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Guides > Top tips for Estate Agents
When times are hard in the property market, most estate agents typically look towards how to cut costs without impacting on their customer service and sales.
We quizzed our account managers on their recommendations to their Estate Agency customers; here are some of their tops tips:-
1 |
Printing costs: Look at your existing cost of printing. If you’re still using ink jet or colour laser printers then you may be paying far more for property detail production than you need to. Explore all-inclusive-maintenance (also known as ‘fixed cost’ print agreements) these include all parts, labour and toner. These are typically found on professional colour printers or copiers from manufacturers such as Ricoh or Konica Minolta. |
2 |
Print review: If you already have a copier or printer on an all inclusive agreement that is three or more years old, then it’s time to review. A lot will have changed in three years and you may find that changing your equipment will not only give you the latest technology, but also save you money because of much lower running costs. |
3 |
A5 Leaflets: Are you printing A5 leaflets (half the size of A4)? If so, you may not realise that for each A5 print you could be charged the same cost as an A4. The solution? Print two A5 leaflets on an A4 page and trim down using a guillotine. 50% instant saving! |
4 |
Post charges: If you’re still sending A4 property details out in C4 envelopes, you’re missing out on an easy cost saving. Send them out in C5 envelopes and save yourself approx 30%. But why do these by hand? Why not use an automatic folding machine instead? These are small, easy to use machines that make letter folding quick and easy. |
5 |
Outsourced details: If you are outsourcing your property details, can you live without them? With a slow market, vendors will often need to change their price, and when they do any outsourced property details simply have to be binned – which is money down the drain. By printing your property details in house (and on demand) you can control the wastage and make real-time changes. In addition, many modern copier/printers can produce results on thick card that can rival the quality of outsourced details. |
6 |
Leasing: Increasing numbers of businesses are choosing to lease technology. If businesses buy equipment outright, the capital invested becomes tied up in a depreciating asset, precluding investment in other projects. Your payments are fixed for the term of the agreement and are not affected by inflation or changes in interest rates. With leasing, existing credit lines arranged with a bank remain intact. Lease payments may be offset against taxable profits, reducing the net cost of leasing the equipment*. Leasing allows you to keep up to date with advancing technology and to respond to changing needs. |
7 |
Print your own letterhead: Think about it. Why pay for pre-printed stationary when you can print your own for free? If you’re paying a ‘fixed cost’ print agreement, then there is no additional cost to include your logo and address when printing a property detail. |
8 |
Still using a photographer? Why not offer to pay for a member of staff to attend an evening photography course? There are dozens of adult classes through the summer months at local colleges that can provide all the skills required to take the perfect property photo. |
9 |
Are you still faxing? You are? Why? Most office copiers now have the ability to scan-to-email. Documents are automatically turned into full colour PDFs that are far better quality than faxed documents; they can then be sent anywhere in the world – virtually for free. |
10 |
Paper costs: Have you taken your eye off how much you’re paying for your paper? Time for a review because not only could you make a saving but you could also improve the paper quality, and therefore improve the presentation of your property details. |
11 |
Paper archiving: If you are currently paying for off-site filing storage, or you simply need to free up valuable office space, then why not look at digital document archiving? This won’t provide you with an instant saving, but will over the long term. Think of the other benefits too, such as being able to retrieve any archived document (e.g. invoice or tenancy agreement) in just a few seconds (ultimately saving you time and therefore money). |
12 |
Digital dictation: If you’re having to travel back to your office to hand in dictation tapes, why not save time and money by investing in the latest digital dictation equipment from Grundig? Dictated voice files can be emailed instead, either from a PC or even from your mobile phone. |
Related products
These products are linked to the Top tips for Estate Agents
| Thumbnail | Product Name: | Product Code: | Action: |
|---|---|---|---|
 | eCopy ShareScan OP | eCopy ShareScan OP | View details |
 | Laserfiche | Laserfiche | View details |
 | Grundig Digta 415 | PSS1205 | View details |
 | Konica Minolta bizhub C253 | A02E021 | View details |
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