A nationwide recruitment campaign has been launched by EweMove, headed: “Estate agency is BROKEN”.
The campaign is aimed at both owners and staff at high street agents.
The letter, from ‘head shepherd’ Nick Neill, starts by saying “high street agency is dying”.
EweMove is the hybrid brand owned by The Property Franchise Group whose other businesses are high street firms such as Martin & Co.
The EweMove recruitment letter, which may not go down too well with other franchisees in the group, says: “We are experiencing an unprecedented and industry-shaping level of change, and the fact of the matter is that the agents that keep their heads buried in the sand and don’t change WILL go out of business.
“Let’s be honest – none of this is a surprise. The public have voted with their feet, who can blame them?
“For too long home movers have had to endure the lacklustre services of many high street agents.”
The letter goes on: “Agents are in it for themselves, and – to be frank – they couldn’t give two hoots about the real needs of their buyers and sellers.
“The world has moved on, and the fact of the matter is that the traditional high street agent no longer works with the way that people live now.
“We need 24/7, on-demand service, but the traditional agency model continues along the route of inaccessible high street offices with little or no parking and a strict 5pm closing time.”
The letter goes on: “It’s not just the service where agents let their customers down; it’s also in their misleading statements and practices.”
It singles out the claim that the agent has a list of registered buyers.
Neill pours scorn on this, saying that in pre-Rightmove days, this would have been critical to success, but no more: “The last thing you need is a stale old buyers list.”
However, the letter says that high street agents are not the only issue: “The industry is broken but the problem is that the so-called saviours are just as bad.”
It says Purplebricks has gained market share because of the “laziness and apathy of their competition”.
Online agents are not angels “who have come to set the world free from greedy and untrustworthy high street agents”.
The public, it says, are stuck between a rock and a hard place, with online agents offering lower service levels and higher fall-through rates.
The last part of the letter suggests that agents join the “EweMove revolution”.
It says: “If you’re hungry for success and you feel frustrated by the constraints of your current business as an independent agent, or your employer if you’re working for a corporate, we want to talk.
“But just to be clear, we want to talk against the backdrop of this letter – we only work with people who share our philosophy, which means that you’ll need to be open minded enough to be challenged and jettison the bad habits in our industry.”
The letter ends by saying that Neill himself benefited when he became a franchisee, in York, and cites its Basingstoke franchisees, Robert Bassett and Mark Holmes, as having written £865,000 in commissions in the last 12 months, “with no high street shop in sight”.
A similar length read might be the book “How to win friends and influence people” – Dale Carnegie
https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwiNm5Oi9MjdAhXLte0KHWKiCqgYABAJGgJkZw&ohost=www.google.co.uk&cid=CAESQOD2-GaBWpJJmSZXXXBGrB6Y27_JYLHbRjooki3Gy2ZbJs6udbWIblAf6OfBwUnxztkiLb9JNKwdAj7WnXPjERQ&sig=AOD64_0AuwWvw6HzYsY2yfkYGA24TonCPQ&ctype=5&q=&ved=0ahUKEwiQx4ui9MjdAhWiK8AKHZNPDJsQwg8IJg&adurl=
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I suggest Ewemove take their own advice and close their failing high street branches.
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We don’t have any failing High Street branches?
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Really?
So all high street branches you have are showing profit for the year?
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No they dont have any high st branches 🙂
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They have several physical branches – mainly in Yorkshire?
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They will soon, watch this space.
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EweMove client to EweMove lamb.
“Hi my house has been on the market with you for some time, can i visit you to discuss where we go from here”
“Yep pop round, though i need time to make my bed, tidy my room and ask my parents to go out”
The more these types of people attempt to market properties for sale, the more vendors and purchasers yearn for estate agents. These “lambs to the slaughter” that EweMove” have sold franchises to are the ones being mislead and i truly feel sorry for them.
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Why make a vendor come to your shop. Surely you should go an see them in their home at a time convenient to them?
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What if they don’t want you round their house but prefer to come to you?
