Letting Agent
“I generate nearly twenty five percent of our turnover from just one marketing activity...”
Case Study: Mitch Mitchison of Northwood UK
When Mitch Mitchison launched the Northwood lettings franchise in Reading he was urged to find a local BNI chapter and after a slow start, he realised you truly get out what you put in. The company is now in two chapters and BNI has been fundamental in promoting their guaranteed rent scheme and launching in property sales. Mitch, who also volunteers as a BNI Ambassador explains:
“Well, the interesting thing, you go to these meetings and you see the plumber standing up and saying, "I'm a plumber" and sitting down and getting loads of referrals but...and you learn, slowly, I think it doesn't quite work that way for letting agents and a lot of other categories it's harder to get the business because you've got to build the relationships. And I didn't fully understand that for a good while and I didn't get my first referral until ten months in.
“That was when I volunteered as an Ambassador with BNI, where you support other chapters and much of the business that I've had from BNI has been as a result of being an Ambassador as opposed to being a member, obviously, being a member allows me to become an Ambassador.
So, the two go hand in glove. Certainly, without being an Ambassador I would have missed out on a lot of business.
“I came to understand the BNI ethos and it's all about getting that the visibility and the credibility and that results in the business. You can’t just expect it to happen and it is important new member realise that. Had I taken a dim view of it and decided after twelve months that it wasn't going to work and left. Well you know, that would've been a significant chunk of my business that wouldn't have existed. Without a doubt. Certainly, in the first two or three years of the business, when you know you're struggling to to break even. Struggling to get to that point where you want to be. Having that extra business coming in from BNI absolutely helped.
“Now, having been a member since June 2013, we’re turning over a little over a million pounds now on a twelve-month rolling basis and that's, it's growing every month. I'm getting about twenty three percent of that turnover from BNI, and that the profit is good as well. BNI is around twenty percent of my gross profit for the year in the rolling twelve months. It is a big commitment, but it is a worthwhile marketing activity.
Real Member Stories: Letting Agent
“I volunteered as an Ambassador and much of the business that I've had from BNI has been as a result"
“It was a member, a relocation agent, that helped with a five-bed sprawling property near Cold Ash. He has clients relocating from France and had looked with another agent for three months; they have a beautiful house on the Seine and wanted something comparable and love this house, have moved in and will be there for three years. We’d taken that on using our guaranteed rent scheme and it was a considerable amount, the kind you lose sleep over, but BNI delivered.
“It was talking about the guaranteed rent scheme with a financial advisor in another chapter that has led to a tremendous amount of business, after being introduced to a landlord looking to buy just one property. I helped him find a property in Reading. Helped him to buy it. We put it on the guaranteed rent service and he was pleased as punch and came back a little while later for a second property and subsequently he bought another four. So, six, from one referral. But interestingly and this story developed because five of those properties are on Kennet Island in Reading. You can't get access into the flats
to do leafleting or anything - unless you've got properties in there, we did!
We leafleted the other properties a couple of times and we picked up a landlord who wanted just tenant finds, they had eight properties in that building. They were also looking to sell some of their properties and we've sold two of those now. The visibility led to more landlords and more sales. In total, 14 managed properties, five sales and eight tenant finds, from those initial six. And none of that would’ve happened had we not been in BNI, from a single referral.
“Hopefully that is convincing enough for any letting agent considering BNI. I'd tell them that they should. If you're in an estate agent or letting agent and there's an accountant in the group, a solicitor or an IFA, or mortgage broker you've then got three or four referral partners. And if you if you build a relationship with those guys you will easily cover your costs and you'll do so much better out BNI. You've got to work at it, you've got to put the time in.”
Contact Mitch Mitchison
Tagged as: Trade & Property
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