Estate "Agent" or Quick-Sell wide-boy?

So, the Property Ombudsman has today announced that complaints against Estate Agents were unacceptably high after dealing with a record number of disputes throughout 2010:

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/house-and-home/property/property-complaints-hit-a-record-high-2243311.html

I was an estate agent during the heady days of the mid-80s, and to this day I can't understand why the profession leaves itself so open to criticism and vilification.

It might help if we started being a bit literal and looked at the very title "Estate Agent". An agent is someone who is authorised to act on the behalf of someone else - in the case of an estate agent, they act on behalf of the vendor of the property. They are NOT property sales reps, or retailers, or "stack-em-high, sell-em-cheap" traders. As agents, they owe a significant duty of care to the vendor, whose valuable asset they are entrusted to market effectively and for which they are expected to achieve the best possible market price.

I wouldn't dream of teaching professional estate agents to suck eggs, but I do have my own theories regarding successful estate agency:

1. You needed to get the best instructions on a sole agency basis and at the right price in order to achieve a successful level of sales, and fulfil your duty to the vendor.

How do you get the best instructions? On the whole, a vendor needs to be able to trust you and have confidence in your ability to sell their property. This very often comes down to personality. A property is a very personal asset, and a vendor wants to feel that their agent knows that property, its advantages, the unique aspects and the features that make it a valuable proposition to a prospective purchaser. No-one wants to feel that their property is just another item of stock that, if not sold within 4 weeks, will be reduced in price just to get rid of it.

In one of her recent Secret Shopper programs (Channel 4), Mary Portas demonstrated with great success the difference it makes when an estate agent is fully briefed on a property when they show that property to a potential purchaser (http://www.channel4.com/programmes/mary-portas-secret-shopper/episode-guide/series-1/episode-4)

2. Build relationships. If you consider yourself to be a property professional, you need to immerse yourself in the area in which you operate, and engage with the residents. Someone you sell a house to tomorrow will probably want to sell that house at some stage in the future. If they know you, and remember the great service you offered, the likelihood that they will instruct you to sell that house again is high. If you were perceived as being a fly-by-night wide boy, what are the chances of picking up that house at a later date? It is a short-sighted estate agent who goes for the quick sell without any consideration for the future.

3. Know your clients. That sounds a little glib, but when I was an agent, I had a very good understanding of the requirements of all my "hot" applicants. When I then went to value a property, I was able to mention that I had genuine purchasers who would be interested in that property, and applicants trusted me enough to arrange to view a property on my recommendation alone. That word "trust" counts for so much in this business.

So, although the above is a very brief overview, to my mind there is a common theme running throughout - trust and confidence. Complaints against estate agents can all be channelled down to the prevailing lack of trust and confidence. Agents don't communicate properly, they are inaccurate when it comes to property descriptions, marketing and advertising. All elements that do little to instil trust and confidence.

Not all estate agents are rogues, but there are still too many estate agents who really don't appreciate the term "agent" and all that entails.

Argent Ram Media provide a full range of marketing solutions for estate agents based on a thorough understanding of the profession and the importance of getting core messages across to target markets.  We also understand the importance of relationship-building and client engagement.  We can help estate agents with the principles of the successful marketing required to instill trust and confidence.

Websites for Estate Agents on subscription;
Marketing screens;
Design for Print and Branding

For further details, please contact Lorraine Baker, Sales Manager, on 01580 761000 or email lorraine@argentrammedia.com