What Your Last 10 Lost Appraisals Are Trying to Tell You

Losing an appraisal is frustrating.

You spend time preparing. You meet the landlord. You walk through the property, talk about the market, explain your service and put forward your management proposal.

Then you get the message:

“Thanks so much, but we’ve decided to go with someone else.”

And that's usually where the conversation ends.

You mark it as lost in the CRM and move on to the next opportunity.

But what if your last 10 lost appraisals could tell you exactly what you need to change to win more business?

They can.

The problem is that most BDMs don't spend enough time looking at them.

Don't just ask why you lost one appraisal

One lost appraisal doesn't necessarily tell you much.

Maybe the landlord had a family connection with another agent. Maybe the property didn't end up being rented. Maybe you were competing against a long-standing relationship.

That's business.

But look at your last 10 losses together and patterns start to appear.

That's where the real information is.

I'd pull out the last 10 appraisals you didn't win and put them in front of me.

Then I'd ask some very simple questions.

How many did you lose on price?

If you're repeatedly hearing:

“Your management fee was higher.”

Don't automatically assume the answer is to reduce your fee.

Instead, ask yourself:

Did I clearly demonstrate why my service was worth the difference?

A landlord isn't necessarily choosing the cheapest agent.

They are choosing what they believe represents the best value.

If your appraisal presentation spends five minutes explaining your fee and two minutes explaining your service, you've probably got the balance wrong.

Look at how you're communicating value.

How many chose an existing relationship?

This one can be easy to dismiss.

“They've been with that agent for years.”

Fair enough.

But if a large percentage of your lost appraisals are going to existing relationships, I'd look at how you're approaching these landlords.

Did you actually uncover what they like about their current agent?

Did you ask what could be improved?

Did you give them a reason to consider a change?

Or did you simply present your agency and hope they'd decide you were better?

Sometimes the landlord isn't unhappy.

They're just not convinced that changing is worth the effort.

That's a completely different objection.

How many did you lose because you didn't follow up?

This is one I'd look at very closely.

Go back through the timeline.

After the appraisal, how many times did you follow up?

When?

What did you say?

Did you add anything useful to the conversation?

Or was it simply:

“Just checking in to see if you've made a decision.”

There is a difference between follow-up and chasing.

Good follow-up gives the landlord another reason to engage with you.

It might be a rental market update, an answer to a question they raised during the appraisal, additional information about your service or a relevant insight about their property.

If you're consistently losing appraisals because the landlord "went quiet", don't automatically blame the lead.

Look at the follow-up.

How many did you actually know you lost?

This might sound strange, but it's important.

How many of your lost appraisals have a clear reason recorded?

If your CRM is full of:

Lost – unknown

you don't have a lost-business problem.

You have an information problem.

You can't improve something you don't understand.

If a landlord chooses another agency, ask them why.

Not defensively.

Not to argue with their decision.

Simply:

“I completely understand. If you don't mind me asking, what was the deciding factor? I'm always looking for ways to improve how I approach these conversations.”

You'd be surprised how often people will tell you.

And even if you don't like the answer, it's useful information.

Are you losing on the same objection repeatedly?

Now look for repetition.

Maybe six of your last 10 losses mention:

• Fees

• Communication

• Existing relationship

• Lack of local experience

• Property management team structure

• Leasing results

• Maintenance

• Presentation

Whatever the pattern is, don't ignore it.

If the same objection keeps coming up, it is telling you something.

It doesn't necessarily mean the objection is valid.

But it does mean your current approach isn't overcoming it.

That's the part you can work on.

Look at which properties you're losing

There's another question I'd ask:

Are you losing the same type of property?

For example, perhaps you're winning plenty of standard investment properties but consistently losing larger, higher-value homes.

Or you're winning local landlords but struggling with interstate investors.

Or you're great at converting new investors but struggle when you're competing against an established agency.

That matters.

Because your problem might not be your appraisal skills.

It could be your positioning.

Maybe you're trying to win business from a particular type of landlord without clearly demonstrating why you're the right fit for them.

Look at who is winning the business

This is another piece of information BDMs often overlook.

Who are you losing to?

Is it the big franchise down the road?

A boutique agency?

A highly visible local BDM?

The cheapest provider?

The agency the landlord has used for 15 years?

If you see the same competitor repeatedly, pay attention.

Don't copy them.

Understand what they're doing that the landlord finds compelling.

Maybe they're exceptionally good at their appraisal presentation.

Maybe they're communicating their point of difference more clearly.

Maybe they have built an incredibly strong local reputation.

Your competitors are giving you information for free.

Use it.

Your lost appraisals should change what you do next

Once you've reviewed your 10 losses, don't put the spreadsheet away and forget about it.

Choose one or two things to improve.

Maybe your appraisal presentation needs to be more concise.

Maybe you need stronger proof of your results.

Maybe your fee conversation needs work.

Maybe you're not following up quickly enough.

Maybe you're targeting landlords who aren't a great fit for your agency.

Maybe you're relying too heavily on one source of leads.

Don't try to fix everything at once.

Pick the biggest pattern and work on that first.

And then look at your wins

This is just as important.

Take your last 10 successful appraisals and compare them with the 10 you lost.

What was different?

Where did those leads come from?

What type of landlord were they?

What did they value?

How did the appraisal conversation go?

What did you do during the follow-up?

Sometimes the fastest way to understand why you're losing business is to compare it with the business you're already winning.

There is usually a clue there.

Don't take lost business personally

This is probably the most important point.

You're going to lose appraisals.

Even very good BDMs lose appraisals.

You cannot win every landlord, and you shouldn't try to.

The goal isn't to get your lost-appraisal number to zero.

The goal is to make sure every lost appraisal teaches you something.

Because if you lose 10 appraisals and learn nothing, you've lost 10 opportunities.

If you lose 10 and identify a pattern that changes your approach, those 10 losses can help you win the next 20.

That's the mindset shift.

Don't just record the loss. Analyse it.

Your CRM shouldn't just tell you how much business you lost.

It should help you understand why.

And once you know why, you can actually do something about it.

Ready to win more of the right business?

If you're a BDM or property management leader who wants to sharpen your business development strategy, improve appraisal conversion and build a stronger rent roll, work with me.

Because sometimes the best growth strategy isn't finding more leads.