Agent Provocateur: Is this why so many agents are resistant to change?

Over the last few weeks I’ve started being asked in by agents keen to gain an objective understanding of what’s happening out there in the world of estate agency.

The day to day ups and downs of Viewber, and sheer busyness, meant it was difficult to focus at first, but being out on the road and having the unusual opportunity of meeting every type of agent has given me a unique insight.

Having decided a few years ago not to slag off industry changes for the sake of it – mainly on the basis that we are all estate agents and to slag one off denigrates us all – I’m often weighed down with negativity and inertia, though.

Living in a bubble and taking pot shots at the competition is fine if you feel totally secure in your own position, but many out there, including market leaders, are nervous about the best way to fight increased competition, lower fees, increased costs and expectations, let alone increase profits.

If you don’t do lettings, should you? Do the new breed of airbnb managers offer a new income stream – even for clients selling empty properties? Can you expand without the pain and years of loss created when opening a new branch? Could your infrastructure support more? Should your staff be mining the database or be out on the road?

Can you put fees up? How good are your stats and do you REALLY collect data on who gets to you how?

Is your website collecting data or doing its job? And what about Rightmove versus Zoopla versus OnTheMarket? What about the office that consistently loses money?

How do you up your average selling price? What about public relations? Is your CRM system worse than useless? Should you be co-operating with local agents – and if so, how and to what end?

There are loads of answers but you need to know the questions first.

The fact that I’ve learned as much in the last six months as in the previous 38 years is precisely because I’ve been able to lift my head up out of the forest.

To be expected to see anything beyond the end of your nose whilst doing your day job is probably the reason most agents are resistant to change.

However, the ever-increasing array of opportunities means that for many there’s never been such an exciting time to be in the business, and talking can sometimes open those up and release the anxiety.

I’m reminded that meaningful communication is drying up just when supposedly we’ve never been more connected.

Email is one-dimensional, the phone is two, but we all know that full-on three-dimensional face-to-face talking is the real way to communicate what’s really going on.

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11 Comments

  1. nextchapter

    Nice Friday morning read Ed. Counciling should be your next thing perhaps? On a serious note though, it genuinely was a therapeutic read.

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  2. CJR47

    …good CV!

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  3. Marina

    Good read. I’m totally with your thoughts.

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  4. Shaun77

    Inertia and tunnel vision is certainly a factor. I imagine Viewber is a tough sell especially given it will only appeal to a small percentage of agents.

    As market conditions get tougher, the willingness to embrace new ideas shrinks, along with the time and budget to allocate to them.

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  5. Property Personnel

    Very good read Ed, and how true is this sentence:

    “To be expected to see anything beyond the end of your nose whilst doing your day job is probably the reason most agents are resistant to change.”

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    1. David Cantell

      Face to face communication the real way to communicate, let me ask a stranger to do my viewings 0 dimensional – nothing like the personal touch !

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      1. Beano

        For many agents the person doing the viewings may not be a time served or experienced estate agent. More often than not as a buyer I have come across; trainees, retirees (not ex estate agents) and part timers just holding keys.
        As a business owner I can see the value in a service that allows me to go about my plans for the weekend when staff leave is high and viewings come flooding in unexpectedly in a full diary. No doubt if the person carrying out the viewber job does it enough they will competently represent your business. That is the hope, and the expectation that Ed will need to realise to make this work. 

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  6. Woodentop

    Struggling to see what this story is of real help to agents and have to laugh at ” The fact that I’ve learned as much in the last six months as in the previous 38 years ….. “. 38 years wasted? Myself having spent a decade travelling through agents all over the UK some years back, it became obvious (nothing has changed today)…..

     

    The nature of the beast (agents) is no different to any other industry business owner and employee. The good, the bad and the ugly. Some are willing to embrace change and things that work, others think they know what would work but all too often are looking for an easy ride and others haven’t a clue and don’t want to know when someone try’s to enlighten them. Bit like driving a car…… you can’t tell them.

    Rubbish … “To be expected to see anything beyond the end of your nose whilst doing your day job is probably the reason most agents are resistant to change”. Did you REALLY look beyond your nose, was it another 6 months wasted? The nature of the animal (agent) is clearly not understood. Only when you have worked that one out, can make change and improvements. Good luck on that one.

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  7. Trevor Mealham

    Current trend seems to be new mini corporates establishing 50 / 250 offices and beyond. In 5 years we could see new corporates bigger than Countrywide or LSL

    Were also seeing the budget model near £0’s that carry no logic, other than they don’t have the foggiest how to achieve decent fees and rely just on portals or a main portal.

    Any agent not able to get a decent fee shouldn’t be allowed to negotiate for sellers.

    The very cheap budgets with proper funding could seriously damage the £500 – £1,000 budgets.

    Done right, fees could pitch at 1.5% to 2.5% every day of the week

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    1. PeeBee

      “Any agent not able to get a decent fee shouldn’t be allowed to negotiate for sellers.”

      Mr Mealham – we are, for once, singing from the very same hymn book (semi apologies to anyone whose stance on religion finds that analogy inappropriate – but it’s quite common and very appropriate in the circumstances) in terms of the sentence above.

      BUT, as you know… we then sing completely different songs from completely different books as to the mechanics.

      I would say that ‘any Agent not able to get aforementioned decent fee without enlisting the services of other agents to justify said fee need to either up their own offering or reduce their fee to the level they are clearly stating they are worth’.

      Not my ‘Dislike’ by the way – but for obvious reasons you don’t score a ‘Like’ from me either.

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  8. Chris Wood

    Change is inevitable. Embrace the good, reject the bad and always be looking to utilise the best. Adapt, improvise, overcome.

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