Do estate agency skills need to change with the market?
I read a post in a recent agency Facebook group asking for ideas about diversification – generating income from utilities for example.
My view is always going to be to focus on your core business and do it well.
Focusing on Business Generation
The key is to ensure that everyone in the agency adopts a business generation focused approach. No matter your role, sales or admin, everyone should be looking for networking and business opportunities.
In a trickier market the basics are basic but when done well, the results are anything but basic!
In this new market place, the phone will once again become a sales negotiator’s best friend…..and judging by recent facebook posts from agents reminiscing about the Hot Box, this may well make a comeback too!
Staff who have been in the industry less than 3 years may not understand the market that they are about to enter so it isn’t unreasonable to think they may miss quite a few business opportunities due to lack of training? A few missed market appraisals, a few missed viewings, a missed opportunity to sell full management and a few missed mortgage referrals wouldn’t be unrealistic and as the market changes these will be the areas that will make a difference between growth or stagnation or even unfortunately business failure.
Spotting business in a proactive way, building relationships with customers and offering advice is the cornerstone of estate agency work in a difficult market. Putting minds at ease and building deals is a key element of success.
Training will give staff confidence in their legal knowledge, not just by being compliant but being an industry expert. Confidence means not only can new business be generated, but problems can be averted and customers retained. It is much cheaper to retain clients than find new ones.
The Able Agent
We at The Able Agent believe that training should solve all your industry needs. We believe training should be productive, flexible and accessible. We believe a brief training film can change staffs’ attitudes from being reactive to proactive, a huge win in any business. In a competitive and changing market, having a team confident in the quality of their service and able to spot business opportunities will lead to better profitability.
About the Author
Charlotte has been in the property industry since 1994 working in estate agency, lettings and property management as well as for a national estate agency software provider. She is a qualified IQA and trainer in property law and sales skills. She writes and presents all our content and is the face of the Able Agent. She is always researching new course content and ideas to help grow and develop the lessons we offer. Happiest in front of the camera and when chatting to estate and lettings agents!