Marketing & More

It’s been a busy few weeks since our first blog post. In that time Concordia Residential has been steadily developing as a business and starting that all-important marketing. The term ‘marketing’ fills some with dread. We have been spending some time reflecting on why those terms sometimes make people feel a little uncomfortable. Our conclusion is that it is down to confidence, previous marketing experiences (many of these could be negative – think cold calling) and whether marketing is an individual’s professional skill or not. Concordia Residential’s expertise is in property management, organisation and customer service. As such, marketing and sales are not our area of expertise but they are skills that we want to learn in order to ensure our message is effective.

One thing that Concordia firmly believes in, is the process of life learning. Education is so important as it brings wisdom, knowledge, skills and much more, which benefit each generation over and over. It’s how we evolve and it is the only way that Concordia will also evolve. Therefore its back to the drawing board for us in order to learn how to market and how to sell. We want to spread the message which will give the opportunity to ensure leaseholders get the best service.

External Leverage

Many may point out that Concordia Residential could utilise the skills of an external marketing company, and this indeed we could. However with the understanding of our industry being so niche and also with limited start up funds, we have decided the best marketing route for us at this time is to educate as opposed to leveraging out to external firms.

The Concordia Residential Marketing Journey

Our marketing journey began this week by simply thinking about how a leaseholder would find a new managing agent. This is a challenge, as there is no generically known category for managing agents. As a breed we are not estate agents, nor we are not letting agents (which seems to be the opinion of most). Indeed managing agents have a limited target market, that being flats and developments. So how would we ensure that the people who need to know about us, do so?

Not being experts in marketing, we have started with the most direct approach – a mailshot. The process of writing about the company has been fairly straight forward but does the content of the mailshot ‘sell’ the business? Speaking to one of Concordia Residential’s industry colleagues who kindly reviewed the mailshot, their observation was simple and effective. The service Concordia offers sells itself. Their view was that it didn’t need dressing up, it didn’t need a hard sell because the core services were the right thing. Honourable and truthful. This opinion was gratefully received and subsequently led to a boost in confidence.

Social Media

Furthermore, Concordia Residential have a huge awareness of the part that social media now plays in marketing. This again, is something that Concordia want to learn more about. Our Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts are live now and we are sure these will develop over time as we learn more. We are confident that we are on the right road to learning how to market and sell. Here’s to more reading going forward. There’s lots to learn.

Leasehold Beginnings

Welcome to the beginning of our leasehold property management venture and Concordia Residential’s blog. In this, our first blog, we want to tell you a little bit about us and what we hope to achieve through our blog.

Our Founder

Concordia Residential’s founder is Abigail Teece. After working in the leasehold industry for over 15 years, Abi felt it was time to offer a dedicated, customer service orientated, leasehold management service to flat owners. Throughout her career, she has worked for several managing agents, local and national. Whilst being employed, Abi always strived to do her best by whichever clients were allocated to her. She found reward in her work, but also much frustration. The rewarding part was being able to offer and give a high level of service – one that she would have wanted to receive herself. To see things being achieved on developments so that people could live harmoniously and in peace was hugely satisfying. The frustrating part was never having enough time to do it.  Furthermore being bound by the morals and rules of whoever her employers were at the time was challenging. It was always the same story for colleagues as well – too much work for property managers to do and not enough time to devote to clients. To give the service that people deserved was seemingly impossible. That, and the glass ceiling of course.

Stepping Back

After having left employment to go on extended maternity leave, Abi had time to review her career and step back. This gave the opportunity to really consider how the industry is driven and what it is all about. For Abi, leasehold management is 90% about the service and the people and 10% about the building and grounds. Her own home for many years was a 2 bedroom, ground floor flat that she loved. Although it did have subsidence and that’s not recommend to anyone! It gave her first-hand experience of leasehold living, along with an understanding, compassion and drive.  This inspired her to do as she would be done by to other leaseholders.  And so the idea to create a new managing agent was formed and Concordia Residential was born.

Our Aim

Concordia Residential’s aim with this blog is to document the creation of Concordia as a business and also to give an insight into the role of a managing agent. Industry happenings, along with our opinions on the sector as a whole will be highlighted throughout. We also want to bring to the forefront women in the industry, as our experience tells us there are very few in high level positions. We hope you find our blog insightful, interesting and empowering.