There are five channels of growth;
1. New purchasers of property who have recently purchased a property through the agency’s sales business.
2. New purchasers of property who have recently purchased a property through a competing agency’s sales business.
3. Existing investors who have their properties managed by a competing agency.
4. Existing investors who manage their own properties.
5. A ‘catch all’ group, covering initiatives an agency may develop to reach new markets that are not outlined in channels one through four.
These channels represent the key growth opportunities that any agency has. In consulting speak, the channels are what is called “mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive” – “MECE” for short.
Channels one and two focus on people who are purchasing an investment property. These people are on the market looking to buy, or have just bought and are waiting for the property to settle. They’ll be making a decision about which property management company to use in the next few months.
Channels three and four centre on those who already own an investment property and may be looking at changing their management arrangements. These landlords do not have the natural time pressures associated with the buyers covered by channels one and two. They’ll also only make a change in their arrangements if they can clearly see that changing them is more than likely going to lead to a significantly better outcome.
The last channel is all about broadening the reach of the agency. It’s best explored by thinking about what business the agency is in, then looking for ways to define that business more broadly. Perhaps the agency will open a branch in a new up and coming area. Perhaps it will work with local property developers or financial planners. Whatever the change, it’s broadening the agency’s scope.
You can read more on the Channels of Growth in the Numbers Game ebook