Last Saturday morning, like a dutiful father, I took my son to football training. Not keen to be sat around in the freezing cold for an hour and a half, I decided to take a walk down the local high street. I thought it would be a good opportunity to undertake some mystery shopping of the local estate and letting agents.
Upon entering the first branch, I informed the agent that I was interested in putting my property on the market in February and asked what portals they use. Unsurprisingly, Rightmove and Zoopla' was the reply. I asked if they were due to take up OnTheMarket'. Their reply, although it may bring a smile to your face, filled me with dread. Yes we can put your property on the market for you, I was informed.
I went on to tell them that OnTheMarket was a new portal and they said they had never heard of it. With the new portal set to launch a week on Monday, it is not right that the agent wasn't able to tell me how this may have an impact for buyers and vendors.
Unfortunately, this was only the beginning of the problem. I wasn't asked for my personal details, despite explicitly informing the agent in question that I wished to place my property on the market in the near future.
I hoped this was a one off experience and continued to visit the other agents on the high street. However, roughly 50% of those who I subsequently visited had never heard of OnTheMarket' nor took my personal details to follow up on.
This small snapshot, although just that, is sadly typical of what I've often found up and down the country. This scenario highlights the lack of industry knowledge within some branches and backs the case for more internal training.
One simple solution to this problem can be to discuss industry news and goings on in your team meetings. Your team need to know the company's standpoint on certain issues, like, say, OnTheMarket. Due to the world we live in, it is now not uncommon for your customers to be consuming industry news and I can assure you the last thing they expect is an agent who is not up to speed. They come to you for advice and reassurance; your team are supposed to be the experts.
As previously mentioned, it is also a great concern the number of agents who didn't take my details. As you well know, this is a potential listing/sale lost. In a New Year it can be beneficial to retrain staff on how to meet and greet potential and existing clients.
*Stephen Brown is Director of Stephen J Brown Consultancy, providing training and helping estate agents from all over the UK to generate more revenue
https://www.sjbconsultancy.co.uk/
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Comments
Oh gosh - for a minute you almost had me going... then I thankfully realised you were either a) taking the wazz or b) COMPLETELY taking the wazz.
Trouble is - I can't quite figure out which. Maybe... just maybe... your LinkedIn profile offers a teensy weensy clue...
Thank you Stephen!
This is a perfect example of the lack of training and common knowledge that is abundant in many if not most agencies. we should all be masters of our craft.
where can agents go to get more this kind of infomation anybody