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Some people prefer to have a chat in a professional work environment. Also some people prefer to have the option rather than “no you cant come to mine, as my parents said no strangers in the house when they are away”
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Why not ask the same of people buying cars? Idiot.
The living room or in some cases the kitchen or an empty property are not the most professional places to conduct such serious business – not that you would know what that looked like (and this is not slagging you off, this is has been shown by the way you have conducted yourself in these forums and the letters)
Agents who have a successful business also do not have the time to be travelling to every property they have on the books – again, you wouldn’t know due to the laughable levels of stock you hold. I have never had a client selling a property who does not wish to travel to the office at a time convenient to themselves and have never struggled to arrange a mutual time to meet. Either that or funnily enough, us meagre traditional agents have phones and in this fantastic day and age of technology we also have mobile phones – allowing us to conduct business even when the office is shut! Thus creating the same illusion you online agents create – a 24/7 service. Not that this is ever required – we accept viewing requests/valuations/rental enquiries etc anytime but the vast majority who are serious will contact us during the working day – mainly because this is when most reputable human beings conduct business. Viewing requests also come in via email/voicemail. Works a treat.
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small point but clients like to know where they can reach their agent physically not just metaphorically.
Operating out of the spare bedroom or some such doesn’t give vendors much confidence, no matter how much money you spend advertising.
Amazon do well because even though you pay on line upfront for something it physically arrives a day or so later. With on line hybrid agency there isn’t anything tangible just a lot of empty promises
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In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king.
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THAT ‘eye’ doesn’t count, AgencyInsider…
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What does the Ewemove franchisee in Wakefield think of this nonsense???????
He has just bought the local Whitegates Office and is rebranding it to Ewemove – going from his bedroom to the high street!!!!!!
A horrid pitch for Business that is ill thought out and reckless!!!
Ps the boards are horrific and down market in my opinion too.
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Nick… help, please I need your help. You’re letter is just perfect, everything makes sense now and I see things clearly…
I feel really left out though… I haven’t received a letter 🙁
Do you not think I’m open minded? I can change, I promise to look at it your way, I really will, promise!!!!
lol
What a douche.
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LOL indeed. I don’t think I am a douche. If we do ever have the chance to meet, perhaps you can then either confirm or revise your appraisal?
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Head Shepherd, I have today received your weighty tome and was instantly drawn to your dramatic statement that “around 50% of properties don’t sell with the first agent”. I would be delighted if you would be kind enough to share the evidence for this alarming statement on this forum. Many thanks
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‘I don’t think I am a douche. If we do ever have the chance to meet, perhaps you can then either confirm or revise your appraisal?’
Isn’t a douche a ‘shower’…. also is this comment a threat?
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Yeah, real tough guy, lol.
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Ever get the Chance to meet lol. You’ll have plenty of time on your hands soon once shareholders realise online only is flawed and cant last. You have a good day now.
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I thoroughly enjoy reading Head_Shepherd#2’s responses to comments on this forum…he clearly is a ”mutton” for punishment (apologies, I couldn’t resist!).
When the sh*t hits the fan, its one thing to be able to avoid a little splash here and there…but standing in front of a fan deliberately, whilst a man with the ‘runs’ stands behind and prepares himself for a release, is quite another. Bravo Mr ”Shepherd”, bravo.
Whilst I do not agree with/subscribe to much of what Head_Shepherd#2 says, or indeed Ewemove’s rather disingenuous recruitment strategy (negative messages are often counter-productive to achieving the intended aim)… One can’t help but have some respect for the ”Head_Shepherd#2’s” sheer audacity.
If I were a gambling lamb, I wouldn’t put my money on Ewe…but some respect finds its way to you nonetheless.
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Nonsense. I’m fed up listening to this sort of rubbish.
People are fed up with huge promises of efficiency and access to information 24/7 and on the go which turns out to be frustrating and repetitive and impersonal and useless.
Personal service is always going to beat an app.
