A Sunday morning story…

Once upon a time…

Here is a property related tale but be warned, it is more a horror story than a fairy story…

My wife and I are seeking an investment purchase. A potential property appeared on a portal on Friday.

We phoned at 9.15am on Saturday to arrange to view on Sunday afternoon. “Gareth” answered the phone. We told him that we wanted to view. He didn’t thank us for the call, asked no questions whatsoever about our motivation, ability, requirements etc etc – didn’t “piggy back” other potential properties. He seemed keen to get us off the phone. He told us he would try and get us a viewing on the Sunday afternoon. We enquired whether it was occupied and he said it was “chain free” – this is jargon (which should be avoided) and didn’t answer the question anyway. He said the Sunday viewing would depend on whether “the owner was ok with it” and whether the agent “had a slot available” which I assume meant someone from the agency would show us round. Gareth checked that the number of the phone we had called in on was the best number for them to reach us on and we confirmed it was. He took no other contact details and had a surname with no initials. We then asked him if he’d seen the property. He said he hadn’t. We asked a few questions about the garden and interior condition etc – he could not answer any of them. I quickly realised that we were probably talking to a call centre and that the actual estate agency office wasn’t open at 9.15am on a Saturday. Gareth was in reality a glorified message taker. But at least we had spoken to a human being who would set the wheels in motion for the viewing to be arranged.

4 hours later, we had heard nothing so phoned the agent again.

A different male answered the phone and initially knew nothing of what we were asking about re a viewing. We explained we had spoken to somebody at 9.15am. He responded by saying “We aren’t open at that time”. We pointed out that we had spoken to someone called Gareth, who had advised us that he would try and make us a viewing for the Sunday. The new male retorted by saying Gareth had misinformed us and that they “don’t do viewings on a Sunday”. There was no further explanation and no apology. His tone was dismissive and irritated. He then did actually find a note about our viewing request but which had no detail of what time or day we wanted to go. We asked whether he was actually going to have called us at some point. He didn’t answer. We told him we weren’t pleased and observed that the vendor of the property in question would probably not have been too impressed. We then asked whether he was the manager – he said he wasn’t. We asked his name – he said “Fred” (we are yet to establish whether this is his real name).

We are viewing two other properties today – sadly not the third. We live 60 miles away and I work every day in the week and often Saturday so Sundays are the only realistic option for viewings.

I train estate agents around the country and help them reach exceptional levels of service and behaviour. We work on this on the premise that there are plenty of estate agents for the public to choose from including “internet only” practitioners and many “high street” competitors and it is crucial to raise standards above those of your competitors to achieve great results.

The agent in question is a well known “high street” agent but anyone sharing my type of experience would question what they bring to the customer experience over and above even a very basic online agent where I could have made a viewing myself direct with the client and who could have answered my questions more capably.

In this case, I recognise I am simply an investment buyer and perhaps as such I am one of a number whom this agent doesn’t need to treat well. We are no doubt ten a penny right now. But of course unbeknownst to them, I may have other investment properties that need managing, and/or a property to sell locally. At the very least, I am a potential recommender and, assuming I buy an investment property in their patch, I am a future local landlord and vendor. I could give this agent quite a bit of business in the future. But I won’t be doing that.

PS: On a final note, I sit as a judge on industry awards panels every year – if you recognise your agency from this story, please don’t waste your time putting in a submission. Your chances of winning aren’t huge.

Julian O’Dell
March 2016

Trust me…I’m an estate agent!

“Trustability” (my favourite word for 2013) is at the top of the list of key attributes of an effective agent, particularly in light of the confusion that many of the public are feeling over what the market is doing. More than ever before, there is a need for agents to be seen as experts and providers of clear, professional, unambiguous advice on the market thereby illustrating their competence and authority in providing the right course of action that their client(s) should take. Our “Is there a doctor in the house?” course focuses on how an agent can increase their credibility and win more clients by raising the standards of their conduct, knowledge and behaviour.

The issue of trust is not new. I can remember an interesting experience from seven years ago which still serves as a reminder as to the lack of trust in the industry as a whole. It is rare for me to lose my temper in the face of any professional or personal scenario, however on this occasion I confess that I did.

Allow me to set the scene. An estate agency firm had booked me to deliver a two-day “Excellence in Customer Service” course for ten of their newish recruits. On the morning of the first day, we had a lively discussion about what qualities make for an excellent estate agent, and the delegates duly came up with a list of such attributes as professionalism, adaptability, tenacity and so forth. These were recorded on the flipchart for ongoing reference during the course.

We all departed at the close of day one and reconvened the following morning.

Unbeknown to us, our conference room had been used for some form of function the previous evening, and the attending members of the public had had access to the flipchart and marker pens. One person had decided it would be highly amusing to embellish our list of the qualities of an excellent estate agent with a few suggestions of their own.

These included “no discernible talent”, “ability to talk bull”, “patronising manner”, “arrogance” and “fake tan”!

The reasons for my anger were twofold. Firstly, this experience reawakened my frustration that a percentage of the public have such a dim view of mostly such a hardworking group of professionals. Secondly, that I would have to rewrite the list to exclude these additions – it seemed inappropriate to leave the fledgling negotiators with the impression that these “qualities” deserved to feature on the list. However, I had a flash of inspiration (not a common occurrence) and left the list as it was. As the trainees arrived for day two, they spotted the amendments and a discussion ensued as to how estate agents were perceived by the public and crucially how hard we have to work to change that perception. What a great lesson for that group of new starters to learn in the embryonic stage of their career!

Trust is often defined as “belief or confidence in the honesty, goodness and skill of a person, organization or thing” and if we accept this version, it is clear that our actions and words must be geared towards creating a feeling in the customer that we are “honest, good and skilled” in everything we do.

