Event 4 of the 2021 EA Masters programme was held virtually yesterday with a focus on deal progression, additional revenue and property management.

Once again delegates benefitted from a packed morning of insights, inspiration and innovation delivered through speaker sessions, masterclasses, panel discussions and interviews from some of the industry’s foremost leaders and suppliers.

Host Lucia France kicked off the day’s proceedings with another round of quick fire interviews with some of the event sponsors, starting with Nicola Broomham, Owner at Broomham Recruitment, who highlighted what was to become a common thread for the day – the need to adopt your business to your customer’s plans and needs. “We are focusing on what agents are looking for from their recruitment partners. Helping agents to address recruitment through growth, not just churn, is key and very topical right now.”

Peter Knight, founder of Property Academy, producers of EA Masters, delivered an insightful session around how customer experiences and expectations have changed over the years. How agents respond to today’s era of customer experience will determine how compelling, and ultimately, how competitive, their proposition is, argues Knight.

“We are now in the era I call CX4.0 where customers want everything instantly, and constantly, but also personalised, and flexible. Customers expect products and services to be functional and uplifting as well as consistent and individual. There is certainly a lot more to master for agents, but those who get it right and who can manage the consumer expectation to be both anticipative and proa-active, will offer a compelling proposition that gives them a competitive advantage.”

Sarah Mains, Managing Director of Sarah Mains Residential, Philp Farrell from Offr and Kevin Ellis of Land & New Homes Network were the experts on the first of two panel talks with Peter Knight, discussing the increasing importance of additional revenue streams. “There are external factors that you are not in control of which means finding additional revenue streams is now essential to estate agents” stated Sarah Mains.

The second talk invited panelists Spencer Lawrence from Paramount, Richard Price from Dezrez and Kristjan Byfield from The Depositary to discuss ‘Property Management First’. There was overall agreement that the lettings narrative has changed, from tenants to residents for example; that tech is freeing up time for letting agents to talk more to customers and that there is a consumer behavioural shift in how we view lettings.

Property management has seen a real move towards placing greater emphasis on residents’ needs and plans, making allowances for property improvements that benefit both landlords and residents.

Spencer Lawrence said, “We’re seeing an overall move towards renting – be that property, cars or scooters where some people see the benefits of renting as a contrast to the potential hassles of ownership. Property management and going on a long-term journey with your customer, to me is a no brainer.”

Kristjan Byfield said that while the structure and systematising of lettings lends itself really well to tech, it’s taken tech a while to adapt to the industry as different agents work in different ways. Richard Price commented “Our mission is to connect the property world. Agents have nuances and IT should be flexible enough to allow for that”.

The future of property management lies in wealth and asset management, said Lawrence. “Service delivery should be wrapped around the clients’ plans, needs and wishes.”

Trust is an important subject across the EA Masters programme this year and keynote speaker Dr. John Blakey, UK-based author, speaker and executive coach, delivered a session titled ‘Trust vs Power’ where he argued that trust is the currency of leadership.

In his insightful talk, Dr. Blakey demonstrated how a trust based approach in business will help to drive business success. “Leaders who build their culture on trust will secure a competitive advantage.” Research undertaken by Paul Zak on The Neuroscience of Trust examining high trust versus low trust culture in organisations revealed that “Trust is the magic wand that has a dramatic impact on staff productivity and engagement.”

In a survey on the barometers of trust, estate agents scored only marginally higher than politicians, with the medical professional topping the chart, as one would hope. Dr. Blakely concluded. “There is a real opportunity for the property sector to seize the opportunity and build your businesses on trust”.

David Abbott, international speaker and professional member of the Professional Speaking Association delivered part 2 of his fascinating Masterclass on Pricing, following his much valued part 1 in the EA Masters August event. David combines psychology with practical consumer buying examples to explain how agents can list and sell their properties more effectively, and at higher prices.

Clad in his infamous pink shirt and pink cap, Chief Kerfuffler Simon Whale took to the stage to reveal part 3 of the Kerfuffle Club’s Top 40 Innovations for 2021.

Comments on the EA Masters live chat forum throughout the day were once again very positive with delegates feeling inspired to take new learnings, ideas and innovations back to their business to be put into practice.

If you missed yesterday’s event or any of the previous EA Masters events this year, ticket holders can gain access to all the content via the EA Masters platform where speaker sessions, talks and masterclasses are available to watch on demand.

With a wrap for Event 4, the EA Masters six-month programme leaves two more events:

14th October: Virtual event
3rd November. Live Exhibition & Awards Ceremony in London. The physical event is sold out, however this event can also be enjoyed digitally.

Digital tickets are available for both events by clicking here.