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Agree that personal service is the winner. Which is what the EweMove model is based on. We use our technology to take away the admin of the agent to maximise the time the agent has to interact with their customers face-to-face, not the other way round. But more than 50% of all our enquiries come outside of office hours – and we respond to them with a person, not technology (unless they choose to use webchat, but that’s still a person on the keyboard!!).
So the ‘sort of rubbish’ you think you have read, is actually what you are saying – personal service is definately key. We wholeheartedly agree!
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boring !!!
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With a name like Ewemove, you are ten nil down before kick off.
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Given the average ewe move branch lists just 3 properties a month, there is only one broken model.
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Totally agree. I dreas getting involved in a chain where an online agents is involved….they are quite literally useless and do no work to chase the chain – I have never received a call from one seeing how the chain is progressing. Nick Neil – you are an incompetent business man lapping up fees from some poor unsuspecting “estate agent” with little market experience and the idea they can change the world!
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We have the shortest completion time WestMidsValuer97. We focus 100% on progression and completion as we don’t charge upfront fees and only get paid on completion. Why would we not focus on this key area? Perhaps you are mistaking EweMove with an agent that follows a different business model?
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How can you verify you have the shortest completion time?
Do you know the ins and outs of every other company in the UK?
90% of agents do not charge upfront. All agents in the area i work in only charge on completion.
You offer nothing i and others cannot, and most of us i bet offer more than you.
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You would have, because you don’t sell anything…lol
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This is not proven and again, as I have said many times in this thread, shows off your lack of experience. How have you come to that conclusion, where has the data come from?? What are you basing it on…averages over what period of time!? More drivel from the Head Shepherd.
I’m sorry but you simply cannot make comments like that that have no foundation whatsoever.
In these statements you are actually the epitome of what you slagged off traditional agents for – MISLEADING
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More like 1-2 properties a month. They have around 1,000 properties for sale and 120 branches.
The franchisees have to pay £2k a month to PFG and £500 when a property sells.
This is a great business model for PFG and Ewemove. A terrible proposition for the poor franchisee. Identifying a couple of outliers (who no doubt turning over these levels before rebranding) is disingenuous is my opinion.
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£1k per month (incl. RM/Zoopla access) and £250 completion fee (£100 completion fee for managed Lets). Not sure why you’ve doubled up your costings?
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What about the marketing costs you are expected to pay on top for adwords etc.?
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That’s a lot of money if you are just advertising 3 properties.
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Leicester branch have 4 properties for sale 1 of which is under offer.
According to Companies House Ewemove (Leicester North) Ltd paid tax of £1164 in 2017 and £93 in 2016 which is an indication of how little profit the business makes. There is a Directors loan outstanding of £42,000
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What a complete idiot. If this guy seriously thinks that’s the case he’s not only deluded but also doesn’t understand his own business model. Online agents will never take over…yes they have their place in the market for penny pinchers but the vast majority (I think it’s still in excess of 95%) will be using a proper estate agent. The reason high Street agents will always dominate is simply down to human nature and us liking to be able to speak to people in the knowledge they can do it face to face in a professional environment. Granted, retail has shifted to the online market place but this does not mean the largest purchases we make will be conducted online. Buying a laptop takes all of 10minutes. Buying a property can take in excess of 10 weeks (longer if these ridiculous hybrid/online agents are involved in the chain) Online agencies are the graveyards of proper agents (the ones who can’t get a proper paying job!!)
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Not saying On-Line agents will take over. I’m saying the future is for agents who deliver outstanding service and results, as we do. BTW – for properties completed in August our average completion time from SSTC to Completion was 8 weeks, 4 days.
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Of course its 8 weeks 4 days lol, based on the abismal number of properties you have actually completed on nationwide its going to be a realistic average, NOT. Just looked at a 10 mile radius of my business and you currently have a market share of errrr 0%. Good Job lol
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Utter drivel. I’ve never heard such rubbish, and then you have the nerve to back track on your statements that have been quoted. You slander high street agents with sweeping statements and your own experience in the market is minimal at best. You have not got a clue.
I agree with 365 Residential – your woeful listings will of course provide those sort of timeframes – as do most start ups. BTW, also note that I stated “CAN” take in excess of 10 weeks.
