This week, as part of our gearing up for summer messaging, we’re talking about on-marketing canvassing.

During the summer, some listings stall. Some agents go on holiday. And some vendors get fed up.

That’s where you come in.

Here are six practical tips for improving your on-market canvassing strategy.

Slow-moving stock ideal for lettings

On-market canvassing can sometimes be a sales game. After all, if you don’t divert your lettings letters to the property’s landlord, your hard work will only be sent to an empty house — or give your competitor materials to perfect their paper plane skills. ✈️

However, slow-moving sales stock could just be your next managed property. These vendors are tired and likely annoyed at the slow progress of selling their house. Why not approach them with the rental yields for a property like theirs? You might be able to give that seller the much-needed lifeline. After all, their life plans are on pause until they can deal with their sale. Maybe they don’t need to sell — maybe becoming a landlord frees them up to move on with their plans.

Touting properties you’ve already valued

While approaching on-market canvassing with a broad brush certainly saves time, you might lose that nuanced touch. Consider the fact that any home you originally valued — and lost — might be too embarrassed to instruct you. They turned you down, picked another agent, and that hasn’t worked out. Ensure your message doesn’t convey any “I told you so” tonality. Be empathetic, which is a golden rule regardless.

Let vendors draw their own conclusions

On-market canvassing can be a drawn-out process at times. Short of reaching homeowners in a cooling-off period, many sellers won’t be able to change agents for a few weeks. However, if the first time you’ve contacted them is once they’re out of contract, then you’re arriving late to the race.

Consider attempting to letter-drop properties throughout their sales journey. Many will sell before they’re out of contract, but for those who don’t, you’ve been slowly building a reputation with that vendor. Now your out-of-contract touting letter doesn’t appear like you’re only interested now — there’s less of the “commission breath” because you’ve been trying to help them all along.

For example, you can leverage what you do at certain weeks:

“At this point, we would have completed aerial photography,” or

“By week X, we would have expected to have hosted X number of viewings for a property like yours.”

Let the homeowner draw their own conclusions. If their agent isn’t doing this, or isn’t achieving these results, you’re planting the seed.

Big up yourself — don’t put competitors down

Don’t insult your competition, as much as it might feel good to do so. Vendors made a decision to pick another agent. Any criticism of their agent might come across as a slant on their critical thinking skills.

As a general rule of thumb: talk about what you do differently — not what your competitors don’t do.

For example, Propalt offers a unique dataset into Portfolio Landlords. We’re proud of the fact you can create excellent-looking letters all within the Letter Builder in our platform — without the need for third-party tools — and our development cycle for new features and user feedback is second to none.

Now, in contrast, what do you think our competitors aren’t doing for us to highlight these as benefits of Propalt?

Ideal times for outreach

Many agents stick to the 2, 4, 6 and 8-week cycle — and that’s fine if you’re in a quiet area. But most vendors receive a lot of letters all in one go at those times. Consider canvassing at 3, 5, 7 and 9-week stages. Your letter might just arrive on its own.

Also, consider your canvassing provider and what they class as “2 weeks on market” etc. You might be setting your campaign to target 2-week-old listings — but once the post finally arrives, what stage is that homeowner or landlord at?

Check with your provider to confirm what they’re considering as 2 weeks.

Tailor your messaging. Talk about “3 weeks on the market” to your 2-week sends, if need be.

Or avoid being too specific if that helps:

“As you approach 3 weeks on the market…”

In the 2-week example, Propalt shows users properties that have been on the market 2 weeks — so in their third week right now. Consider this when dispatching mail to them.

Withdrawn properties

Approximately half of withdrawn properties go on to list with another agent within a year. Great — this is an excellent dataset to reach out to, right?

Well, many of those withdrawn properties do so with another agent already lined up.

Consider canvassing withdrawn properties who’ve been withdrawn for more than 4 weeks. These are more likely to be the disenfranchised vendors who might reconsider, if presented with the right agent.

Reduced properties

When a property reduces, it’s often a sign that their agent was a little too keen — or the homeowner had unrealistic expectations on their home’s value.

A lot of agents jump on this trigger point to show the homeowner the folly of their agent. However, a reduction also generates a lot of interest. Approaching the vendor now might be a lost cause. They’ve had a load of extra interest and new viewings booked in. At this point, their opinion of their current agent might not be so negative.

However, reaching out to reduced properties after, say, 4 weeks… the viewings might have slowed, the reduced price hasn’t resulted in a sale, and their confidence in their current agent might be at an all-time low. The perfect time to approach them with what you’d do differently. Your evidence of what their house might be worth — and how you can get it sold.

Final Thought: Be the Agent Who Shows Up

In summer, life slows down. Some agents check out. Some vendors lose momentum. But that’s exactly when you can show you care — and that you’re still working hard for new business.

Stay consistent. Stay helpful. And remember: every smartly timed letter is a chance to win your next instruction.