The Mayfair Office annual conference, dinner and awards evening is always a civilised affair. You are as unlikely to hear a ‘boo’ in the room as you are to glimpse a white sock.
This year’s event was held at the RAF Club in Piccadilly and gathered the great and the good of the UK and international firms that belong to the well-respected and long-established affiliation group headed up by the affable and ebullient Nick Churton.
A feature of the gathering, which it has to be said is mainly for the seniors of firms, is that there is a free exchange of ideas and a real sense of shared purpose to drive businesses forward – by the use of technology, training, purchasing power or, as entertainingly illustrated by the firm of Howard Cundey, the use of a family of goldfish to promote the business!
My favourite training tip of the meeting? This was a conversation with Neil Evans, the MD of the 11-branch West Wales Properties, who told me that he holds a video conference call with all the branches and at random picks on one to tell everybody what the headlines on Property Industry Eye are that day. What a great way to make sure staff are up to speed with all that is happening!
It was a real pleasure to share ‘honoured guest’ billing with Bob Scarff who was giving the keynote speech. In order to sing for my supper I merely had to take part in a panel discussion on the future of the estate agency industry. A subject well suited to my, ahem, shy and retiring willingness to offer an opinion on contentious issues of the day…
Bob’s presentation focused on the view that “technology has changed human behaviour, but human nature is still the same”. He illustrated the point by referring to the spectacular success of easyJet that was followed by the spectacular failure of easyCruise.
Stripping away the frills of a cruise liner leaves you with – a ferry. And while a ferry is something that some people need some of the time, if they are paying for and expecting a cruise, that is what needs to be delivered.
The analogy applies to estate agency. A minority of people want a no frills, relatively cheap service, and any agent not offering some form of this will lose out. For others, the full service option is the way they will choose to go.
The difficulty for full service agents is that they need to make clear to consumers the differences between themselves and cut-price outfits. And then it is essential that the full service is actually delivered.
Bob’s tips on how to check whether your firm is delivering are:
‘Make a list of ten reasons why a vendor should choose your full service over someone else’s no-frills.
Then give yourself a score out of ten for each of them on the basis of how consistently you deliver those things – the score that your most dissatisfied client would give.
If your total is 90 or more, then very well done, you need not worry about the future – or you’re kidding yourself.
If your total is between 60 and 90, then you have work to do.
If you’re less than 60, I seriously recommend that you get out before it’s too late.’
The panel discussion was on the inroads being made into the market by the likes of Purplebricks and the ways in which traditional agents can counter the perceived threats.
The consensus was that while in the short term new-style agents will take some market share by expending vast sums of money on promotion, their success will be relatively short-lived when the market tightens, stock diminishes, or sales volumes fall. They simply won’t be able to afford the continued promotional expenditure.
It was also suggested that, collectively, traditional agents should be far more proactive in publicising the benefits of ‘full service’ and that trade bodies could play a part in co-ordinating such an initiative.
After a convivial post-conference gathering in the bar, dinner was served. A piquant deep-fried patty of goats’ cheese preceded the chicken in mushroom sauce, followed by a competently blow-torched crème brulee that slipped down a treat. Coffee, chocolates and a generous modicum of Port rounded off the meal. ( I do realise how important the food element of any conference report is to our readers.)
Later, Nick Churton’s after-dinner speech was poignant, humorous and insightful. His closing words struck me as a usefully concise appraisal of the changing demographics of the market and the challenges that the world of agency faces.
“2016 has been a transformational year for many of us. Disruptors in the form of online only agents continue their assault on our industry – especially in the urban sector. But even in the country there are creeping signs of that influence. Whether this continues or not remains to be seen and depends a great deal on us, but changes, as Bob so brilliantly outlined this afternoon, will have to be made.
This is the challenge ahead. When fees are being squeezed and the cake is getting smaller, to not only maintain our brands but also to grow them.
It is a time of renaissance. If you think that sounds over the top, I don’t believe that it is. We certainly have a technology renaissance going on that will affect the industry forever. But there are other huge changes.
I can’t remember a time in my now pretty long working life when there has been such a period of generational change.
The baby-boomers are finally making way for the Millennials; Generation X to Generation Y, the analogue generation, some of whom can move forward, are fading.
The digital generation who won’t move back – nor need to – are becoming our increasing focus. And that will only grow in the years ahead.
But this new group do not think or act like the old one. The Baby Boomers could be relied upon incrementally to develop their parents’ ideas. The new generation have their own thoughts entirely.
They seem prepared, en-masse, to give the establishment a good kicking in a way past generations would never have done, nor been able to.
They are older when they buy property for the first time. They are far happier to rent than their parents were. They may not be so keen to take on older, larger properties, and are more reluctant than the last generation to repair, renovate and re-model.
They often prefer, instead, more compact homes built in thermally-efficient and ecologically-agreeable materials. They want to control the heat, security, lighting and garden irrigation from a beach in Thailand. Sometimes they prefer a holiday in Thailand to buying a property in the first place – a point of view their parents could never understand.
Millennials may sooner choose a new home to an old one – if they had the choice. Those baby-boomers who are in the market are now thinking retirement, often now preferring urban locations to be near convenient amenities such as shops, entertainment, transport and health services.