Typical response of an online agent though, all you can do is slate the traditional models which, by the way, are and always will be, far superior in anyone’s perspective. I can vouch for this having worked in Corporate, Independent and online agency – your experience is no where near diverse enough to comment. Also, the largest agency brand in the UK has already closed its dire online option – what does that say about the future of estate agency? As I say, online models will always have their place, small as it may be, but they certainly will not and cannot be deemed to be a better service/quality of service or better customer experience.
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That’s not you lot then. Next….
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I genuinely feel embarrassed for this guy. Surely Wilson will be seething at this.
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Agree.
And it comes from the Glenn Ackroyd marketing book of “**** people off so that they read”.
You don’t have to belittle everything and everyone else to get heard – that is, unless you have nothing better to say…
Nick is MD of EweMove for a reason – he’s a successful franchise owner. But this goes down as a fail in my book.
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Ewe move and its ilk have made literally less than no impact on my business. More agents (high st), declining transaction volumes, stamp duty, rising running costs are all live conversations. “What are we going to do about arranging a viewing with Mrs Bloggs at 2am with that pesky Head Shepherd waiting by his phone?” is yet to get a mention.
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The worst part of this is the wide sweeping statements branding all independent agents as being money grabbing and incompetent. This kind of drivel does our industry no favours at all.
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Confucius says:
“Never send a “business” letter after a glass or two of wine”
In this case possibly a bottle or two!!
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That letter is the biggest load of drivel I have ever read on EYE.
This guy Neil sounds an utter and complete twassock – come uppance is sure to follow.
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I wonder if Mr Ian Wilson, CEO of Property Franchise Group, would care to comment on the matter?
As it is one of his Group subsidiary MDs that is making the claim that High Street Agency is “broken”, he must be especially worried that the claim obviously encompasses his own empire… a fact that may even lead some to come to the opinion that this latest claim has come as a result of Mr Neill’s findings from within.
#To_You, Mr Wilson
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Ian doesn’t often post on here, and as CEO of a public Group I doubt he will address the masses on a comments section.
However, I can expect Mr Neill to receive a friendly phone call by end of play today!
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‘We need 24/7, on-demand service’
Do we? Do we really need it? Would we all be better off with it?
I do not think so.
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I always look for my next property at 3am after a few beers and a kebab.
Therefore everyone else does, too.
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It’s because of people like him we’re in this mess – if agents hadn’t knee jerked into “going hybrid” (whatever that means) and concentrated on offering a great service for a fair fee, we’d probably see a lot more agents surviving now than not. No one was ever going to win a race to the bottom other than the customer.
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couple of points.
Some vendors really do not want to pay an estate agent £’000’s to sell their home, in fact all would rather not but none want a cr4p service, pay peanuts etc.
Second once you have established your “on line/hybrid” business model, gone to the stock exchange, raised a few millions hyped up your share price to er … £5 each then And Then, AND THEN they’re worth £2.20 and probably still heading south
You have to ask
Does this on line/hybrid/all seeing/all doing 24/7 business model actually work ?
Time ladies and gentlemen tells all.
I always thought as a high risk might work might not work the investment per share was about 0.36p and if I lose a few quid well no real harm done but now I do think like Brexit the further it goes on the worse it gets for all involved.
Am I open minded enough?
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WOW – a lot of responses so early in the morning…..
Some misunderstanding here I think. The principle here is that the market is changing. Those that change, survive. There is a place for good quality, service focussed agents, be they on the High Street or not.
EweMove agents don’t tie their customers into sales contracts yet we have the lowest withdrawal rate. Why tie people into 12 weeks sales contracts if you know you can deliver a great job? We complete sales more quickly too.
We have the highest level of customer satisfaction (No1 on Trustpilot in the UK).
Our agents only need to deal with a relatively small amount of stock at any one time to make a good living, but critically this allows them to offer levels of service others can only dream of. We know this because our customers tell us so when they have failed to sell with a ‘traditional’ agent and move to EweMove. It’s a low overhead, high-profit model. It’s different and attracts people who are focussed on service quality.
