Ask most estate agents about marketing and they’ll talk about RightMove.co.uk, advertising in papers and putting up a board outside your house. Of course, they’re talking about the marketing of your house – at least that’s what they’d have you believe. The fact is that a newspaper advert is practically useless when it comes to selling a house but what it does do is market the estate agency. The same is true of the board outside your house – this increases the agent’s brand awareness in the neighbourhood as well as having the minor spin-off of alerting anyone randomly driving around a neighbourhood (rather than using RightMove) that you’re for sale.
An estate agent’s job is, first and foremost, to sell himself/herself to house sellers rather than buyers. They are in a competitive marketplace and if they don’t secure new commissions, they go out of business. In most cases they secure these jobs based on factors that include their percentage fee (excluding VAT of course) and the impression they create when they turn up to talk to the seller. It’s next to impossible to get figures from an estate agent that will tell you how effective they are at selling.
We’re in the process of buying a house in Waterlooville on the South Coast. Given that we currently live in Milton Keynes, we’ve been forced to cram lots of viewings into each visit. One of the estate agents impressed us with her knowledge of the area but neither of the houses she had to show us was suitable. Even once this was apparent, she was happy to give us lots of local knowledge about good areas, schools etc. Now, most estate agents, once they realise they’re not going to get a sale, will instantly lose interest and usher you out of the house. This is what made this particular estate agent a “purple cow” in her field (excuse the pun) – by spending time with her an unusual level of trust was created, something I’m not used to with estate agents at all.
As it happened, another house came on the market and it turned out to be one of ours. This is the house we’re going to move into (hopefully) shortly. Did we choose it because it was one of hers? Nope -we chose it because it was the right house. Who will we choose to market the house when, in a couple of years, we move again? If we choose to sell through an estate agent, it’ll be her – more or less irrespective of the commission.
Trust is an incredibly valuable resource in processes that are notoriously stressful. In many cases, indeed, the market is stressful because trust is so rare.
How much would you pay for:
- an estate agent
- a car mechanic
- a plumber
- a builder
- a solicitor
- a web developer/designer
…you could trust? Making trust part of your business by showing integrity, honesty and transparency at all times might be the single most important aspect of your marketing strategy. Of course it must be real and that can sometimes be painful (eg admitting that you’re not the right person for a specific job) but, particularly in processes where people feel vulnerable, being the one they can trust can pay off time and time again.
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That was a really good article you wrote. I too believe that trust in business is a big factor in winning a new client. It’s a shame that sometimes people take advantage of those trying to make a good impression. You could quite easily have taken everything the Estate Agent said about the area and then gone with a different Agent. But she impressed you enough to stick with her knowing that eventually a good house would come on the market. It might be a good idea to ask her for her personal mobile, in case she leaves the Estate Agency office she currently works at and goes to another company. Sometimes it’s the people that make the company. Not the other way round.
I recommend removal companies that are regulated by a removals trade association, which means that they must use trained staff, have insurance cover in case things go wrong and adhere to high standards of service. It doesn’t mean that they are all perfect, by any means, but it does prove that they are trying to do the best for their customers and offer a little bit of extra protection if something does go wrong.
It’s hard to know who to choose, Estate Agent, Removal Company or Solicitor when you move house and everything becomes a little bit more chaotic. So it’s always good to go with a company who obviously tries to be better and has the best interest and intentions for their client. Regardless of whether they win the work or not.
Sometimes money is an important factor when choosing a company to help you, but if you trust your instinct, rather than your wallet, usually you will make the right choice in the end.
Despite all the technology and innovation I will always look to build trustworthy relationships with the people I do business with – i want to work with peole that care about me not just the bottom line – Seth Godin presents us with an old adage that people work buy from people they like, and return to them.
Estate Agents get a lot of stick, but when you find a good one – you know it – as their local knowledge is invaluable. There are some very active and innovative estate agents marketing themsleves and their properties online, but then there are some serious laggards as well – and as you rightly intimate online marketing for estate agents is more than just rightmove.
Thanks for a good article.