction winner.

Low hanging fruit

Especially given the very active post-covid market and the well publicised shortage of stock, it is fair to say that anything that remains on the market advertised ‘For Sale’ is likely to either be overpriced or has issues. Either way, logic would dictate that it is a property that the current agent is finding challenging to sell. A lot of agents have grown lazy over such an active sales period, but now that the SDLT discounts are a thing of the past, what will happen now that they have to work harder to achieve a sale? If you are asking that question, there is a good chance that the vendor is too, so now is your time to strike!

Pick them when they are ripe

Strategically speaking, the best time to door knock is when the property has been on the market just long enough to be out of any agency exclusivity or:
- the property has been reduced in price three weeks ago but failed to sell.
- the property had a change in images on the portals around 3 weeks ago but does not yet have a sold sign up, or
- the property had a fall through last week and does not yet have a sold sign up.

These are the type of scenarios that will see a Vendor most likely to change agent.

Only knock intelligently

Let’s face it, handled badly, this form of direct approach can come across as quite aggressive which may be off-putting for the Vendor. So, you might want to think about door knocking as a simple attempt to open a gentle conversation with the Vendor. You could try these great methods:
- At this time of the year, you might be having branded calendars printed. Why not knock on the door and introduce yourself. Tell the Vendor that you noticed their house is on the market and that you just wanted to give them this handy calendar with your contact details on. You should also tell them that you assume that they might be looking to buy or rent another property locally, and if that is the case, you would love to be able to help them with their search. This isn’t an ‘in-your-face’ “give me an instruction!” pitch, it is a simple conversation starter that will show that you are friendly, helpful and pro-active. After all, isn’t that what we all want our agent to be?
- Hyper targeted social media marketing means that you can effectively target the people in post codes that you are most likely to want to reach. It means that your prospective Vendors will be a little more warm, and will have seen you somewhere before.
- Property reports are a lovely conversation opener. They don’t have to be a hardcore sales report and instead contain lots of interesting and useful local data, statistics and information. There are some great choices of suppliers providing these reports and they make a great way to start a conversation, and keep it going. Get in touch with us for our advice on the best supplier choices.

Hands, face, personal space

When door knocking, it pays to try and be sensitive to the needs of the person living in the property. After all, the pandemic is still out there and people can be more protective about their personal space.

If you are about to embark on a door knocking campaign, ask us how you can increase the chances of a successful campaign.