For those commenting here, why not do what other agents have done yesterday and phone me for a chat rather than make assumptions…..
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Mr Head_shepherd#2
If I may…
Your far-from-welcome correspondence arrived yesterday. Incorrectly addressed – BAD start.
Opening the envelope revealed four sheets of paper stuffed therein, out of order – and not even paginated to make it easy for the recipient to put it into order.
Not that “order” mattered, really.
I won’t go into detail as to the content as it seems most of us will have received it and some of us may even have read it. Time that, sadly, we will never recover.
I just need you to think about something. You presumably put some time into this correspondence. Either you actually wrote it or you paid someone else to. If someone else wrote it then presumably you read it or paid someone else to. If someone else read it then presumably they told you it was ‘perfect’… ‘spot on’… ‘just the job’… or any one of a myriad of phrases that gave you the confidence to pay yet another someone to attach your digitised signature to it.
But – and it’s one helluva BIG “but” – your seven pages of, to put it bluntly, merde de mouton addresses what you claim to be the issues with our industry. To quote you on just a couple of points:
“For too long home movers have had to endure the lacklustre services of many high street agents”
“They’ve dealt with empty and broken promises and poor service…”
“Agents are in it for themselves, and – to be frank – they couldn’t give two hoots about the real needs of their buyers and sellers”
Your correspondence then invites us all to jump over the fence into your lush, green pasture and chew away as part of your flock – where everything is better.
These people are, you realise, the essence of what you claim to be “broken” – you know that? Yet you want to talk to them all. To bring them into your flock.
So – back to the letter. It’s a case here that either those people you paid to write… read… sign – and even stuff into the envelopes ready for postage – let you down badly… or you did it – partly or all – by yourself.
Which was it, Sir?
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Did… did… did… you mention Trustpilot?
Excuse me, I’m just popping out for a minute.
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Bwhahahahahahahahahahahhahhahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
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Pee Bee
You seem to have put your thumb, finger, hand, foot, in fact your whole body on the nub of the issue. Slag of estate agents for being in it for themselves then invite to work for you.
Yep
Oh FYI while writing this I notice connels just closed hatched
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Haha! This was perfect timing for that article to come out!
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Again – your massive inexperience screams through in your comments:
How do you know what agents tie ins are? We certainly don’t fix them to any specific period – it’s flexible. Most agents are. We adapt with the times and offer a far superior service to any online agent, as vouched for by our clients that we have taken from online agents who failed to sell their properties yet still charged them!! That’s a disgrace in itself.
Trust Pilot is irrelevant as it is such a tiny portion of the market – you more than likely ask all your clients to complete a satisfaction survey on completion.
“Our agents only need to deal with a relatively small amount of stock at any one time to make a good living” this is not a choice they make, it’s the clients that ultiamtely choose a better option – you are seriously deluded if you believe your agents would turn down 20 listings per month.
“…but critically this allows them to offer levels of service others can only dream of”
Says who!?!? At what point is this measured? I have been involved in chains with Ewe Move and quite frankly, the distinct lack of experience shines through – clueless at best. Also, getting hold of the right person is nigh on impossible!
“We know this because our customers tell us so when they have failed to sell with a ‘traditional’ agent and move to EweMove.”
I’m sorry but if you think this anything to go by you are further justifying my statement of inexperience. I can guarantee there are far more vendors moving from online to traditional than the other way.
“It’s a low overhead, high-profit model. It’s different and attracts people who are focussed on service quality.”
Yes it is low overhead, however how dare you think this is anything to do with service quality. You get the clients who think paying peanuts pays off. Yes you might sell a few and get a few reviews but the vast majority of the country will beg to differ – hence why online/hybrid agents have barely any market share.
“For those commenting here, why not do what other agents have done yesterday and phone me for a chat rather than make assumptions…..”
Because it is very easy for you to hide behind a phone call – this is public and everyone can see your lack of experience and delusional sweeping statements.
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I got one and so did my staff!