A customer’s initial dealings with an estate agent will be typically via email, over the phone or possibly face to face in the office.

As a Partner within an estate agency myself, I try to reinforce with our troops the critical nature of making an outstanding first impression to take the early steps in building trust with a customer.

Given, as previously alluded to, that some of these customers will not be expecting great things from their experience with an estate agent, standing out from the competition is paramount.

This can be achieved by some very simple actions. Standing up and meeting the customer in the front of the office, thereby removing the “barrier” of the desk shows enthusiasm and thoughtfulness. Shaking hands and giving your business card at the outset displays professionalism. An upbeat tone and positive greeting when taking a phone call serves a similar purpose, as does responding promptly to emails and letters – while being attentive to spelling and grammar.

It is important to visualise every customer as wearing a sign around their neck which reads “Make me feel important!”

However, the key to building trust predominantly lies in delivery on promises.

It is worryingly easy to make throwaway comments like “I’ll call you back before lunch…” or “I’ll send you an email shortly…” and then allow circumstances or lack of personal organisation to lead to failure to do so, leaving the customer with the impression that you don’t care and that you cannot be trusted with the most basic of tasks.

The agent who overpromises and underdelivers will be kept busy with disgruntled customers and complaints, therefore utilising valuable time which could otherwise be more productively spent.

On the other hand, the agent who adopts a reverse strategy of exceeding their promises will be active in making business happen. Imagine the impact of agreeing to post property particulars or a valuation report, but subsequently hand delivering them a few hours later instead.

A broad knowledge of the property industry allows the best agents to weave certain facts and statistics into conversations with customers and thereby stand apart from the average agent. Exceptional agents acquire new industry knowledge every day by way of Google alerts, Twitter or general media coverage. Such knowledge is sure to impress and start to create trust in the agent’s capabilities.

In addition, being straight with people pays off in the long run. It is better to impart bad news swiftly and openly, though some agents fail in this area. Overvaluing property to secure instructions continues, but there is every likelihood that the unsold client will ultimately instruct a realistic agent in the long run, as they have an increased desire for honest advice. “Honesty is the best policy” is an adage that has stood the test of time.

By adhering to the sorts of approaches above, the customer’s resultant heightened perception of you and your firm will lead you to secure their business, as well as the business of many other recommended parties.

Julian O’Dell

TM training & development

Mind Your Language…

One of the key mantras that we hold dear at TM training & development, and which forms an essential backdrop to many of our courses is that “good is no longer good enough”.

Recognition, however grudging, that one’s competitors in business are good at what they do leads to the essential conclusion that we need to be better than good to stand out from the crowd. “Exceptional” is a standard that many of our sales and lettings agency client firms now aspire and ultimately adhere to, in order to attract and retain more business.

Any organisation that continually works to be exceptional at what it does needs to maintain a flawless consistency in how they present themselves to their customers. A key part of that is the language, vocabulary or phrases that we use – in particular during telephone conversations.

The proper use of the telephone and how to announce yourself, put a call on hold, conduct a call, transfer a call and take messages need specific training. The reality is that many of us will not have had such training and our standards will vary. As a result, reviewing these elements should be part of our journey in our continual quest for excellence.

How many times have you phoned a business, started by saying “Hello. My name is Mr/s X. I wonder if I could speak to somebody about….”, only to be transferred and then asked what your name is and why you are calling, sometimes more than once. It happens to me more often than I’d care to mention. Effective telephone techniques include listening intently from the outset, jotting the name down and using it during the subsequent conversation, as well as establishing the reason for call quickly and accurately.

It is important to consider the phraseology in face-to-face communications with customers. Many of us may admit that we have become a little lazy in our use of language and influenced by film and TV in a way that is not always positive.  We need to be very conscious of tone and content when talking direct with our customers. The reality is that style and quality are both classless and international. The warmth and attractiveness of accents, from whatever corner of the globe or this country add character, without which we would be cookie-cutter replicas lacking the individuality that makes each of us different and memorable. This is not about accents or backgrounds – it is about being professional and using appropriate language.

On regular occasions, when booking training venues, I request confirmation of the equipment provided – an example being a flipchart or projector screen. An all too common response is “That should be fine”. What does that tell me as the customer? Essentially, that I will turn up and maybe the equipment will be as I requested, but then maybe it won’t. Answers of “Absolutely” or “Of course” give an entirely different impression.

Another example of the language of exceptional customer service is the phrase “You’re welcome”. These two words sum up perfectly the mindset that we need to have and the way in which we need to interact with each and every customer. Emphasis can be added by saying “You’re most welcome” or “You’re very welcome” so as to vary the response. Clearly you must mean it – or else it is just another version of ‘have a nice day’.

Whenever I hear “You’re welcome” said with obvious sincerity and warmth in an establishment, I am much more confident that I will be looked after and I believe that the team concerned understand their commitment to me as their customer.

The other side to the coin are phrases that are totally unacceptable and should never be used as a response to customers. These include “No problem” or “No worries” or “No bother” or anything similar. The implication to any customer is that although they have not been a problem or worry or bother on this occasion …… they might well be on another occasion! Such phrases carry negative implications and are inconsistent with the journey to “exceptional” standards. Lexicographer Erin McKean suggests that “perhaps the ‘no problem’ of service workers is a way to reclaim some measure of power — ‘no problem,’ after all, does remind the customer that her request is technically within the power of the employee to grant or refuse.” So, there seems to be a problem with “no problem”, hence why “you’re welcome” wins hands down!

Therefore it would be best to ensure that you consider and cover this as a specific training item where you are responsible for a customer-facing team or if you use the telephone within your job role.

Julian O’Dell, TM training & development