Managing client expectations can be extremely stressful for many people working in estate agency, especially negotiators, and that is why a greater understanding of why people might be behaving in a certain way is vital, according to Jason Bull, chief operating officer of easyProperty.com.
Bull, who is also a mentor at Agents Together, said estate agents, solicitors and conveyancers had “a very similar job dealing with people with high stress and high anxiety levels which extends into our staff”, and it was “valuable” to hear each other’s viewpoints.
He firmly believes that tolerance in dealing with each other was “all down to education”.
Taking part in The Conveyancing Foundation’s latest ‘Be Kind We Care’ webinar, Bull explained: “I am pleased to hear that estate agents are becoming more tolerant. Sometimes problems can arise when agents don’t understand where their job ends and where the conveyancer’s job begins.
“I have seen agents interfering with a conveyancer’s job and that just adds extra time, extra complaints and layers of conflict and yet we share the same problems and by talking to each other, we can solve an awful lot of them.”
He continued: “I work at a high level in Agents Together and at an estate agency so it is useful to consider the boundaries between the role of a conveyancer and an agent but also how we manage boundaries in a hybrid world. People are more depleted than they normally are. Some people came out of the Pandemic relatively unscathed while others experienced illness or even bereavement. Some people found it difficult working from home while others enjoyed it. One size does not fit all.”
Bull welcomed increased discussion on mental health and wellbeing in the property industry, and said to some extent this had “previously been a taboo subject”, adding:
“Estate agency has been a macho, ego-driven environment but charities have opened the door to discussing stress and mental health and wellbeing. If worries, doubts and concerns are not discussed, they manifest.”
Jason said his own agency had looked at ways of reducing stress and had now made a pledge to ensure staff only sent emails during working hours.
“Emails sent out of working hours bleed into someone’s time and bleeds into being anxious after hours,” he commented.
Relations between estate agents and conveyancers have improved
“Sometimes problems can arise when agents don’t understand where their job ends and where the conveyancer’s job begins”
Where does Jason Bull think an agent’s job ends?
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Could you let me know how long a piece of string is too?
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To which the smart ar5re reply is:
Twice as long as half its length 🙂
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I turn my phone off about 30 minutes after I leave the office, and turn it back on when I’m on my way in. It’s my time with my family, and I am not paid to be on call 24/7. I set my out-of-office up with details of my emergency/preferred contractors so that Tenants can contact them in an emergency.
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Agency is a service industry, if you aren’t up to the phone calls, emails, texts and WhatsApps outside core hours don’t be disappointed if others welcome them. It might be you’ve got your core working hours wrong.
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A major fundamental difference:
– Estate Agency is predominantly commission based
– Conveyancing is predominantly salary based
Obviously this is not always the case and there are many “commission” based conveyancing roles… however it is rarely the reverse with estate agency. There is a fundamental difference in mindsets, an agent wants to get the deal done as quickly as possible whereas a conveyancer wants to get the deal done right. Trying to get the two to work together is like oil and water…
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I’m guilty of this.
Home and checking emails whilst cooking dinner, watching football or even once getting into bed.
It started off as a way of staying on top of things during a busy period but has just slowly become a normality.
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