8 pages of total ranting of which I am amazed that Ian Wilson would allow to be sent. I appreciate Neil is the MD of Ewemove so wouldnt ask for permission, but surely he must realise that this cuts directly across the values of the PLC he is employed by. Independent agents do not take well to people like Neil directly touting their staff and this could have wider implications to their existing franchisees – I for one wont be helping any of their sheep out in the future!
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Previous head shepherd Glenn Ackroyd sent out the same waffling copy more than once.
Indeed, I read it more than once.
I was shocked. One “letter” was 9 pages long, and didn’t actually get to the point of what it wanted the reader to do until the top of page 4.
Let me tell you something – you have got to be a world class copywriter to get an average Joe to read your copy for 4 whole A4 pages before they find out what it is about.
And let me tell you another thing – there are maybe a dozen world class copywriters currently working. And none of them work with EweMove…
We had a meeting to discuss the copy (without the Head Shepherds present).
Let’s just say that nobody was buying the BS.
And nor are they buying it now.
Sure, some people will nibble – and that is what the letter is for. But the 95% of people who read and don’t nibble will forever associate EweMove with flagrant disrespect of them, their businesses and the industry as a whole.
Yes, he’ll get some instructions and maybe a franchisee or two out of it… but at what cost? being hated by everyone else? Count me out.
To put this much time into a letter of such low writing quality is astonishing. And disappointing.
Target your audience by all means… but don’t upset your non-audience.
Rant over.
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I totally agree, and would also add ‘PLEASE DO NOT INSULT THE BUSINESSES YOU ARE TRYING TO RECRUIT OR RECRUIT FROM’……..suprisingly it gets their backs up…it would be like insulting a vendor about the condition of their property. Would you then expect to get the instruction?
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Given the Head Shepherd is trying damage limitation this morning and trying to claw back his ‘Ratner’ moment.
Maybe he will be kind enough to answer my question i keep asking.
What percentage of franchises are still trading with the original owner on the third anniversary?
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Nick Ratner – brilliant!
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The Lincoln franchise has recently stopped trading.
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As did the Tyneside “branch”.
One guy – based somewhere in Teesside, and a Lettings-only bod to boot – would seem to now cover the entire North East?
BIIIIG patch. Good luck with that.
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I know a handful of people at Ewemove who are good agents and there is clearly a place for them in the market and lets be honest, they are much better than any other ‘online’ agent. Purplebricks, tepelo for example.
They generalise way too much though like this statement- “For too long home movers have had to endure the lacklustre services of many high street agents.”. Yes there are rubbish agents and the good high street agents want them out of their area as it gives agents as a whole a bad name. But there are very good agents still around and those are not affected at all by online agents.
Ewemove can shout all they like and they will disrupt the rubbish high street agents but the good ones will be fine and that is clear in the area I work in.
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And to think PFG or whatever the group is called paid somewhere around £9million for this pile of sheep sh*te, the 2 founders then immediately b*gger off, a franchisee is then put in charge (WTF does he know about running a franchise?), and now said pathetically named head shepherd bites the hand that’s fed him. I’d be interested in being a fly on the wall at 2 meetings; Wilson’s next get together with city analysts but way more amusing would be the annual get together of all the group’s franchisees. I reckon, the proper agents from Martin & co together with their mates from whitegates, et al will be chucking chairs at Nick Neill, assuming he’s still in situ by then.
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1 Brownie Point for The Headline
……thereafter he talked even more sh*te than me!
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These type of “Marketing” campaigns really annoy me. And give every profession a bad name, in the case estate agency.
Its all total B******S! – Smoke and mirrors about successful franchises, more c**p about most trusted and lowest timescales.
Stop trying to pull the ‘wool’ over potential franchisees and the public saying you are mustard.
You give out franchises to individuals that have never even worked in the industry!!!!!!
You are in my opinion one of the lowest rungs of the ladder.
You are well out of your depth as ‘Head Shepherd’ You have a nasty, irrelevant offering which as seen today on this forum is loathed by experienced successful agents.
