As I attend regional meetings, conferences and master classes, members of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) report various regional challenges. However, the overwhelming issue for all is the lack of available stock on the shelves.
NAEA members reported an 11-year low in August, and in September the average estate agent only had 37 properties per branch available for purchase.
The causes of this problem are twofold.
Firstly, there is very little on the horizon to disturb the housing market.
It’s unlikely there will be a significant change in property prices any time soon, a hike in interest rates is likely to be well into next year, and we’re not anticipating a change to what is a fairly stable economy… therefore sellers continue to sit on their hands and stay put.
At the same time, the number of estate agents is increasing so each agent is getting a smaller slice of the pie. The Property Ombudsman (TPO) recently announced that its membership had increased by 16% in the first half of 2015 compared to the same time last year, which equates to almost 1,800 new sales offices.
Part of this has to be a symptom of the consolidation in the marketplace. As the larger firms continue on their acquisition trails, some managers and senior staff feel that the time is right to set up alone.
Therefore, there has never been a more important time for estate agents to show their points of difference against their competitors; what are your unique points, and why should a vendor use you?
As an industry, I don’t think we’re very good at demonstrating this, whilst at the same time, I have never come across two identical estate agents.
A well respected, successful estate agent recently told me they set aside whole days dedicated to brainstorming with their senior management on what their points of difference are and strategising the best ways to demonstrate these to potential vendors.
Their aim is to make their proposition as ‘appealing as a bacon sandwich on a Saturday morning’.
In doesn’t matter what your differentiators are. They may be easy, slick and modern ways of communication, longer opening hours, the choice of property portals, or that you are the property expert in your area.
Whatever your differentiators are, identify them. Find a clear way of demonstrating them and sing your message from the rooftops.
Naturally, I see the peace of mind a vendor gets by choosing an NAEA member. An estate agent who chooses to sign up to a code of conduct has a huge point of difference, but using this as a differentiator and ensuring potential customers know you’re a member is equally as important.
If we don’t sing our own praises, then those who do will continue to grow and I fear for what will happen to those of us who don’t.
The NAEA assists its members on how to be a more successful estate agent and win market share.
Visit the short courses pages on our website, attend our regional conferences, or for a free taster, join us at one of our lunchtime master classes which tour the country. For a venue near you, log on to www.naea.co.uk
- Martyn Baum is President of the National Association of Estate Agents
Couldn’t agree more. We’ve been saying this for years – there are many services that can be offered to vendors to add value and they can end up paying for themselves when you use them to get you more instructions.
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You’re absolutely on the money here Martyn. One of the problems I believe some property agents have isn’t that they don’t offer value to a customer. It’s that the customer isn’t always aware of what this value is and how it can help them reach their individual goals.
An agency deciding what value it can bring and then being able to effectively communicate this to the right audience must surely be a critical step to success.
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How about the NAEA actually be more vocal with the public and let them know how good agents really are?
How about the NAEA clamp down on criminal agents within its membership?
How about the NAEA send out a clear message if they are for High Street agents or for all property sellers in general?
How about NAEA create more awareness with the public?
How about the NAEA stop pushing qualifications the public or industry care little about or have any awareness of.
Instead of looking to bleed more money out of agents for a sticker you actually promote the industry?
NAEA in my opinion is as bad as a “JuicePlus” or “Herbalife” rep looking to push you more and more c@@p without it doing any real good.
All i ever see of the NAEA is them supporting, hosting or attending yet another industry event. Basically creating awareness to agents that they are there but the public still have no idea who they are! – The best bit is agents keep subscribing to them year after year giving them more money to do it but never questioning it!
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SP – I agree with much of your criticism of NAEA so don’t take this is a provocative reply.
In what way would you like to see NAEA be more vocal with the public? And if as you suggest the qualifications are worthless to the public, what message would NAEA be putting out?
What are your practical and affordable suggestions on what they should do?
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I would also like to see the RICS work a bit harder to promote its’ agency members. All we seem to get from them each year is a full audit and check we are using their logo correctly.
I think the naea, rics and arla can all be quite aloof and have lost pace with the the industry in recent years.
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Agency insider. Smile is right and yes the Naea can do more.
I would re join if they really promoted the professionalism of their members.
I would also pay a bit more membership if, for example, they did a national radio / billboard / bus / taxi campaign spelling out to would be sellers to use an naea member agent…….It’s not difficult, it’s just the will isn’t there to get to grips with this kind of promotion of members.
