Inspiration

If It Ain’t Broke…

Why standing still in agency will kill you.

Richard Rawlings

I attended a school function recently and was talking to one of the governors who is also a prominent local estate agent. Needless to say, the conversation quickly turned to agency and before long we were discussing attitudes in the industry to innovation, change and progress.

I mentioned my observation that many estate agents are doing things more-or-less the same way today as they were when I started in the business 21 years ago. His reply was “if it ain’t broke – why fix it?!”

I must admit that this comment rather took me aback, as I had always regarded him as a mover and shaker in the local market. Yet as I talk to estate agents around the country, similar attitudes are rife, and I hear warning bells for agents who take this somewhat blinkered line. I know of many who have formerly dominated their market, but who have watched their position erode. And it always seems to be the agents who would say “if it ain’t broke – why fix it?” followed some time later by “what did we do wrong? We’re not doing anything differently than when we dominated this area”.

This is exactly my point. The market moves on, consumerism moves on, attitudes move on, customer demand and expectation moves on, and, significantly, your competitors move on as well, in direct response to these changes. They race ahead, gaining momentum at the expense of the former top dog. And it seems that life just isn’t fair for the ex-top dog.

Sadly, life isn’t fair! I know too many agents who have worked very hard for years who, if life were fair, would be enjoying a well-deserved number one spot in their area. They have always provided what they regard as a good service; they have very few complaints, and enjoy a degree of repeat business. But they just don’t seem to have what they used to, and cannot understand why the new boys round the corner are doing so much better than them.

Many of them blame their staff; “You just can’t get the staff any more, and when you do, they are never as motivated as they should be. When I was doing their job…”

However, the answer to the problem is as likely to be found in the mirror as the recruitment agency, and there are some tough questions that need to be asked. Questions that surprisingly look backwards as well as forwards. “Why did we start the agency?” “What were the opportunities at the time” “How did we address those opportunities?” “Why did we think people would want to do business with us instead of the more established agency?” “Why did people want to work for us?”

If you ask these questions of yourself as if you were about to open a brand new estate agency today, what would be your answers? Now imagine an entrepreneur (not necessarily with an estate agency background) is about to open an agency in direct competition to you. What would his/her answers to these questions be? Could they be applied to your agency today?

The ethos, sales methods and marketing approach of your agency no doubt addressed the current market when your business first opened its doors. However, unless there is continual questioning and regular reappraisal of the compatibility of your approach with the highest possible expectations of your publics today, then the chances of being overtaken by a competitor are significant.

“But we’ve had no complaints!” is a comfortable benchmark for many agents. But it is exactly that – a benchmark; a bottom line, a minimum standard. For too many it is regarded as a reflection of their high standard, not of their lowest acceptable standard.

Agents who look at their business for the stance of “what do I need to do to really impress our prospects/clients?” rather than “what is the minimum I need to do to gain/keep clients?” are those who are likely to succeed in an environment where clients have average expectations and higher hopes. In a sea of mediocrity, the average agent remains that – average. Would you do business with someone who was average? Or would you seek out the best?

Those clients who seek out the best have difficulty in discerning the good from the average. Boards don’t tell them, although they are an indication of market share. The local newspaper doesn’t tell them – it’s just full of pictures of properties. “Reputation” tells a few people, but is hardly broadcast widely enough to be very significant in a world of shrinking communities and transient lifestyles.

So not only do we have to define who we are, what we want to say, and what distinctive elements of our service we seek to deliver, but we also need to understand the importance of projecting these things to those who do not already know. It’s a matter of being proactive in the management of our reputation. Call it marketing; call it public relations. Frankly, in our industry everything we do is public relations. And many agents don’t do anything about it. They just expect their historic “good service” to precede them. Unfortunately, such reliance, often based on a lack of complaints, could be their downfall.

Sorry about the wake-up call. But other industries are racing ahead – understanding their customers; working hard to think up new ways of impressing them, based on their prospects’ dreams, not on their disappointments. Barclays did it with the cash dispenser, Microsoft did it with the home PC, Vodaphone did it with photomessaging.

As a highly fragmented industry operated primarily by independents rather than corporates, we don’t have the research and development capabilities enjoyed by other sectors. But we do have talented people who live and work right in the heart of their respective marketplace, and with a little thought, looking through the eyes of our publics, we should be able to turn this to our significant advantage. Something to think about – before your competitors do!

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© Richard Rawlings 2010
Richard Rawlings is the founding director of Estate Agency Insight, which specialises in helping estate agencies harness opportunity through innovative method, marketing, publicity, and training. He can be contacted at or on 0845 838 1354.

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