As part of my consultancy work with agents across the country, one of the areas I review with owners and management teams, is the training and coaching of their staff as well as themselves. I’m referring to those topics over and above the required compliance subjects, though sometimes compliance training worryingly appears to be viewed as a necessary evil.
Frankly, I’m not confident that even the legally required compliance training is completed as frequently as it should be and to the required standard, though I may be wrong.
I’m talking about good old fashioned skills training – particularly the skills of selling, negotiating and staff management.
Why is it that so many estate agents in the UK appear to place such little value in training and coaching? I say the UK, because it appears to me that many other countries (Australia and the United States for example) appear to invest much more time, money and energy in training their property professionals. As I understand it, coaching and training is seen as ‘part of being an estate agent/realtor’ in many parts of the world or even something of a privilege that is earned!
I do not believe this to be the case in the UK for some reason. Training and coaching is all too often viewed as a chore, something that that “the bosses” insist on (sometimes) and not as a pre-requisite for real personal development, as well as the benefit of clients which is in my view is as it should be.
So what could the reason be?
Firstly, it simply can’t be because there aren’t enough qualified and extremely competent trainers for our industry. I will resist the temptation to list and recommend particular individuals or companies but having worked with a number of them over the years, I can confirm that the choice really is formidable and the range of subjects that they specialise in is equally as impressive and relevant.
Clearly, some trainers are better than others when it comes to particular subjects but be it to train on selling skills, professional people management or effective negotiating there is plenty of choice from some fantastic people for both sales and lettings. I would advise to check out reviews, question previous clients and even speak to training providers directly to check out what they offer before deciding on who to use.
Is it cost? I simply don’t buy that the cost of coaching or training is a genuine hurdle. In my experience, the cost of this service is remarkably low from most providers, be it online or in person.
Of course, many larger estate agency firms and particularly the so called “corporates” (I personally dislike that description as I have yet to hear a satisfactory definition of what a corporate agency actually is – but I digress!) have their very own training departments and so there is no additional discretionary spend.
They clearly see the real value of such a resource and no doubt view training as one of the reasons for their success. For firms that do not have this facility, may I respectfully suggest that a provision of £500 a year (maybe more?) per relevant employee is a reasonable provision to ensure that your colleagues are able to operate at their most effective and in the very best interests of your clients.
However, if even £500 a year seems a little steep, there are plenty of other far less expensive and even free options that are available.
For example, I know of at least one training provider that offer regular online training sessions on a variety of skills over a number of months for less than the notional £500 I have suggested.
If you are a member of one of the numerous affiliation groups such as Relocation Agent Network or the Guild Of Property Professionals they already offer a range of free training online (either live or recorded). If that doesn’t suit, try the Kerfuffle Club which I can honestly say offer an incredible selection of outstanding online training modules as part of their offering on a wide range of relevant subjects.
If even their (very) modest charge for membership is too much, what about Rightmove? Agents continually complain about their charges without, it appears, taking proper advantage of their online and live coaching sessions which are not charged out as an extra. There really are LOTS of free/nearly free options that I haven’t mentioned, including the various opportunities to learn from the best at the numerous industry conferences we have coming up over the next few months.
So, if cost is not the reason, I’m still left with the question of why don’t more estate agents offer and encourage continuous skill training or coaching for their teams? I can only conclude that most owners/senior managers simply do not believe that there is enough value (particularly in the short term) for even a modest investment of time and money for it to be worthwhile. They will apparently (happily or unhappily) spend their hard-earned income on some new software, marketing initiative or other whizzy gizmo but not on their own staff to do the things they are employed to do to the very best of their ability and knowledge and to the mutual advantage of the individual, the business and most importantly their clients.
I know it’s a well hacked comparison, but just how do you think that the top sports performers continue to sustain and even improve their performance? I simply can’t think of a sports star or professional who does not regularly commit to regular training, often at tremendous personal financial cost. Be it football, tennis, rugby, golf, netball, cricket, athletics or whatever, the top and even mediocre sports professionals ALL participate in regular coaching to improve themselves… so why are us estate agents any different?
I would love to hear your thoughts!
Great article Simon! Your reasoning as to why so many agents don’t invest in external training is sound. But having trained agents in the UK and overseas for many years, I believe you might have missed the most common reason – blinkered confidence, which is like a kind of proactive complacency!
What I mean by this is that so many agents do not believe they require any further training. They have been in the business for years, and they do what their boss told them to do years ago. They in turn impart knowledge to newcomers and the cycle repeats itself.
The problem is “you don’t know what you don’t know”. Sure, the basics of agency can be trained by a competent person in-house, on the job. But “basic” agency is not extraordinary agency. Any only extraordinary agency will generate market share over 20%, send listing conversion ratios to over 70%, and secure fees around 2%. If the agency is not already achieving this, then then that’s proof that benefit of their internal “training” is limited to the capabilities, knowledge and motivation of the person delivering it.
An external trainer may have walked the talk, but that’s only the start. The basics. But they will have also spent their time learning, researching and developing new ideas and psychological approaches from other places, other agents and even other industries that are dynamite. These will be things that the average agent has never considered. A “training boss” will not have done this as they are busy running an estate agency. No wonder “corporate in-house” training is bland. Just like a MacDonald’s burger – consistent but by no means extraordinary.
It about taking advantage of someone else’s specialised skills to deliver instant, sustainable and measurable results, beyond what could have been achieved in-house. Have a great day.
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A really good read. Firstly any business that does not see the value of training and coaching (two very different activities obviously) will never deliver their optimum growth and performance. I personally work for one of the so called “large firms” and see that the line management have to own the responsibility of the development of their people but that is not the same at all as simple “on the job” training. It has to be the right blend of 1-1 coaching, off-site practical training and backed up by the “on the job” follow up. It has to have structure and should be supported by a skilled L+D team who can facilitate, plan and create – small firms can’t afford for that in many cases but thats where a key benefit lies in being employed by a large firm – they can take people development to another level if they think about it carefully. When this is backed up with meaningful career pathways you start to have an incredibly strong proposition for employees.
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Good reply Tornado. You mention the structured learning plans etc that are often in-built into large company L&D. These are no doubt good in their own way; but what I find to be the most effective of all is INSPIRATION.
We know that prospective sellers (and people in general) are tired of corporate USP-style “presentations”, preferring simply to choose the individual agent they prefer, even over brand. Give me an enthusiastic agent of character, whose fire has been lit with new ideas and then being given the freedom to implement those ideas, and you have a winning combo.
This is sadly where I find larger firms let their people down. I often hear, “oh that’s amazing, but I’d never get my line-manger or directors to agree to that”. In fact the larger the firm, the lower the chance of the manager/director attending the training session in the first place (because apparently they already know it all and don’t need to attend – ha!) Such a wasted leadership opportunity, as well as, possibly, a somewhat blinkered approach to new avenues of business success.
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But what if we train our people and they leave?
Yes but what if you don’t train them and they stay?
I rest my case!
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Exactly!
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