Show your vendors what you do

How to add huge value with a little show and tell

Ask Mr and Mrs Joe Public what an estate does for his fee, and you’ll get a variety of hostile answers, most of them unprintable.  Of course, we’re all fighting with the legacy of unscrupulous agents who came before us (and those who are still to come) wielding unfair contracts and bogus buyers.  But there’s another reason why the general populous thinks that agents underdeliver and overcharge – they don’t understand what we do.

An agent client of mine in Leicester recently had an experience that proves my point: he was instructed to sell a modern townhouse in a rather nice area of town.  There was little precedent, as the most recent sale in the development had been pre-2007, so he spent a bit of time on the valuation, and suggested a marketing price of £300,000, leaving a little wriggle room.

The owner, a recruitment hotshot looking to move to London, was delighted, as she’d only paid around half of that. She happily signed the agreement at 1.5% and her property was live before she got home from work the next night.

The agent thought there would be good interest in the townhouse, but was very pleasantly surprised when ten viewings were booked for that weekend.  The following Monday, the agent got a call from a buyer with an offer at £280,000, which, through careful negotiation and skillful discussion, he managed to tease up to asking price.  Helped by the fact he had several more viewing requests that day, including a cash buyer.

By close of play that Monday, the deal was sewn up at asking price.  The vendor was delighted, the buyer had got their dream home, and the agent had earned his fee.  Or so he thought.

Fast-forward six weeks, and it was time to pay the piper. The solicitor called the agent to say that the vendor, his client, was querying the invoice.  Having sold so quickly, she felt that there should be a discount on the fee.  She was offering 1%, as “the agent didn’t have to do anything”.

Let’s look at what the agent did:

  • Spent an hour with the vendor, discussing marketing strategy
  • Researched local comparables, to identify the best marketing price
  • Wrote a professional and appealing description of the property
  • Carefully photographed each room, and the outside of the house, to make sure it looked its best
  • Paid for a floorplan to be drawn up
  • Uploaded the listing to his own website, and all the portals, then checked them to make sure all the adverts were correct.
  • Created a compelling advert for the local newspaper
  • Booked in viewings for the property, checking with the vendor each time to make sure it was convenient for him.
  • Provided viewing staff to show interested buyers around the house.
  • Followed up by phone with each viewer to obtain constructive feedback.
  • Received an offer and forwarded it to the vendor by letter.
  • Negotiated the offer, over several phone calls, to achieve the desired sale price.
  • Progressed the sale, via phone calls and emails to the vendor, the buyer and the two solicitors.
  • Reassured both vendor and buyer when the property was down-valued slightly, and kept the deal on the table.
  • Eased both solicitors to a successful Exchange of Contracts, despite their propensities to drag their lawyerly feet.
  • On Completion day, checked monies received, handed over keys, gave buyer a welcome bunch of flowers and new home card.

That’s 16 steps, without any real issues, chain difficulties, survey problems, funding challenges, or arguments about whether light fittings are included.  And for all this, the agent was asking for of £4,500.  A bargain, I think.

The agent did exactly what he promised, and found a speedy buyer willing to pay the asking price in less than a week.  It’s ironic really, that the vendor then thinks he hasn’t done anything for his fee.  Is she actually saying that she would have been willing to pay more if her property had languished on the market for months, struggling to achieve interest, and eventually sold for a discounted price? I think not.

Unpack your service

If Mr and Mrs Joe Public don’t know what you do for your service, it’s your fault.  You have to tell them what you do.  You need to educate them.  Unpack your service so they know all the hoops you jump through to get them to where they want to be – in their new home.

You can use your blog, if you have one, to unpack your service, explaining what you do, and how you do it. Once you’ve received the signed Agreement, tell your new client exactly what you’ll be doing next to help her house sell.  In your marketing material, include a kind of flow chart, to show the process of marketing, negotiating and selling a property.  Hold an event for vendors, describing the journey that vendors and agents take to make it work.  And basically use all the media available to you to get the message across to the public.

What to read next: What they think of you
What to do next: Do you get my Supertips? They’re jam-packed full of great tips and marketing strategies just like this one, and best still – they’re free! Get yours here -> www.samashdown.co.uk/samsupertips

Speak to Sam: If you’d like to know how I think you could improve your marketing, just answer a few short questions here and I’ll tell you if and how you could be more effective.

Sam Ashdown

Sam is an industry-renowned marketing strategist to estate agents. She helps agents grow and flourish, using her unique smart marketing techniques and strategies. Sam works with agents throughout the UK to help them gain more valuations, win more instructions and sell more properties.

You May Also Enjoy

Breaking News

Rental stock availability in England rises by 19.7%

The latest rental stock analysis from Adiuvo, the UK’s leading provider of 24/7 property management solutions, reveals that tenants in England are benefitting from a 19.7% increase in stock over the 12 months leading up to Q3 2025. In some areas of the country, annual stock growth easily exceeded 50%. Adiuvo has analysed rental listings…
Read More
Breaking News

Tenant demand continues to climb in Q3 as rental market shows no signs of cooling

The latest market analysis by Dwelly, one of the UK’s leading lettings acquisition and success planning experts, has revealed that tenant demand continued to climb across the rental sector during the third quarter of this year, with West Sussex home to the highest demand, whilst Rutland saw the largest quarterly increase. Dwelly’s Rental Demand Index* analyses…
Read More
Breaking News

Halifax House Price Index for September 2025 – Thoughts from the Industry

Halifax House Price Index for September 2025. The latest index shows that: On a monthly basis, house prices fell by -0.3% between August and September 2025. However, house prices were up 1.3% on an annual basis. The new average house price now sits at £298,184. Thoughts from the Industry. Nathan Emerson, CEO of Propertymark, comments:…
Read More
Breaking News

Halifax House Price Index for September 2025

House prices in September 2025 were -0.3% lower than the same month a year earlier. Average house price – £298,184 Monthly change -0.3% Quarterly change +0.4% Annual change +1.3%   Amanda Bryden, Head of Mortgages, Halifax, said: “The average UK house price edged down by -0.3% (£794) in September, following a modest rise in August.…
Read More
New Build for Merseyside
Breaking News

First-time buyer demand falls sharply

First-time buyer demand falls sharply across Britain’s major cities, with Nottingham leading the decline The latest research by Yopa has shown that first-time buyer demand has dropped significantly across a number of major British cities, with Nottingham seeing the sharpest decline since the start of the year. Yopa analysed first-time buyer (FTB) demand based on…
Read More
Breaking News

Families to save hundreds of pounds through major homebuying overhaul

·        Buying or selling a home to be faster, cheaper, and easier under common-sense reforms ·        First-time buyers to save £710 on average, putting money back into people’s pockets ·        Proposals will halve number failed transactions, preventing last minute fall throughs, slashing weeks off the process and driving up standards across the board Hundreds of thousands of first-time…
Read More