Delegates were once again treated to a packed schedule delivered via the EA Masters virtual conference platform on Thursday 19th August for the 3rd event of their 6 month programme. The EA Masters event will culminate in the physical conference and awards ceremony in London on 3rd November.
Conference host Lucia France interviewed a number of speakers in the Live Tour of the Innovation Hall including Annalese Walmsley from Flatfair, Louise Moss from SDL Property Auctions, Costas Frangeskou from Goodlord and Lee Wainwright, CEO of Focal Agent amongst others.
Lee Wainwright told us that agents who use professional marketing assets in their packages, such as Matterport virtual tours, professional floorplans and videos, win 32% more instructions than agents who do not. He said, “These tools are here to support both sides of the business and have a big role to play in lettings as well as in sales, as they are helping agents carry out less viewings.”
Keynote speaker David Abbott, member of the Professional Speaking Association combined psychology theory and consumer purchasing behaviour to speak to agents about how they can sell stock at higher prices. His talk gave an insightful look at relative pricing offering valuable real-life examples outside the world of estate agency.
Hosted by Peter Knight, the talk Tech before Human sparked an interesting discussion about the use of tech in the property industry which was also met with a flurry of conversation in the live chat. The panel, which consisted of Mike Nettleton of Nock Deighton, SJ Taylor from Preston Baker and Costas Frangeskou from Goodlord, were in general agreement about the need for agents to carefully consider which part of their business operations can and should be automated.
SJ Taylor said, “You have to define which elements are essential for tech and which are essential for human interaction. We assess our services according to the level of engagement required. High frequency, low human touch points such as booking a viewing should be facilitated through technology whereas other services require personal skills and attributes to build a rapport to secure the business.”
Peter concluded, “In the tech / human debate it should always be an AND rather than OR. But let’s flip the approach around so it’s tech considerations first, then human, and establish how we best utilise the people in the business to their full effect.”
Simon Whale of Kerfuffle presented Part 2 of the Kerfuffle Top 40 Innovations with AREA announced in top position.
The big ticket of the day was undoubtedly Mandy Hickson’s inspirational and energetic talk, ‘Choose your Flight Path’.
Mandy was superb, offering a personal insight into the challenges and opportunities faced during her career path to become one of the UK’s first female, fast-jet pilots in the RAF. She revealed the ups and downs and challenges of working in a male dominant environment, frequently as the only female, 6ft tall and nick-named BigBird.
If the speech had been delivered in a live environment, you would have been able to hear a pin drop, as the live chat came to a stand-still and the virtual audience watched and listened to Mandy’s fascinating, and often entertaining account of her career, treating delegates to moment by moment accounts of her time in Iraq, and flying on the day of 9/11.
The experiences of working in a high performing team was humbling said Mandy, learning at every step why teamwork was crucial in her role as a pilot. “There are 63 roles in the Airforce; these are the cogs in a big machine to get the job done and I never once doubted the trust of any of my team members.”
Several aspects of Mandy’s talk and the learnings she shared easily transcend into the business environment and running a successful estate agency. Some of these included:
TEAM stands for together everyone achieves more.
You absolutely need cultural, gender and cognitive diversity in your team to get the best results
Control the controllables, and if you can’t control it, let it go.
Go back to basics to get the job done
Acting on 80% of information can be better than not acting at all
Leadership is about giving people skills and tools to grow to allow each person to feel empowered
Illustration of great leadership is to trust your team members
By being a great leader, you have the ability to change someone’s flightpath.
Trevor Hames, Director of Cambridge Property Lettings said, “I need my whole team to see this. Brilliant!”
The second panel discussion of the day featured Joanne Tattum from Moneypenny and Ed Mead from Viewber who joined Peter Knight for the Out before in session – a panel talk looking at both outsourcing and in-house options that are available to estate agents.
Ed Mead said, “Agents must shift the focus away from what suits them, to what suits the consumer – and this is no longer just sellers and landlords. We need to see buyers and tenants as our key clients too and provide the level of service and expertise they would expect.”
Sian Hemming-Metcalfe, Head of Training & Development at InventoryBase reinforced this view on the live-chat platform, adding, “Outsourcing to qualified, vetted providers makes so much sense as it creates more options to utilise a wider pool of experienced professionals and allows agents to scale up during busy periods and down during the quieter months.”
If you missed the event, Property Industry Eye is treating readers to a Kerfuffle exclusive clip with Peter Knight, Founder of Property Academy and Chief Kerfuffler, Simon Whale, discussing the topic Out before In?
The next EA Masters event is on 30th September and promises a new array of keynote speakers, master-classes, discussions and live interviews to inspire and motivate agents.
Delegates also have the opportunity to meet with some of the best suppliers in the industry to help ensure they have the right tools, processes and systems to be successful in any market condition. Delegate Rewards include discounts, freebies and special offers and are available from most suppliers on the day.
Tickets are available now for the next line up of events and can be purchased via this link
30th September: Virtual Event
14th October: Virtual event
3rd November: EA Masters Awards & Exhibition live in London
Property Industry Eye is News Media Partner for EA Masters 2021
This was a fabulous talk at all levels – delivery, empathy and pace. Lessons to take from it for myself, my colleagues but also my teenagers. Thank you EAMasters and Peter Knight – it was another level. I’ll be showing my teenager this evening!!
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A truly awe-inspiring discussion from Mandy. If you missed it, I believe it’s available as an on-demand service
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These two remind me of ‘those who can do and those that can’t teach and preach’.
This country is full of people like this, the unempliyabe;l preaching to the employable.
My question to them, ‘do either of you run a successful estate agency?’
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I think it is a fairly safe bet to say that Peter Knight and Simon Whale have forgotten more about what makes agency tick than you will ever know.
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Spot on Agency Insider!
This really was another impressive and valuable event. Can’t wait for the next one.
Thank you Peter, Simon and the team.
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Does powering most of the country’s most successful agencies (including the largest), providing the tech that makes the industry tick qualify someone enough to sit on a stool and be respected by most people who watch?
I think it’s fair to say Simon Whale has spent more money buying this industry a drink than many successful agents will earn in their entire career.
When you can run a tab and provide a free bar to an entire conference of agents, suppliers (and a bag lady) you will be in a position to question Mr. Whale’s success, standing and respect in this business.
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Well said Sir…
Though I have to say his sense of dress leaves a lot to be desired!
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There are not many people who can own the Onslo look one minute, James Bond the next, William Wallace, Mariah Carey, Sharon Stone and then slip seemlessly out of all his clohes and into a mankini
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Anyone can do that if they are charging a load of money to pontificate to the gullible
They are not buying anyone a free drink the delegates are paying for their own drinks
There are loads of people, who do this just look at the number of so called religious evangelist preachers in the US – because they can buy a few free drink should we all respect them
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Hi There jan-byer- VERY respectfully I don’t think it likely or even remotely accurate to suggest that the agents who attend events like EA Masters are “gullible “. On the contrary, I’ve always found my fellow delegates to be forward thinking, keen to learn and willing to challenge almost everything they are presented with.
But hey… what do I know? I guess I’m one of the gullible delegates and I appreciate your enlightenment on the matter.
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Well said jan!!
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Jan what I have describe is success funded generosity. Genuine personal generosity, not Expense account schmoozing clients, no-one is excluded.
You clearly don’t know Simon, your comments are misplaced
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