I still remember my very first morning meeting in an estate agency back in 2004. It was my first day in the industry and, like anyone starting a new job, I sat down determined to take everything in. Within a couple of minutes, I’d completely lost the plot.
The conversation was full of vendors, buyers, chains, fall-throughs, memorandums of sale, exchanges and valuations. Everyone else around the table nodded along as though it was perfectly normal, while I sat there wondering whether I’d accidentally walked into a meeting being held in another language.
Thankfully, it didn’t take long before the terminology started to make sense. Before I knew it, I was using exactly the same language myself. Looking back, though, I think that first morning taught me something far more valuable than I realised at the time.
Over twenty years later, most estate agents are still speaking that language every day. The difference is we’re no longer speaking to colleagues. We’re speaking to homeowners.
It’s an easy trap to fall into. We spend years learning the language of estate agency. We understand chains, contracts, exchanges, sales progression and sole agency because it’s our world. We use those phrases every day, so naturally we assume everyone else understands them too. The reality is very different.
Think about the last valuation you carried out. The person sitting opposite you may not have moved home for ten or fifteen years. Some won’t have bought or sold a property for considerably longer than that. Whilst you’ve probably negotiated three offers and spoken to two solicitors before lunchtime, they’re trying to remember how the moving process even works.
Imagine visiting your solicitor and hearing nothing but legal terminology, or sitting in a doctor’s appointment where every explanation is filled with medical jargon. You’d probably leave feeling confused, even if the advice itself was excellent. Homeowners can feel exactly the same way when estate agents forget they’re speaking to someone who doesn’t live and breathe property every day.
I don’t think this only affects conversations in the living room. I think it has a huge impact on our marketing too.
Spend a few minutes browsing estate agency websites and you’ll see phrases like “maximum portal exposure”, “extensive applicant database” and “proactive sales progression”. They’re all perfectly accurate, but they’re written from an estate agent’s perspective rather than a homeowner’s.
Most homeowners aren’t lying awake wondering whether an agent has an extensive applicant database. They’re wondering whether they’ll achieve the price they need to move. They’re worrying about finding somewhere to buy, whether their buyer might pull out, how long the process will take and whether the whole experience is going to become stressful.
The service hasn’t changed. The conversation has.
Instead of telling homeowners about proactive sales progression, tell them you’ll keep them informed every step of the way and work tirelessly to keep their move on track. Instead of talking about your applicant database, explain that you already have motivated buyers waiting for homes like theirs. The meaning is the same, but one speaks the language of estate agents and the other speaks the language of homeowners.
One of the most useful ways I’ve found to bridge that gap is by using AI, not to write marketing, but to understand people. Ask AI to analyse the questions homeowners are asking online before they move. Explore the conversations taking place on Google, online forums and social media. Very quickly you’ll begin to see the words, concerns and frustrations that appear time and time again. Those are the conversations your marketing should be joining.
The best estate agents don’t build trust by demonstrating how much they know. They build trust by making complicated things feel simple. That’s true whether you’re explaining a property chain, discussing the legal process or reassuring a nervous seller who’s moving for the first time in years.
Looking back, I’m actually grateful I didn’t understand a word of that morning meeting back in 2004. Almost every homeowner is sitting where I was that day. They’re trying to make sense of an unfamiliar process, hearing terminology they’ve probably not encountered for years, if ever. Our job isn’t simply to sell houses or negotiate offers. It’s to make one of life’s biggest decisions feel understandable.
Perhaps the biggest mistake estate agents make isn’t talking too little.
It’s talking too much like estate agents.
Chris Webb is the founder of The Estate Agent Consultancy.
Comments (1)
As someone on the periphery but dealing with estate agents, I couldn’t agree more with Chris’ comments.