When Countrywide CEO Alison Platt goes on valuations in the company of one of her staff, she is sometimes introduced not as the boss but as someone who is merely shadowing her colleague.
It is, apparently, fine by her.
The revelation is made in an intriguing, if noisy, interview with proptech expert and consultant Eddie Holmes.
In it, Platt talks enthusiastically about her role and the online agency project which Countrywide is trialling at a handful of its brands.
The podcast is here
Comments (7)
When Countrywide CEO Alison Platt goes on valuations in the company of one of her staff, she is sometimes introduced not as the boss but as someone who is merely shadowing her colleague.
And so she should. She is the equivalent of a trainee out in the field. She wouldn’t know how to ‘value’ the property she was visiting and would no doubt struggle to instil any confidence whatsoever in a vendor if, as “the boss”, she was unable to talk the vendor confidently through the process.
So – sit on the sideline it is, Ms Platt – until the day comes you know more about the job than the people under you.
In the meantime – leave it to them and hope you don’t male chicken it up for them from above with the decisions you seem to be taking…
Interesting they have invested into a start up company who act almost like the online property manager (a little like fix flo in terms of repairs). It does not state much on about the company on their website although a link through to linkedin states the following:
“online platform for the rental community. We provide an eco-system for landlords and tenants to interact at all stages of the rental process starting with finding a tenant and ending with fixing your boiler. Propoly seeks to allow our landlords, tenants and service providers to communicate throughout all parts of the rental process incorporating a feedback system available for the growing private rental sector.”
whether you like it or not, the use of technology for the future generation will in all likelihood sweep away the need for a traditional high street estate or letting agent.
Bob Scarf and Harry Hill.
I know sometimes you read these forums and sometimes partake.
Has enough time now passed to give your thoughts on the way CW is heading and the challenges it faces?
Can i be blunt and ask you straight out if you think this is the direction CW should be heading in your opinion?
Also given your exposure to online agents do you think it is a viable long term business model?
I am guessing that is a rhetorical question; we can fairly much guess the answers.
Yes and no.
I think i know their thoughts but would love to hear from them. A candid honest indepth response similar to Bob’s a few months back.
Also any insight why the board have felt a need to embrace this idea so fully and not look to just improve on current offering and make more relevant.
Nose-face.
I think this is a major story that should be looked into more.
A very telling interview, very candid and at almost 30 mins long lots of information.
Without wishing to belittle anybody, if you listen to this and have experience in a corporate environment, you will see the seismic shift countrywide are now going through.
In it Alison basically says this is the very early stages of a major roll-out (online offering), She talks about no longer investing in new offices, cutting back on acquisitions. Investing in call centers. And becoming an online “EasyJet” where “Consumers” chose the products they want to go add to their basket.
She talks about a change needed and basically the public do not see the value of a traditional estate agent. So insted of training the staff to get the message out and invest in advertising to promote. She and her board have decided to basically become online listers.
If i was a countrywide member of staff i would be horrified, almost like she is putting them on notice of redundancy.
The thing she is missing is the public may well chose to £1000 upfront to sell a house but they will not select mortgages, conveyancing, surveys from the “Basket” so the income will plummet. Also by the time she relises this she will have lost market share and have to fight incredibly hard to get it back.
She has lost all concept of what estate agency is (Service and sales) and is just focusing on product and cost. Their recruitment will get even worse. What decent, forward thinking agent will want to work with them? – If you have a PB rep in your area are they the local agent that has been at every corporate 2 or 3 times? – CW will only start to attract these people.
CW last year had an operating profit of 54 million pounds. i think their average UK fee is £3,000 they are talking about taking a third of this and they will also not have the people on the ground to cross sell. It does not take a genius to work out they will have to almost double the amount of instructions (as they are taking fee upfront) to generate the same profit (i accept some cost will be saved).