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• Donald proves he wears the troosers!
• 1.5 percent rate cut: what it means for us
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Getting By In A Tough Market..

By Dan Johnson

As one of my contemporaries put it recently, this is "squeaky bum" time for the overseas property industry. Anyone that tells you things are great right now in their business is almost certainly a liar. The market is as tough right now as when we launched in the year 2000, right after the dotcom bubble burst the first time around. Back then, all I had was the germ of an idea, a fierce determination to prove that I could run a good business and a bit of stored up goodwill from some friends that were prepared to help me out on the cheap.

This time round, we're much better equipped to cope with the market conditions. The fundamental business model is sound, the product is great and we are still able to deliver something that is massively in short supply: leads. Maybe not so many as in the heyday of 2006 and 2007, when all you had to do was send out an email and the enquiries would start piling up by the dozen within the hour. But the right projects are still generating a lot of interest among what have become a much more selective group of investors.

We've seen project launches this October that have generated more than 150 leads. But to hit those kind of highs in this market, you have to have all the right elements in place - a well-packaged product that's different, exciting and believable. You also need to make sure that the message is properly conveyed in the listing, with the best possible use of images and a well-honed description that catches first the attention and then the imagination of the people it reaches.

And when the leads do come through, customer service skills need to kick in. Leave a lead sitting in your inbox for a few days and you'll get nowhere. Choose not to call them and another agent will - with so much choice in the market, clients have every opportunity to go elsewhere, and you need to be on the top of your game to make sure they choose to give you their business.

Those with good systems and business practices can come through this current storm and be well-placed to flourish when the market recovers. This is the time to go back to basics, play to your strengths and really work hard to eliminate your weaknesses. Downsizing, changes in strategy, mergers and outsourcing can all play a part in making sure your business copes, but there's no substitute for making sure you're actually good at what you're supposed to be doing.

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