“I train estate agents for a living……”
When I tell people that I train estate and lettings agents for a living there’s always a wry smile or a quip and they always raise an eyebrow!
The general public have no idea about the level of legislation that estate and lettings agents actually work to and how hard the job actually is!
So why isn’t training one of the industry’s key focuses?
Training in our industry is a mixed bag. Some agents are very focused on away days or in- house training, some gain qualifications to join membership organisations and others adopt the “sit with a colleague and sink or swim” approach.
It is likely that this is all about to change following the recent Ropa report. Agents will be expected to become qualified to L3 standard minimum if they are customer facing and offering advice. How this will actually work will only become clear when we have the new regulator in place?
Is it unreasonable to think that a new starter or even an experienced member of staff 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.
Client retention is also a key benefit of good training. Excellent customer service and communication is essential in our industry with communication being sited in a recent Ombudsman report as the number one reasons for complaints.
The benefits of training are huge so finding a cost effective and time efficient solution has long been a desire of agents up and down the country.
Even where staff and companies are motivated to train, there has historically been a lack of choice in available professional qualifications and the study methods have been limited and outdated.
Remember when choosing training to consider the type of training you choose. You may not be keen on elearning but you aren’t the person studying! Speak to your staff and fit training into your daily schedule whether that is using a confident member of staff or buying in training from experts.
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 market having a team confident in the quality of their service and able to spot business opportunities will lead to better profitability.
So take away the fact that you may be forced to train, consider the benefits of training on your bottom line and then you’ll be ready for licensing and sitting on a more profitable business.
Charlotte Jeffrey-Campbell is an industry trainer with 25 years of property experience.
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