Most of the newcomers in today’s property industry threaten to disrupt and shake up the status quo.

I have come to a different view. The real disruptors could be the status quo itself, the high street – as long as we stand united to improve the experience for consumers when it comes to customer service and trust.

Let me explain.

During the time that I spend in Germany, I have extended periods when I am able to research and meet with really talented people from literally all over the world.

In the small sleepy town of Duderstadt, I feel like I have been transported back to Britain 20 years ago.

This is particularly felt in the town’s estate agencies. The model in Germany is quite different from the UK in that most agencies are either part or wholly owned by banks (anyone feeling a bit more like the 80s yet?).

However, the service is definitely not corporate.

The agent is hyper-local, hugely respected and trusted and above all very professional with a capital P.

The agency staff all wear suits and ties, and consulting is more like attending a doctor’s surgery than our trendy UK offices.

I decided to discuss the advent of online agencies, both with two of the local agents and with the various global entrepreneurs resident at the “Zum Lowen”.

This hotel incidentally is akin to the United Nations, only for business people from all over the world.

Some are (like myself) accompanying loved ones for cancer treatments, some are on their own and are receiving treatment, but they have all taken responsibility for their own destinies both in business and in health.

So, just translate disruptive!

Those I talked to quickly seized on the fact that the new online player in the market was “disruptive”.

This is where it got interesting.

The best translation of “disruptive” is “Störend” and the literal translation of “Störend” is “disturbing”.

The assembled group thought that this was hilarious, as it exactly fitted the emergence of new, mainly technology-based industries that are popping up in every sector.

20 years to build a brand and 2 years to see it on its knees

A lady from Sydney, who operates taxi firms, took this one stage further.

She said: “It’s not disturbing, it’s destructive: 20 years to build a business and a brand, and two years to have it reduced to its knees by Uber.”

OK, so Uber is to taxis worldwide, what eMoov and Purplebricks are to high street agents in the UK.

And if they are, is that just the way the world is heading, so tough up, sign in, or check out.

After all, just this month, Countrywide results showed a stark decrease in high street activity and my favourite estate agent, Bob Scarff is telling me that his old firm feels “it’s all about retail” – not that he agrees.

Do investors see it that way?

Well to answer that, I changed towns and made my way to Frankfurt.

This is the centre of European money and it is tangible. The air is heavy with it, the buildings are mirror and steel monoliths and the language is plaintively world business – i.e accented English.

Doing my best to fit in (hard when you are almost 50 in Frankfurt – 31 is considered burned out), I managed to strike up conversation with a group of investment bankers.

Their take on disruptive business was quite different but altogether more positive.

I would have to add that by now I was seriously reflecting on the fact that I too had invested 27 years in a brand and service and was being constantly astounded at how a raft of small companies that typically produced a tiny piece of tech, that performed one simple task with a handful of customers were continually winning industry awards and taking six to seven figure valuations.

Follow the money – or just create something new

The bankers explained – as ever, follow the money and this applies just as much to property as it does to software and even taxis.

When I had some great ideas for improving daily life in the property industry, I started a company and gradually built a client base to fund the organic growth of that business.

However, when today’s young entrepreneurs come up with a clever widget, they do something entirely different.

They aren’t looking to create business based on revenue, reputation and brand. The main objective is to create something that can be flipped. The business is simply not structured in a way that makes it sustainable.

The structure is based on rounds of financing enabling them to undercut, over market and create the appearance of success.

Only last week I read an article about a “new” proptech firm t valued at £2m, with no clients and only an idea.

The idea by the way was to take revenue on the introduction of suppliers and to enable this through technology (something my own company has been doing for the last eight years).

This new proptech firm had already raised £400,000 towards that target.

Now I may be old fashioned, but we don’t lack ideas and we blast this into the ether on a daily basis with thousands of clients servicing some 500,000 properties – so excuse me the rant, but this seems frankly ridiculous.

Rather than feeling threatened by some new technology driven super competitor, we should all feel threatened by the power of the capital funds backing these destructive forces and how this has been super-charged by our “always on” society.

We must create strategies

So having identified who and what they are, we now understand the why they are and it seems fairly simple to create strategies to stop the scorched earth devastation of our industry – by which I mean property.

No one should think for a minute that consumers will remain untouched in this.

The headlines across various papers (PR-funded by bottomless capital pockets) are based on “middle Britain” couples saving a “fortune” in agency fees.

This usually best case scenario, and not taking valuation into account, amounts to around £1,000.

Now transpose that transaction, to a time where stock is plentiful and make the vendor a vulnerable, elderly and possibly foreign speaker.

Put a figure on how much that will hurt vendors believing they will be saving money – and of course, we have an ageing population to boot.

So the strategy must surely be to fully engage with everyone who stands to lose if the destruction is allowed to proceed, whilst at the same time offering a superior service, improved technology and above all to become the trusted advisor.

Creating a network of independent but symbiotic property professionals based on brand, knowledge, local presence and shared opportunities may be DISRUPTIVE, but not DISTURBING and definitely not DESTRUCTIVE.

Let me know what you think.

* Peter Grant is founder of estate agency software specialist VTUK

www.vtuk.com