See how Alto Prospecting is helping Taylor Robinson, a long established independent agency in Crawley, beat the competition and win more instructions.
Across the UK, agents are facing tougher competition for every instruction, and Crawley is no exception.
In a bid to get the best price, some sellers in the West Sussex town line up five agents to value the same house. With five quotes on the table, it often becomes a race to the bottom as agents shave tenths of a percent from their fee to try to win the deal.
One of the reasons Taylor Robinson has always stood out in Crawley is because of its commitment to building good relationships with clients. Founded by Lawrence Taylor in 1991, it’s an agency built on proper, old-fashioned customer service. While competitors have come and gone, Taylor Robinson has remained in the top three agents for the area.
But, in today’s market, great service alone isn’t enough. You’ve also got to be first.
Research from the Lead Response Management Study found that 78% of sellers list with the first agent they speak to. Not the cheapest or the one they ‘like’ best, but the first.
This is where the right prospecting tool can make all the difference.
Ahead of the pack
Alto Prospecting, powered by Sprift, uses real, verified data to flag homeowners who are likely to sell, often before they’ve decided to put the house on the market. It’s proven to help agents win 22% more instructions a year, or 2-3 extra instructions per month.
At Taylor Robinson, where every instruction is worth around £4,000, it’s had an instant impact.
“We’ve only been using it for a few months and it’s definitely helped us win more instructions,’ says Lawrence Taylor, owner of Taylor Robinson.
“It’s given us a way to reach people before they’ve even started talking to other agents, which in the current market gives us a real edge.”
Alto Prospecting is connected directly to Alto, the UK’s leading CRM for estate agents. This means there’s no separate system to log in to, and the insights can be accessed from the same dashboard the team uses for running the rest of the agency, from sales and marketing to compliance and reporting.
The tool uses GDPR-compliant, whole of market data, with over 93% address matching accuracy. In a few clicks, the team can filter results by area and put together branded outreach campaigns. They can even track the results, all without leaving Alto.
So far at Taylor Robinson, it’s mostly been used on the sales side, flagging homes that are most likely to come to market, including properties that have recently been withdrawn or fallen through.
But it works just as well for lettings, flagging up tenancies that are coming up for renewal and giving agents a reason to get in touch before a landlord starts shopping around.
Warm leads, not cold calls
Lawrence says: “The leads that come in from Alto Prospecting are already warm, so it means we can focus our efforts on clients who are already looking to sell.
“The team tells me it’s straightforward to use and the data’s accurate. When it flags a property, it’s usually right, which makes it easy to trust.
“After just a few weeks I could see that it was paying for itself.”
Prospecting isn’t the only reason Taylor Robinson runs on Alto. It’s the CRM behind the whole agency, bringing everything together in one easy-to-use platform.
With AI workflows built-in, Alto handles routine admin, so teams can focus on the work that actually impacts growth, like winning instructions and progressing deals. It saves more than 10 hours of time savings a week, per user.
For Lawrence, Alto’s compliance features have proven invaluable.
He says: “Alto keeps all communications and certificates in one place, and you can run reports in minutes, which I really like.
“On two occasions, I’ve used Alto to create clear, detailed audit reports for the Ombudsman. We won in both cases.
“Before Alto, putting those reports together would have taken hours because I’d have had to track down every single email. It’s been a big time saving.”
Built for what’s next
Switching to Alto was never really about one feature for Lawrence. It was a bet on where the platform was heading, and that bet keeps paying off.
In 2026, Alto launched Alto Intelligence, a set of AI powered tools built directly into the CRM. These include Alto IQ, an AI data analyst that lets you ask direct questions and get instant answers, and Alto Lead Flow, which automatically responds to enquiries 24/7 and books viewings directly into the diary.
Compliance is covered, too. Identity and AML checks run automatically in the background rather than as a separate manual step, and certificate renewals are automatically flagged and processed before they lapse rather than after.
“I switched to Alto because I could see that it was improving consistently and constantly bringing in new features.We’re in a really fast changing world now with AI and all the regulation changes. I feel like joining Alto has future-proofed our business.
“With sales and lettings features, plus integrations and communications all in one place, we’re ready for whatever comes next.”
