How Estate Agents Can Protect Their Stock and Boost Retention

It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of new listings. As estate agents, we’re constantly striving to win more instructions, secure more stock, and grow our market share. But while gaining new vendors is crucial, protecting the stock you already have is just as important—if not more so. If you’re wondering how to get more property listings as an estate agent, one of the best places to start is by ensuring your current vendors stay loyal, engaged, and confident in your ability to sell.

In the estate agency world, this is known as vendor care. And it’s not just a nice-to-have. It’s a vital part of your business strategy that directly affects your conversion rate, your reputation, and ultimately, your bottom line. Because here’s the hard truth: there’s little point in pouring time, energy, and money into marketing efforts to win new listings if you’re quietly bleeding instructions from the back door.

Think about it—if you list ten properties in a month but lose eleven, you’re not growing. You’re going backwards. That’s why proactive vendor communication isn’t just a service feature; it’s a core business function that protects your stock and sets the foundation for long-term success.

Early on in your agency’s growth, when you’re managing just a few listings, weekly vendor updates might take an hour or two. But fast forward a year and that process can easily eat up half a day. That’s not a problem—it’s a sign you’re doing well. But it also means your systems and consistency around vendor care become even more critical as your agency scales.

At The Estate Agent Consultancy, we always recommend estate agents carve out weekly diary time specifically for vendor updates. This isn’t something that should be squeezed in between appointments or tacked onto the end of the day. Vendor care deserves its own dedicated space in your calendar because it has a direct impact on how many of your listings actually turn into completions.

The golden rule here is simple: the less activity a property is getting, the more communication it needs from you. It’s tempting to focus on hot listings—new properties with back-to-back viewings and launch events. And yes, these vendors still need a call. But it’s the sellers with stale stock, quiet weeks, or dwindling interest who are most at risk of de-instructing. You may assume they understand the market is slow, but if they haven’t heard from you, they’re just as likely to think you’ve lost interest or moved on. That silence can cost you the instruction.

Every vendor should get a phone call every week—no exceptions. Not a text. Not a WhatsApp message. A proper phone call. Why? Because voice calls convey tone, intent, and care in a way that no other medium can. You’ll learn far more about how your client is feeling from a five-minute chat than you ever will from an email. Unless the homeowner has specifically requested updates another way, the phone is your best tool for maintaining trust.

Your core objective in these weekly calls is to communicate clearly and confidently that you’re working hard to sell their home. If you haven’t spoken to a seller in weeks, they won’t assume you’ve been so busy marketing their property that you haven’t had time. They’ll assume you’ve forgotten about them—and possibly started spending more time on other listings or, worse, the golf course. The silence isn’t neutral. It’s damaging.

So use your vendor calls to highlight what’s been done, what’s working, and what comes next. If interest is low, discuss portal activity. Review the number of search appearances, clicks, and enquiries their property has received. For instance, if a home is showing up in searches but generating no viewings, it could be a pricing issue or a photo problem. If it’s getting clicks but no enquiries, the listing might need rewriting or the images refreshed.

A property’s click-through rate (CTR) is another critical metric to share with vendors. The average CTR on property portals is around 5%, but with strong marketing, you should aim for 10% or more. Explaining this to your seller not only shows that you’re monitoring performance but gives you an opportunity to discuss changes that could improve the property’s online appeal.

Keep your seller in the loop on upcoming activity, too. Whether it’s potential buyers asking questions, planned mail-outs, or email campaigns—let them know you’re actively promoting their home. Weekly feedback summaries also help identify patterns from viewings, and can prompt crucial conversations around repositioning or presentation tweaks.

For more detailed strategies on pricing reviews and reigniting interest in stale stock, we cover this in our in-depth article on “Getting Properties That Aren’t Selling Back on Track”—available now on The Estate Agent Consultancy blog.

To make your vendor care process even smoother, consider using a WhatsApp group for low-level communication like viewing confirmations. It’s particularly useful when dealing with multiple sellers—such as probate sales, divorcing couples, or international vendors. But this isn’t a substitute for regular phone contact—it’s a support tool to keep everyone aligned.

Make sure every interaction is logged in your CRM. Once you’re managing multiple vendor updates per day, it’s easy to lose track of conversations or repeat yourself. Detailed notes help you pick up where you left off and maintain consistency in your messaging.

It’s worth repeating: consistent, quality communication is one of the biggest reasons sellers choose to stick with an estate agency. It’s also one of the main reasons they choose to leave. So if you’re serious about growing your instruction numbers, improving your conversion rate, and increasing your estate agency fees, vendor care isn’t optional—it’s essential.

By prioritising your current sellers, you’ll reduce churn, protect your stock, and create raving fans who refer you to others. And remember, retaining a vendor you’ve already won is far easier (and cheaper) than replacing them with a new one.

To wrap it all up—strong vendor care leads to better results, stronger reputations, and more sustainable business growth. If you want to stand out in a competitive estate agency market, don’t just focus on winning new listings. Focus on looking after the ones you’ve already got.

For more actionable insights into building a high-performance estate agency, including how to increase your fees without losing clients and how to stand out in crowded markets, explore our free resources and expert advice from Chris Webb at The Estate Agent Consultancy.

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