What will happen to our larger rural stock, I wonder? We will have to adapt to, and then control, this changing world. It will take all our experience, energy, resolve and ingenuity. We will have to learn new techniques and technologies and we will have to forget some old ones. I believe that we will have to work together like never before, and perhaps we should reassess our approach to sales altogether.”
Well said, Nick. And thank you for a thoroughly enjoyable time in the company of those who, as Bob Scarff tweeted, are ‘proper estate agents’.
Very accurate synopsis of the day
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Disappointed that my invite must have got lost in the post. I totally agree with traditional estate agents publicising the benefits of their services. Traditional independent agents can counter the threats…..but only if we start to have a co-ordinated ‘one voice’ approach that is used in innovative and imaginative ways. I’m sorry but I am not sure the existing organisations have either the desire or the know-how to do that. Is this a controversial statement? It will be interesting to see if people disagree with me with dislikes.
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“Traditional independent agents can counter the threats… I’m sorry but I am not sure the existing organisations have either the desire or the know-how to do that.”
Simply put, the “existing organisations” cannot do that. They are open to all models of Agency. The NAEA currently straddle a very fine line though their involvement with AM/OTM – to which many of their Membership are excluded due to requirements to have ‘High-Street’ presence.
You want an organisation to cater specifically for the ‘TradIndy’ (copyright PeeBee) Agent? – then we’d better build one.
Soon, I would suggest…
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PeeBee, That is exactly what I want to do….and I agree with everything you have said, wholeheartedly.
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Anybody else interested in doing something rather than just talking?
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I’m all ears (EYEs, as the case may be…).
Contact me via Tw@tter if you’d like your idea ‘PeeBee’d’ (credit: Robert May)
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You may wish to have a look at this thread in the EYE Forum:
Any alternative to the NAEA?
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Agent V – As PeeBee has suggested, come find us on Twitter. If you do have the time to put into it not only launch but run, I think you could easily recruit like minded individuals, As PeeBee mentions i had a similar idea few months back.
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Thanks both….I have just got back from viewings ….so I’ll have a look on rather computer now
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The not rather
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I always nick Bob Scarff’s description of online or hybrid agents because it’s the best definition there is “All agents are online, the only difference is high end or low end service”.
The analogy of the ferry and the cruise is brilliant. Another quote I’ll be happy to give him credit for.
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Glad to be of service, Glenn
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Great article and one that should be sung from the roof tops! We are, when at the top of our games, exceptional, professional service providers. Imp not sure I subscribe to the constant reference to ‘traditional’ as that takes my mind to the stereo typical, chesterfield seated, cigar smoking, bombastic agents of old. I much prefer the term professional estate agent.
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how about ‘hi-tech full service estate agent’. That’s what I regard myself as ..and I suspect most other agents are nowadays as well.
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No frills service and purple bricks or top class service and pay for it exists in every sphere of life.
However the argument should be if it is delivered as I had said previously on these very pages. presumably Bob has copied those sentiments and asked us to check if we are delivering a service.
However you don,t find many Turkeys voting for xmas so inevitably we will say yes we do deliver, but is it targeted and delivered to the right audience
Many Corporate agents have huge staffing turnovers and thus the quality of delivery can and often is at best inconsistent and at worst non existent. Try opening a Mc Donalds franchise and the serving your own version of a big mac and see how long you retain it for!.
We offer mortgage services to our sellers and buyers as a service but more often than not dont deliver it.
We offer CPl or move with us knowing that it is at best a patchy service and certainly overpriced .
Out Friends provident commissions are are rated for maximum commision and we offer a reduced panel to milk the kickback from asset management or Survey business. Then of course we offer lettings with the new craze of admin fees etc.Oh and the ever present turnover of staff. As someone with over 30 years in the business and who has held senior positions for at least 25 years, I never understand the logic of so called marketing experts. Purplebricks etc dont promise to sell your home, nor does any agent, but they do promise to market it from online only and you pay less.And as long as we deliver a service that is rigged with higher commissions and poor service then we are purplebricks albeit with high street costs.
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“Purplebricks etc dont promise to sell your home, nor does any agent…”
PurpleBricks – Instruct to sell for £849
eMoov – Sell For Just £679
easyProperty – Sell your home from £479 inc VAT
YOPA – We charge a fixed fee of £780 to sell your home.
Settled – Selling how it should be, for just £399
Promise? Not exactly.
Infer? Ohhhhhh YESSSSSSS!
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If PB have 30,000 properties this year (they wish perhaps) and a current market value of ?£300,000,000 that’s £10,000 per property obtained. So if some of us club together to do the same, launch a ‘mega disruptor online agent’ on the AIM to raise backing (so it’s not our money we are risking) and then sell up a big enough part our shareholdings before the going gets too tough?
Isnt it a way of making lots of dosh….could set us all up for life….oh sorry, isn’t it meant to work like that?
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Delighted to hear that this was an event that Bob Scarff was allowed into after he was blocked at the Jeffries event the other day. Some good analogies and yes, all businesses need to look at themselves long and hard and see if they really are best in class and are 90 +! We are now seeing a market of survival of the fittest! The corporates are not a good advert for the industry with all of their aggressive cross selling, morning meetings, white boards and sales progressors and there is a staggering reliance on the internet and lack of competence. Why do I say this…I’ve just moved house and therefore have a fresh ‘punters side’ perspective. Wake up everyone, my experience was underwhelming and not all will survive…look at the cut backs already happening.
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