How to Win More Property Listings Efficiently as a UK Estate Agent: A Proven Marketing Strategy That Works

When you first start running your business, your time is absolutely precious. You want to be as efficient as possible with every task you undertake. As we highlighted in the first chapter of this book, the number-one job of an estate agent at any given moment is to get properties on the market. So how do you deploy your ‘done-by-you’ marketing most effectively, ensuring that each piece of collateral has the greatest chance to convert a homeowner into a market appraisal? In short, by understanding that not all marketing is created equally and by stacking your activities for maximum impact.

It’s simple: the more bespoke and targeted your message, the better it converts. A personalised letter to a homeowner who once listed their property, telling them you now have a buyer, will almost always outperform a generic leaflet asking, “Do you want to sell your property?” The messaging reflects how people react—when you knock on someone’s door because they’re currently on the market, your chance of gaining a market appraisal skyrockets compared to sending them a blanket social media post. So rather than trigger-happy social campaigns, you should always start at the bottom of the conversion funnel—with the highest-converting activities like door-knocking or personalised ‘withdrawn’ letters—and only move upstream when those channels are exhausted.

Take door-knocking and targeted outreach first. But don’t stop there. Use a technique I call process stacking—getting two or more tasks done in a single trip, just like listening to a podcast while on a treadmill. Divide your core patch into smaller zones—my example uses five zones of about 1,000 homes each, but it could be slightly more or less depending on your area. Staying local saves travel time and keeps you productive. Each day you pick one 1,000-household zone and knock on every front door that’s currently on the market, deliver bespoke withdrawn-property letters, and drop marketing to the rest of the patch. By the end of the day, every homeowner has received the most relevant collateral for them.

Picture this: you knock on a door and introduce yourself, “Have you heard of Joe Bloggs Estate Agents?” The homeowner responds, “Yes—you knocked on my door earlier when I was on the market.” Someone else may say, “I got a letter asking if I want to try selling again,” while another will have received a bulk leaflet if they’ve never been on sale before. This approach maximises your chances of starting a conversation—and getting a market appraisal.

Of course, there’s prep work involved. The night before, look back at any sales or completions in your zone—these will form the bulk of your marketing that day. If you haven’t sold or listed anything locally, turn to your buyer database—if you have buyers looking in that area, a VIP letter drop gives you credibility and momentum. If neither of those apply, then your generic bulk leaflet becomes the main collateral. Either way, you pre-print what you need.

Finally, grab your Rightmove Plus login and use the ‘best price guide’ for your 1,000-household zone. Input the postcode, set a radius, and adjust the date range to include withdrawn properties from the last few years. This shows you detailed, up-to-date information: green banners for properties currently on the market and greyed-out entries for archived listings that didn’t sell. Pay attention to those without a ‘sold subject to contract’ label and cross-check Land Registry records to ensure they truly haven’t sold—or may not yet be registered. If in doubt, lean on that old adage: “If you don’t ask, you don’t get.” Better to send the letter and get a “I’ve sold” response than miss a potential appraisal.

Next morning, your route is clear: knock on the X properties currently on the market and drop letters to the Y withdrawn listings. Leave an extra letter behind in case they aren’t home—a note offering to help them find their next home. This approach cuts through all the noise from the competition, who are still churning out generic “101 reasons your property hasn’t sold” mailers. You’ll sound fresh, empathetic and proactive—exactly the angle that wins instructions.

So that’s how you get more property listings as an estate agent in the UK without burning time or budget: deploy your done-by-you marketing with surgical precision, stack your processes to maximise efficiency, and always deliver the highest-converting material directly to the individuals who are most likely to need it. It’s a clear, disciplined estate agency marketing strategy for winning instructions, built on personal connection, urgency, and relevance. Agents who follow this methodology steadily increase conversion rates and build deeper relationships—fewer cold calls, more appraisals, more listings in the bank.

By taking small, consistent actions—targeted door-knocking, withdrawn-property letters, and VIP drops—you’re not just generating listing leads: you’re reinforcing your authority as the go-to local agent. And once your pipeline fills, you’re in a much stronger position to increase estate agency fees and charge more—because your high-value, high-impact service justifies it. That’s how you sell more properties sustainably, without resorting to gimmicks or discounting.

If you’d like step-by-step help preparing your zone-by-zone campaign, including sample letter templates, diary-planning sheets, and ready-made scripts for door-knocking conversations, explore our free resource pack or book a consultation with Chris Webb at The Estate Agent Consultancy. His expertise has helped agents across the UK streamline their marketing, grow their market share and confidently charge higher fees—without compromising quality or brand.

In conclusion, being efficient with your time and methodical in your marketing is what separates successful estate agents from the rest. Start with the highest-converting activities, stack your processes, follow the data from Rightmove Plus, and deliver personalised messaging across each zone. By doing this day in, day out, you’ll win instructions, increase your conversion rates—and eventually, charge estate agency fees that reflect the premium service you offer. Ready to boost your business? Take the next step with advice and tools from The Estate Agent Consultancy.