When you go to bed tonight, ask yourself why you are part of Ewe move and why TPFG have not given you a more senior role in say Martin & Co.
How did you even authorise the content and display of the letter you sent out?
Your a joke, your brand is a joke, and your agents are a joke.
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…..you’re cleansed now SP, deep breath & R E L A X
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I cant GPL!
PB, EWE MOVE and OTM are the worse things to happen to the agents and the public in recent years. Everytime i read a story about them i cant control the anger i feel towards them.
The BS they all come out with is so frustrating. And all in the name of Greed.
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Well, if I get Nick Neill to massage your forehead (steady!!!) instead of his ego (steeeeeaady!!!!!) ….you might not feel better but we’ll all have a laugh!
It’s good that we give our opinion SP, free speech and all that. Sometimes it helps change. This lot however need a proper shepherd rather than Dick Tracy, sorry, Nick Neill.
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Fully agree SP. I’m bored of reading the same old BS from the same old MD’s. PB blatently lying about claims today on a bill board statin “Doctors recommend PB”….who ever thought and signed that one off with a clear head..
I have no issue with agents playing a fari game, coming up with good ideas, sticking to high values and delivering, but PB, CW, Haart all just talk B~~~~s to get a board up at any cost and are all failing misserably int he area.
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So here’s the conundrum with the letter they sent out-
If you run a quality and relatively successful agency that embraces some tech, delivers a professional service and focuses on the customer experience- then you read this letter and guffaw at its comments and statements.
If you run a bad agency that is outdated in office procedures, gives appalling service and struggles to met professional standards- then this might appeal to you. But why would EM want to attract this demographic?
There is a lot of scaremongering at present about the pending fate of our sector, with particular emphasis seemingly aimed at the smaller independents and single-branch agents- however I talk to agents across the country every week and hear fantastic stories of record breaking targets/figures, amazing new initiatives, fabulous reviews/awards/accolades- so don’t believe it people. Keep evolving, keep improving and keep on smashing it!
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What do you call a sheep with no legs?
A cloud!
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What do you call a Welshman with a sheep under each arm?
A pimp!
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thats a bit racialist
innit?
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Mea culpa
Replace “sheep” with “goat” 😉
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EYE NEWSFLASH: Hatched to close as Connells says online model ‘not sustainable’
I just fell off my High Street family Independent Office chair ******* myself laughing. I am only here typing this as Barclays Online is down, otherwise id be far to busy to reply to all comments posted regarding EweMove. Just shredded your letter my friend after we all stopped wetting ourselves reading it.
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Can anyone find an agent who is competitive in their market that closes at 5pm?! There is so much drivel in the letter and i feel quite large amounts are fairly ill thought out, especially as it tars all agents with the same brush. ASA may enjoy some parts of the letter certainly in relation to unsubstantiated claims therein!
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We take calls up to 8 at night and anyone can request a viewing 24/7 off our website (not that they ever do…but the facility is there) or leave a message…the letter its just all DRIVEL!!!
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Yes 5 is quite late, normally at home with my cup of cocoa by then
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One of the funniest comment threads I have read on Eye, especially the Ratner comment!
We too received the promise of a goose that lays the golden egg, and it did make for interesting reading, before being recycled into a game of paper toss!
Of course estate agency is dead, because everybody is running around saying it’s dead. Doom & gloom is preferred over a positive outlook. What ever happened to Smile and the whole world smiles with you?
We started our agency 6 years ago from an industrial unit, without backing or investment. We have had year on year growth which allowed us to move to the high street, where we continue to grow at a time when online is apparently king.
You cannot look forward, if you are always looking back at what was.
So you have to work harder for less, that’s not because it’s unfair on you, but because what you became accustomed to was unfair on the consumer!
However, RM and others should also consider this when expecting agents who must now charge less to pay more!
Autotrader revolutionised the used car market years ago, are there still used car garages?
There’s room for both, because people are different and one size doesn’t fit all.
EweMove along now, there’s work to be done!
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What ever happened to Smile and the whole world smiles with you?
He’s been driven insane by the continuous DRIVEL and BS eminating from greed driven businesses!
