For any coworking or flex space, retaining existing clients is the most efficient way to ensure stable revenue.
That said, you'll always need to add opportunities at the top of the funnel - If you're scaling operations or simply maintaining momentum, a rock solid lead generation strategy is essential.
In this article, I'm going to talk through a few essential foundations you need in place to build a high-performing lead-gen machine tailored to the unique needs of flex operators.
Lead generation for CRE and coworking/flex has historically been dominated by brokers.
Broker leads are great as they provide a steady stream of opportunities, with predictable costs of acquisition - Though predictable doesn't mean cheap...
They also tend to fit a specific profile - Leads from brokers are often on the larger side (at least comparatively large for flex businesses), with opportunities of 15/20 desks+ fairly common.
But obviously, brokers aren't the only option for driving leads for your flex business...
Building an inbound marketing machine
Taking control of your lead-gen, particularly when driving leads for studio sizes up to 20 or so desks, can be a great way to reduce your acquisition costs for new business, and reduce your reliance on a single acquisition channel.
But which channels should you be spending on?
What skills do you need to leverage?
How much budget should you be allocating each month?
There's so many things to consider, but why not start off with a low hanging fruit - Paid Search.
Search is one of the most reliable sources of high-converting traffic for a reason - it's 100% intent-based, and captures your audience in the moment they're researching.
A fully-managed Search account allows you to dynamically tweak and adjust your campaigns in real-time, aligning them with what you've actually got available to sell in each of your operation's locations.
Brokers know this - because it's one of the main drivers they also use to generate leads.
If brokers can manage to make the numbers stack up (typically 10% commission on the first year), you certainly can too.
Four things you'll need
Inbound marketing channels like Paid Search can provide a decent source of cost efficient traffic for lead gen.
But if you're going to do it, you want to do it right.
To do it right, you need:
- Specialised skills to deliver - You want to work with someone who knows exactly what they're doing. Agencies are expensive and they usually have their junior talent managing "smaller" accounts - find a sh*t hot freelancer instead. They'll understand your business intimately, and will cost you far less than a retainer at a media house. They're also some of the best skilled people in the industry.
- Live feed of inventory availability - Most importantly, a view of what's coming up in the future. If a unit is already empty, you're losing cash every single day. As soon as a client gives notice, your campaigns should be spinning up to generate interest in that unit. A spray and pray approach to your Search campaigns won't work. There is zero point in driving leads in locations you have no availability - you also don't want to be under-spending in areas where you need additional support. A live feed will guide you on how to deploy your marketing budget - It will also give you a clear idea how much budget you need to allocate in order to hit your acquisition goals.
- A dynamic approach to campaign management and optimisation - This is all about communication. Sales, Ops & Marketing all speaking with each other regularly, leveraging their collective knowledge to share insights across departments. A lead-gen campaign isn't set it and forget it - You need to adjust the campaigns you're running based on the inventory you've already got available. If you're driving enquiries (and incurring costs) for 5 person studios in Holborn, but you've only got availability of 10+ desk studios, you're wasting your cash - And still not fixing the problem.
- Fast response times - You want to aim to respond to leads (ideally on the phone) within 15 minutes of the contact arriving in your systems. Or quicker, ideally. The longer you take to respond, the less chance you have of closing a deal.
It's all about data and communication
Building a reliable lead-gen machine isn't just about the tools you use - it's about understanding the nuances of your market and staying agile in your approach.
Get it all right, and you'll have a powerful workflow that allows you to scale up and down based on the voids you need to fill - saving you cash on media spend, as well as keeping voids across your portfolio to a minimum.
How about your operation? Are you leveraging performance media to drive studio enquiries? Would love to know how you're doing it.