Landlords don’t care if you are cheaper, better, slicker.

October 13, 2014

Up until ten years ago there was money to be made in selling stuff, selling something be it a product or in our case property, a service to sell or let your property. Ten years ago, if you made your service better and cheaper, it was a sure path to growth and profitability. However, roll on to today, and I am sorry the rules are different. Plenty of agents can do it cheaper than you can OR offering a service that is measurably better for the same money they charge, is a hard edge to sustain.

The better letting agents will grow because landlords and potential sellers buy what they want, not what they need. Needs are sensible and purposeful, wants are illogical and personal. Every landlord knows they need an agent, but they want someone to be their guide, their wing man helping them grow their portfolio and ensure their investments are doing just fine.

Sorry fellow agents … the path to profitable growth is in satisfying wants, not needs. Of course, your service can’t pretend to satisfy those wants, they REALLY must satisfy those wants. The facts are irrelevant (ie what you offer, what service standards you have, your viewer process, your compliance levels). In the short term, it doesn’t matter one bit whether your service is actually better or faster or more efficient……What matters is what the landlord or potential homeowner wanting to sell their property believes what you can do.

Christopher Watkin

I teach, guide, support, mentor, consult, counsel, partner many hundreds of UK Estate and Letting Agents in their quest to grow their estate and lettings agencies business. Old school techniques of touting, landlords wanted leaflets, ring us for a free valuation, we have sold this in your street leaflets don't work anymore. There are too many competitor agents .. meaning cheap fees are epidemic, overvaluing is almost a norm to get the stock and don’t even mention about the online/hybrid threat. So a few years ago, I set about looking around the UK and spotted that certain agents (not many mind you) in certain towns were still seen as the ‘go to person on property’, the person the newspaper editor rang up every week for a comment and I looked at what they did and they were doing some thing quite remarkable…. Only one thing but they were doing it so well .. and reaping the reward in terms of decent listings and decent fees, happy staff, decent sales pipeline and exchange income, managed lettings portfolios in the many hundreds .. but more importantly, they really enjoyed the job… they enjoyed getting up in the morning and people looked up to them Over 400 agents around the UK are on a mission to change the way our Estate and Lettings agency profession is perceived and looked upon, doing it town by town, city by city. I guide these 400 agents, teach them, mentor them and support them to be seen in a different light, to be seen as the ‘go to person for property’, actually be the ‘local property expert’ and prove it. Christopher Watkin 07950 147 572 christopher@christopherwatkin.co.uk

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