Inspiration

Estate Agency Training - Skills or Attitudes

Can you train the right attitude in estate agency?

It seems that no matter how dynamic, original and innovative an estate agency may be when it starts trading, those precious attributes which created such amazing points of distinction often tend to become lost over time.

Why is this, and how can today’s estate agency leaders seek to maintain the same vigour in the business that prompted them to launch it in the first place? Going further - is it possible to train an entrepreneurial spirit in staff, or can this be counter-productive?

An agent recently told me that he didn’t want to train his staff too well because they might then open up in competition. Whilst this perspective might be understandable, I believe it to be narrow-minded, and a classic example of cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face. You could say “I don’t want to earn money because I’ll only have to pay tax on it”. The point is you can either do something, and make a difference, or do nothing and go nowhere.

You could of course provide basic estate agency training in the field. Such mentoring by example actually works quite well in agency, especially when supported by some of the external courses in basic agency technique and regulatory compliance. But good basic agency does not guarantee success. Since when did you see an agency promoting the fact that it is good at the basics? Most people expect that agents can do basic estate agency, and in my view, most agents are generally fairly good at doing those basics.

The agents who succeed in gaining market share from their competitors are those who are not just good at doing the job, but who are better at communicating points of excellence. In real terms this usually means communicating points of difference. Successful agencies are those who use this to attract more instructions.

Notice I say “attract” more instructions, not “get”, or “gain”, more instructions. There is still too much seeking to “get” in agency today, yet how much more desirable are you if you use methods that make you attractive instead? Getting is where you have to persuade someone to do business with you, whereas attracting is where they choose to do business with you because they want to. When they do this they are telling you that you are already their agent of choice, thereby making it more likely they will happily take your advice, accept your valuation and pay your higher than average commission (if you have the skills in place to secure higher fees). If you are not attractive, you have to push harder. And people do not generally want to buy services from pushy estate agents!

So how can you train people to make your business attractive? You could of course take a short cut and hire great people to begin with! However, such people are hard to find and they are invariably expensive.

What I have found in many instances is that those entrepreneurs who share their vision, passion and skills generously, in an environment where free thinking is encouraged not thwarted, tend to be those who reap the greatest rewards. They instil a spirit of commerciality and enterprise in their staff which often takes the business to new levels of profitability. Staff feel cherished and valued, and that they are on the right train with the right driver, all of which combine to generate tremendous loyalty. Their efforts are effective and as such they are well rewarded. Why would they want to jump ship from this environment?

Of course, a good entrepreneur knows that he/she does not have sole agency on all the latest ideas. They probably travel widely and read extensively in order to satisfy the thirst for innovations that can be integrated into their own business. But they also recognise that whilst their management style may be inspirational (usually) it is also difficult to maintain the momentum of such inspiration. They know that their staff will also need to be continually motivated, and this is where outsourced training comes into its own.

I would like to extend the term training at this point. Whilst of course there is a place for radical outsourced agency training that challenges the norm, why not also take advantage of the tremendous benefit of other approaches? At one end of the scale this could extend to sending team members to one of the excellent agency seminars in the USA or Australia. At the other it could simply mean tasking them to each read, interpret, summarise and present one of the latest business books to be found at Waterstones.

Whatever you do, look after your key staff. They are the people who will not only deliver your vision, but who will, with your support and encouragement, take it far beyond what you ever expected.

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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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