Inspiration

Don’t let Indifference be your Achilles’ Heel

Take a stand if you are to become the agent of choice.

(Article for Estate Agency News)

I have just moved house myself. Yesterday actually; and I write this article surrounded by boxes containing anything from shoes that should have gone to the charity shop, to the telephone, which probably has.

Throughout the experience, my wife and I have been through all the usual emotions associated with the upheaval of moving one’s entire life from A to B (or Hereford to Cheltenham in our case). During this time we have been reminded of the need for agents to develop two things in particular – communication and empathy.

Poor communication is the most common complaint levied against estate agents, and empathy, i.e. the ability to see the world through the customers’ eyes, can clinch many an instruction for an otherwise unremarkable agent. Sadly, with a few striking exceptions, most agents remain unremarkable.

This was brought sharply into focus when we were deciding which agent to appoint to sell our house. We were shocked to realise that neither of us could remember from which agency we had bought it just three years previously! Either we are both beginning to go senile (which is a distinct possibility) or the selling agent had left no impression on us whatsoever. I fear it was the latter. Their own apathy and lack of effective communication had led to an indifferent response from their most valuable resource – their customer!

Had that agent left a positive impression on us, they would probably have been our obvious agency of choice when the time came to sell. Indeed, one of the best reasons for selling through a particular agency is that you already know them. Approaching unknown agents inherently carries an element of risk and people will usually choose the safer, known, option – even though it may not be perfect.

Once an agent is known, by name and ideally face, to a customer or prospect then every board or ad that person sees carries added “recognition” value. These tools then become vehicles for whichever key messages you wish to deliver into your market.

The trouble is, many agents don’t even know what their key messages are, other than “we sell houses.” Well of course you sell houses – you’re estate agents! But why should anyone actually choose to do business with your agency is the real issue. Certainly the majority of the population (your future customers) view most boards and ads with indifference, especially as 95% of them are probably not moving at any given point in time. (Next month’s article will look at how you can maximise the return on your advertising budget).

Marketing communication is one thing. Service communication is quite another, although both contribute towards the positioning of your reputation in your market. My recent experience of service communication is such that I have been left with two distinctly differing views of the agents through whom we respectively sold and bought.

For example, when we were on the market, our selling agent contacted us to arrange a Saturday viewing. Great! We tidied around, mowed the lawn, arranged fresh flowers, and organised for our four children to be elsewhere when the (unaccompanied) buyers came round. The buyers arrived, stayed about 45 minutes and left. We felt they quite liked the house, but what do we know? We are only the sellers and have no idea of the buyers’ motivation and specific requirements. Then we waited. Patiently and hopefully. One day passed. Two days, then three. By Thursday we had heard nothing from the estate agent and we were becoming anxious, having been left in the dark. We just wanted to know either way.

I phoned the agent to be told that they had not heard from the buyers. I asked if the agent had tried to get hold of them but was told that “we do not chase up viewings as a matter of course, but expect that if the buyers had liked the house, then they would have come back to us by now”. My concern turned to (controlled) anger. Didn’t the agent understand that clients just want to know where they stand? Clients don’t blame the agent if the applicants don’t like the house. They just want to be kept informed as a way of moderating the emotional trauma of moving, and possibly learning from any concerns in order to make their house more saleable.

So I wrote to the branch manager expressing my request to be kept informed of buyers’ thoughts within 24 hours of a viewing. He wrote back, can you believe this, telling me that I was being naive to expect such feedback! Since when is the customer ever wrong, and since when do you speak to a customer like that?

Fortunately before I had a chance to find a better agent, they found a buyer. The sale had a few legal glitches to which the agent was apparently oblivious and I did a lot of work they should have done in liasing with solicitors and the purchaser. On three occasions they did phone to tell me “news” that in each instance I had discovered for myself two/three days previously.

Now contrast this with the service I received from the agent we bought from in Cheltenham . Most viewings were sensitively accompanied, and within an hour of those that were unaccompanied we had a call from the agent asking how we got on (so I’m not so naive after all). They listened to our requirements and understood the needs of our family. They emailed and sent SMS text messages on suitable properties and were always very prompt, informed and courteous. On the day of completion, they shared our delight in our new home and made us feel that we really had made the right decision to buy that particular house. The smart thermal mugs they gave us will no doubt act as a small reminder of their good service, empathy and professionalism for years to come.

So when it comes to managing your reputation, can you afford to be the subject of indifference?

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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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