An open love letter to ‘my’ estate agent ex
This is a true story. The name has been changed but the rest is described exactly as it happened.
On Friday afternoon while I was being treated to a day out by a client (I might send him a separate love letter) my wife answered the door to a stranger.
At least he felt like a stranger. His name was Nicholas and he was the estate agent that had sold us our home in East Sussex just over 16 months ago.
He was in the area and ‘doing valuations’.
I thought I’d send him an open letter by way of response. Here it is.
Dear Nicholas,
I know we only had a brief but intense, two month relationship but I felt compelled to send you this letter.
When we first met I was comforted by your integrity and ‘non pushy’ nature.
The fact that you represented your client well sat well with us because it showed you cared.
You handled the negotiations swiftly and with the minimum amount of fuss. We got the property we wanted, the vendor got the price they wanted, and you earned your commission.
Our love started waning on the day of completion.
I rang up your office on the big day to be told that you had left for ‘a rival agent down the road’.
It felt a little like a Dear John letter without the courtesy of the letter.
I picked up the keys to our new home when all the legal stuff and payments had gone through. I’ve been presented with Big Macs more enthusiastically. No theatre, nothing memorable, just a mental note to self ‘we won’t use this lot in the future’.
That wasn’t your fault as you weren’t there.
As we live in a small town we bumped into each other occasionally. But I felt a change in you.
The hellos were hurried, like a man who needed to get back to his car because he only had five minutes left on his parking ticket.
Then…….silence. Nothing. Tumbleweed.
Now this wouldn’t have been a problem at all. Life and love is fluid.
But, and it’s a bigger but than Kim Kardashian’s, when you ‘popped’ round out of the blue we felt a little used. All smiles and ‘how you settling in?’ Sixteen months after the event!!
We still think you are a decent chap, pretty good at your job but do we feel nothing more than another notch on your commission chart.
It could have been so different. You could have made us feel special and by doing that when it does come time for us to sell we would have had you top of the list of agents to work with.
Yours sincerely,
Jerry & Family.
The key point here is that Nicholas didn’t maintain the relationship.
He did his job, got the sale and moved on.
No problem but really clever PR would have been to keep things ticking over lightly.
Home buyers become home sellers and EVERYONE shares their estate agent experiences with others.
Jim Bowen on Bullseye used to tell deflated looking people who had lost out on the star prize ‘And here’s what you could’ve won’. I’ve a slight variation of this for my old mucker Nicholas.
“Here’s what you should have done.” Or at least considered.
When you left the agency we bought from, you could have let us know. Even informally.
After the sale, perhaps two weeks later, a courtesy call asking how we’re settling in etc.
An agent I work with sends one year, two year and five year birthday cards to people who have bought from them. You could start thinking like this.
Before popping round it would have been more of a courtesy to call in advance – We live in a cold calling area – not that I give a monkeys about that.
And finally having popped around you only give a verbal valuation – wouldn’t it have been better to send it in writing with some marketing material showing off how great your new agency is?
As my wise old Irish Uncle Tighe used to say about the art of successful relationships ‘Taking your wife to Paris for a weekend once every ten years is f’all compared to ‘small’ little acts of love and care done every day.’
PR is essentially how the public views your agency – all of the above is good PR.
Thanks for reading and here’s to your next instruction.
Jerry
PS: Have you downloaded our 10 Minute Guide to Powerful Property PR? Just like love – it’s FREE! Head over to www.propertyprexpert.co.uk to grab yours.
PPS: I haven’t sent him this letter because that’d be just plain weird.
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