I pride myself on making any decisions based on facts and evidence, not on feelings and emotions. However, we all know what comes after pride and I must admit that despite my protestations I tend to revert to making many of my decisions on what I feel rather than the facts.

That isn’t to say that factual evidence isn’t important (it clearly is) but I am reminded of the famous quote from the U.S. poet and political activist Maya Angelou…

“People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel.”

But what has that got to do with estate agency?

On my travels to various estate agents around the country, discussions with my fellow eXp workers, industry colleagues and in fact in life in general, I’ve noticed that (and I am definitely generalising here) most businesses/organisations seem too reliant on a ‘process’ rather than the delivery of ‘brilliant’ service. Now, please don’t get me wrong, those who have worked with me will know that I LOVE a process and frequently share the best ones with other estate agents when appropriate – which is nearly always. I even have a process to identify a process! It’s just that a process on its own, no matter how effective, will often not deliver that little bit extra for a customer and consequently fail to illicit any or a very limited emotional resonance … the very thing that we know is the basis upon which most buying decisions are made.

I recently lost a listing which I really wanted to secure, to a competitor that on any objective assessment (and with the very greatest of respect to that competitor) was unable to offer what I do as an estate agent. The victorious agent offered no elevated photography which I thought was critical to show off the position of the house, no video and no paid for social media campaign. Those are the facts. I have subsequently spoken with the victorious agent to congratulate him and to be fair he seems really good. But why did I lose the instruction?

Well, the sellers explained that they have known him for years and socialise with him. Clearly not a logical basis upon which to choose your estate agent but one based on feelings and emotions. In fact the vendors, who by the way are genuinely lovely people and who intend to buy a particular property through me once they are in a position to proceed, sent me an email informing me of their decision…

“Sorry I didn’t ring you , I chickened out 🙂” . In that email the prospective seller also conceded that “I know that your marketing would be second to none.” So, I clearly didn’t lose the instruction on the facts that I presented, my fee (though more than the other agent was not mentioned) and we appeared to have made at least some emotional connection but clearly not enough for me to be favoured with the listing.

I’m always fascinated by the range of experiences I have when being served at a shop, a bar, a restaurant or whatever and I nearly always express my views on those experience in terms of emotions… I “loved” this or “hated” that. I may well go on to justify my emotional response with a series of facts but it’s the feelings that I have that are burnt into my brain. It’s the feelings that I will remember more than the facts.

In the absolutely brilliant book Celebrity Service, author and business coach Geoff Ramm emphasises the importance of great service and provides a long list of examples he has personally experienced. It really is fascinating and littered with expressions of the positive emptions he feels when experiencing really good (and mostly highly personalised) service. What I find very interesting is that these examples do not necessarily have to cost very much if anything, though some do.

In the book there is even a special mention of Moneypenny who coincidently are suppliers to, amongst others, the estate agency sector. I must say that my own interactions with this amazing company have been equally impressive – and that’s not just because of the fantastic socks that they give out! Of course, Moneypenny also have an incredible workplace, great I.T. support and amazing marketing. BUT…it really is the way that I am dealt with by their staff that makes me feel SO special. They always do what they say they will do and more… MUCH MORE! Consequently, though I am constantly approached by other firms claiming to offer a similar service at an apparently lower price I simply don’t feel inclined to consider them, predominantly because of the way that the staff at Moneypenny make me FEEL.

So at the risk of contradicting myself by introducing a suggested ‘process’ to help create positive ‘feelings’ (they are BOTH really important actually), I will share with you the advice and one the reasons for the book title “Celebrity Service”…

Consistency

Excitement

Love

Engagement

Bravado

Response

Independence

Thank You

You And Your Team

There’s actually a whole chapter on each of these factors in the book.

Finally, I would urge you not to make the same mistake that I made and assume that just because you think and want to make a great impression you necessarily will, and don’t be seduced by the hundreds of 5 star Google ratings you may have.

Which reminds me of another quotation from Maya Angelou…

“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better”

How does that make you feel?