According to statistics, 76% of all new instructions come from properties that are currently not yet on the market. This means that the estate agency Holy Grail would be the ability to determine which homeowners are likely to place their homes on the market in the next 12 months and being able to communicate with them before they do.

The Guild is working on upgrading its Auto Prospecting Service (APS) to include Propensity to Move data. The data, which will be available to Guild Members through the APS from the beginning of July this year, will help agents determine which homeowners will most likely want to move in the next year. Having data that helps estate agents to target their prospecting to the most likely home movers will give them an advantage over their competition by putting them in front of a potential vendor before any other agent. The Propensity to Move trigger targets homeowners and the top 10% of properties across the country where there is most likely to be a move; it currently has a 79.3% success rate in predicting customers to the market.

The Guild’s Automated Prospecting Service is a complete service from prospect discovery to instruction generating that takes less than five minutes a week. The service is designed to target vendors and landlords who have instructed other agencies. The APS system identifies the full addresses of a competitor's properties; it then monitors these properties in real-time and identifies points at which those vendors are most likely to be unhappy with their current agent. The system then generates intelligent and targeted letters, each related to the vendor's individual situation and frustrations, all at the click of a button. The upgrade and inclusion of the new data will mean that the APS will not just be targeting listings already on the market, but also properties that are yet to be brought to market, providing further opportunities to gain instructions and grow their market share.

The data will provide Guild Members with the opportunity to send communications that will assist them in building a trusted relationship with potential sellers before any other agent. Having established a relationship with a potential vendor, it will be far easier to encourage them to choose you as their agent when it comes time to sell. In addition to the data upgrade, a new monthly communication option will also be included as part of the new off-market trigger allowing agents to send a softer message to those properties most likely to list, such as up-to-date market insight or information showcasing your brand and expertise. 

The upgrade to the service will further enhance the tool and its business generation potential. In a competitive market, the need to secure an advantage will be increasingly more important and agents with access to tools that will help them gain instructions will continue to grow and thrive.