Now’s the right time to show some Brexit bottle

On the day after the EU referendum vote I jetted off with the family to Greece. I just fancied somewhere hot and politically stable.

For two weeks I avoided social media like a room full of Russian football fans, swerved the newsstands and switched off totally. Proper jelly head.

I’m now back and having scanned the media, caught up with emails and spoken to several clients one thing seems crystal clear in a bubbling sea of uncertainty. People want and need reassurance.

Not just from the politicians. Boris bottled it, Farage flipped out and David’s done one.

People are interested in hearing from property experts just like you.

I feel strongly that estate agents shouldn’t stand on the sidelines observing a Brexit Black Hole which the media will fill with lashings of doom and gloom (when I was a journalist we lived for these momentous type of events and apocalyptic scenarios.)

But what can estate agents do? The feeling I’ve gauged is that while some agents see years of pain a surprisingly big percentage are seeing it as a chance to establish themselves as their town’s leading property light.

How?

Well the media are still very interested in hearing from property experts. They know a chunk of their readers own homes, want to buy a home or are simply curious about how the bricks and mortar market is dealing with the referendum result.

Why not approach your local newspaper and proactively offer comment and insight? Get on their radar.

Also as anyone who has worked at close quarters with a colleague with dubious personal hygiene – not talking about it doesn’t make it go away.

If you sit on the your hands hoping the fear will dissolve I can pretty much guarantee that one of your rivals (if they haven’t already) will step up and start making statements via the media, newsletters, newspaper adverts etc.

Why not think about focussing your marketing on the must move market? – Death, debt and divorce ain’t going to stop due to the Brexit.

In summary I think it’s going to be an uncertain period, people will worry but I’m a big believer that the opportunities to win new instructions and new business are still out there.

Here’s to your next instruction.

Jerry

PS: In the US recession of the early 1990s Nike and Reebok were pretty much neck and neck. Nike upped their marketing spend while Reebok slashed theirs.

The result?

Nike’s profits rose by an astonishing nine times from what they were before the recession. Reebok have been playing catch up (not too successfully) since.

PPS:  Whatever happens the sun will still shine, the rain still fall and England will still be rubbish at football.

 

Alex Evans

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