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This is why i think Eye is so important for the industry. Its gets people talking about the industry and what is wrong with it and how we can all help to move it forward.
AgencyInsider – You are right to ask what they can do, and in no way do i take it as provocative. If i criticize i should be able to counter it as long as it is realistic and constructive.
The ways i would like to see NAEA (or any other “regulatory property body” for that matter)be more vocal with the public is by creating more of an awareness of first of all themselves, second of all what an NAEA estate agent should be, thirdly publicly come down hard on members not following its code of conduct,
This needs to be sustained campaign, not just the occasional tv ad on a satellite channel on at 4am in a small Welsh town 😉 – Tongue in cheek but you get what i mean.
TV, Radio, Press advertising to create awareness of the “Brand” as the public have no idea who they are, what they stand for or what they do!
They also need a spokesperson who is able to get in front of cameras, reporters, who can actually look to promote the industry / members and emphasis why the public need to appoint an agent that is a member of NAEA or such.
Turning up to a room of industry professionals in a DJ to a round of applause is i am sure great for the ego, but what does it really do for members and the public?
The qualifications are useless because it makes no difference to the public or employers on what standard they can do their job or what they even mean. They may well mean something if they put more effort into promoting why the qualifications are important to employers or more importantly the public as opposed to pushing them to members giving false hope they are a more attractive candidate in a job interview – I speak as a business owner, i, in no way would favor a candidate holding an NAEA qualification as makes diddly squat difference ! However if i had a RIC’s qualified surveyor or an individual with full cemap i would look at them more favorably.
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You can have as many Letters and associations on your front door as you like. Honesty, integrity and old fashioned professionalism come from within. The cream as they say always rise to the top, because word of mouth is still the most effective business generator ever invented.
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Full stop – end of.
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Sorry to bleat on but i do feel passionately about this.
If a member of the NAEA and practicing estate agent is reading this and disagrees with me, what do you think you get from them?
We have all been seduced at some point of our career that being a member does add credibility and the public look for this and are reassured by it. But is this the case? I and many others that have been members in the past and left have found no difference after forking out hundreds if not thousands of pounds every year.
Its nice to say you are a “Fellow” of an organisation but why not just start your own organisation and call yourself an expert! – To the public it is the same thing.
In essence i like the thought of the NAEA sounds great doesn’t it “National Association of Estate Agents” I just think they can be doing a lot more to help agents and the public. like others have posted if they did, i would be happy to join, if they were to embark on a proper awareness campaign even pay an increased sub.
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FNAEA only uses up 5 characters on social media, it fits on every tweet, says and reinforces; “I am time served, have met the criteria of the national association of estate agents [not just called myself an expert], I have done this job long enough to become a fellow and that means I have valued property, won instructions, sold and survived boom times and bust!”
It might not mean much to the general public but it top trumps those who haven’t got one and gives me a USP that is quite hard to equal.
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Affiliation? That’s the girlfriend who comes over but doesn’t have s*x. Seriously, who wants that. Dude I’d rather quietly shut down the store and re-think my life choices.
Jeez you have to figure the faceless click of online agency don’t sit well with those guys (where to put a window sticker) so come on Marty. Maybe you do the high street a solid and really lay on a spread for traditional agents. You know, the good people you can actually get to meet. Or maybe we just re-make Goodfellas and cast the NAEA as Jimmy Two Times. “I only want your money, WANT YOUR MONEY”!!!
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Martyn espouses the benefit of differentiation, yet I wonder how many agents know how they are truly different? I do agree with most of the comments (even SP:) and in the spirit of improving this industry, I highly recommend you listen to an iTunes podcast, Agent Marketing Syndicate by Ryan Fletcher. He also has a free book Defeat Mega-Agents, 14 Sources of Differentiation.
As for NAEA membership, not for me to comment, but many similar national bodies are toothless.
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The NAEA agents in my area tend to be the ones who provide their clients with the lowest quality marketing for their homes, and some of the most lethargic levels of service.
I expect their files are perfect (as they should be) but if they are still using a camera purchased in 2005, they don’t produce Floor plans, and they only open for three hours on a Saturday for example, then they are failing their clients in different ways – often whilst maintaining the moral high ground that comes with membership.
I recognise there are exceptions.
Perhaps the NAEA could improve the prospects of their members and add real value to the vendors who put faith in the logo by teaching the basics of property marketing to some of their more ‘old school’ membership.
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