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Couldn’t agree more IWONDER36. Those who adapt, provide a service that customers want and find easy to buy and win business through hard work and tenacity (and clearly successfully in your case) will always survive, and if your choice is to compete and succeed on the High Street then I salute you and I expect you’ll be there for many years to come.
On my last comment to a previous article, I recognised the success of two non-high street and two franchised High Street model businesses, all doing well and providing opportunities for people to succeed both on and off the high street, as there is a place for all models – and as you point out, there are some great independents too.
As I recognise in my somewhat ranty letter, it’s the great individuals in our industry that make the most difference!
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Head_Shepherd#2 you’re unbelievable. How can you reply as above when it is a complete contradictory reply in relation to your Bulls**t portrayed in your letter and quoted in this article?
You slander the traditional agent and then one that has demonstrated success comments and you end up blowing smoke up their back end in order to attempt a back track!?
Absurd that someone like you is in charge of so many poor unsuspecting franchisees. I sincerely hope no more are hoodwinked into your sales patter.
At no point do your quotes recognise actual successful high Street agents, somewhat the opposite. I have commented on this thread a few times and it has wound me up no end to hear the **** that you put across.
You’re just another online agent with no market experience and a vendetta born from a pathetic idea to revolutionise a market that simply doesn’t need it….the only thing this market needs is adaptation with technology, this does not mean irrational decisions such as removing the high Street offices or more to the point the need for them at all…the adaptation is taking advantage of technology available to more accurately value properties, market them on platforms available, utilise social media to the best advantage, speed up the ability to match property to buyers. This is estate agency, client focus, telling them the truth and not feeding them BS that you have portrayed such as slagging off another business model – as you will note from all my comments, I have always said there is definitely a place for the online model, for people who do want to pay less for a lesser service (in that there is no high Street presence) and usually a one man band with a call centre backing them up. Estate Agency service has nothing to do with being cheaper – cheaper usually means the service or product is of a lower quality or with fewer advantages in comparison to it’s competition. In this instance I believe that to be the case with most hybrids. The service is not comparable to experienced high Street agents. Most franchisees have little or no experience, such as yourself. Ultimately this means they have to pick on their competitions fees, or in your case slagging them off in ways that have landed you in hot water with every reader of this article. Not one person has backed you up…..I wonder why? This then distracts the client from the fact they haven’t a clue about the market place and give very poor advice and when issues arise, they don’t know what to do.
I suggest you refrain from your campaign to slag off the majority who command this market place with huge success and concentrate on how you plan on making a profit from an unsustainable business model.
Rant over. Next…..
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That comment right there! Couldn’t agree more!
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Will Ewemove be the next disruptor to follow Hatched off the edge of the cliff ? The Parent Company can only throw so much money at it before saying enough is enough !
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Such insulting and negative generalisations often backfire. The open letter is an open insult to a whole industry which whilst not perfect has many professional, honest, caring and committed individuals. Agents slagging off other agents is the one thing the public don’t like. I think you may have just shot yourself in the hoof, paw, foot or whatever.
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Mr Head_Shepherd#2 has gorn surprisingly quiet.
Hope he hasn’t got the chop…
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I got a copy of this illiterate, ranting and horrendous letter. Who on earth does the chump think he is…? You aren’t even doing anything different.
His local franchisees have been cold calling all my customers as well – pathetic, dirty tactics akin to the 1980’s in London.
If you’re writing a six page letter again, please check it for typos before you send it out. Perhaps go to night school to get more than a “C” in English.
Idiot.
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Seven pages, JonnyBanana43.
Seven.
I wish I’d got your sixer. It sounds better than mine.
Even if only that six is less than seven.
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Arguing with estate agents is like playing chess with a pigeon… no matter how good you are, the bird is going to **** on the board and strut around like it won anyway.
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The sheeps have got to be about the worst “agent” in the country – hire people who have no idea what they are doing, sell no houses, have no market share, claim to win all these awards and live in cuckoo land. I would imagine they wont be here for long #nexttogo
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