New Owners Information

Why choose Coast & Country Cottages as your holiday letting agent? 

 

When choosing an agent, you have a number of factors to consider such as their location (national, regional or local?), size, marketing and administrative support, holiday rental proposals and/or customer service skills. You may also be interested in the agent's policy in relation to the use of your property and, most importantly, what they charge you for all of the above! 

 

In our experience, however, many property owners are just as concerned about the back- up and support they will receive from their agent 'on the ground'. What happens when a tenant is locked out late at night, if the boiler breaks down or the carpets need cleaning? 

Who will help if I can't find a cleaner or if he/she walks out during the height of the season? 

 

The answer from this agency in these circumstances is very often 'Don't worry, leave it to us', that is, of course, if we haven't already dealt with the problem! 

 

We have a growing team of permanent and seasonal staff who are committed to delivering the highest possible standards of service to all of our customers, and understand the key values of our business. Details of our team and their responsibilities can be found on our website. 

 

As well as a support and service ethic that we believe is second-to-none, there are many other reasons for you to choose Coast & Country Cottages.. 

 

Bookings System 

Our state-of-the-art booking system ensures we achieve a high conversion rate of bookings from telephone, email and online enquiries. Our website is fully integrated with the office system and displays live availability for each and every property allowing enquirers to select and pay online for their chosen holiday from anywhere in the world and at any time of the day or night! In addition we have developed a significant and loyal base of clients many of whom return to us year-after-year through our annual repeat booking process - this allows our clients the opportunity to book the same property for the same period in the following year before the dates are made fully available. This process, and the strong bond of loyalty built up with the agency over many years, significantly benefits owners and holidaymakers alike! 

 

Website & Online Marketing 

Our successful, professionally designed and supported website has individual page allocation for each property plus several images per property and the ability to add a 'Virtual Tour' if required. New properties joining the agency through the season (and after publication of the main brochure) are quickly added to the website and listed on a dedicated 'New Properties' section found on the Home Page. We also feature properties in other relevant sections such as 'Luxury', 'Baby-Friendly', 'Pet Friendly' etc. and with many other promotional options available to us (including pages dedicated to 'Featured Properties' and 'Special Offers' ) we work closely with new owners to ensure all properties receive maximum exposure from the very beginning. 

 

Our highly successful online marketing campaign, managed in conjunction with industry experts, is an increasingly important factor in our overall planning and substantial investment in this key area ensures our online presence is constantly increased. As a consequence our website is highly visible to those looking for holiday accommodation, and we are regularly listed at the top of key searches with the main search engines (eg. Google) for such phrases as 'self catering holidays in Devon'and 'self catering cottages in Devon'. Regular e-newsletters to our extensive database of clients are also an excellent way of communicating the addition of new properties, availability and the latest offers to those looking for accommodation, whilst advertisements, online offers and competitions, links and other activity on selected other sites further enhance our online profile

 

Advertising & PR 

We run a comprehensive national and international advertising campaign, including regular advertisements in publications such as the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday, Sunday Times, Coast Magazine, Country Living, Good Housekeeping, Junior and many more. This ongoing process ensures brand awareness and recognition remains high and that new enquiries and brochure requests are received at all times of the year. We also work closely with PR experts to ensure regular coverage in key publications, and have been delighted to receive significant 'write-ups' in a number of titles including The Sunday Times, The Mail on Sunday, The Observer, The Independent, Junior, and Coast Magazine as well as online coverage on timesonline.co.uk and dailymail.co.uk. In addition we organise regular press visits to our properties and have entertained travel journalists from such titles as The Mail on Sunday, The Times, The Sunday Times, The Daily Mirror, The Guardian and The Observer.

 

We continue to work closely with property owners and the press to co-ordinate such visits whilst additional editorial pieces (written by us) are regularly featured in a range of publications including Devon Life. Press releases including late availability and other offers are distributed to our press contacts on a regular basis to ensure they are kept up to date in respect of new properties joining the agency and events taking place in the South Hams. 

 

Full Colour Brochures Our main full colour brochure features detailed property specifications, pricing and photographs, together with area information in an easy to read and attractive format. The brochure (and any subsequent supplements) is sent out on a daily basis to large numbers of new enquirers and regularly mailed to significant sections of our extensive database.

 

The annual brochure is usually supplemented by 'Late Additions' and 'New Properties' brochures which promote the very latest properties to join the agency - brochure request cards, promotional flyers and other printed offers are also regularly distributed to our database. In addition we produce brochures for certain key developments (eg. Dart Marina, Hillfield) and a local information guide, 'Planning your Stay', designed to help visitors make the most of their stay in the South Hams.