An agent which pays its staff commission based purely on customer feedback on its service says its system is proving highly successful.

Marketing director Amelia Massingham, of Gatekeeper in Oxfordshire, said all staff are also shareholders in the business, in a John Lewis Partnership style.

As a result, she said, everyone is focused on building the business and its reputation.

She said that the bonus system had been introduced as a conscious effort to counter often poor public perception of the industry.

At Gatekeeper, bonuses are paid based on the level of service provided to tenants, landlords, sellers and purchasers.

The firm’s in-house developed IT system automatically sends a survey once a process is ticked as complete. The survey asks customers to rate the team member who dealt with them.

There are five options from “fantastic” to “sub-par”.

The staff are then paid a monthly bonus – or not – based on their individual survey results.

If fewer than 90% of customers rate them as “fantastic”, they get no bonus.

If 90% to 94% give a “fantastic” rating, they receive a bonus per survey received, with a heavier weighting for landlord/vendor feedback.

If 95% to 100% of ratings are “fantastic” the bonus is doubled.

Massingham said: “The bonus system was developed with the whole team.

“Everyone agreed that they weren’t happy unless a survey was returned with a ‘fantastic’ rating, and felt that they should only be paid a bonus if they were delivering the very best level of service.

“The system allows for the odd glitch, because working with people is never a totally smooth journey, but it definitely keeps the whole team on their toes.”

All customer feedback is published on the Gatekeeper website

Massingham said: “The company sees importance in sharing the results publicly, warts and all.

“Staff respond to the feedback personally, and if ever there is a bad review, will always take the time to contact the customer and ask if there’s a way to resolve the issue.

“On a company level, this transparency means that great feedback is celebrated and training needs can be addressed quickly.

“A run of very successful months has bolstered team spirit and the company has seen a direct benefit.

“On average, over the last four months, 99% of Gatekeeper’s customers would recommend the staff’s service, with many taking the time to also leave messages of thanks.”

She said: “Perhaps estate and letting agents aren’t that bad, after all…”