Why estate agents could do without sounding like estate agents
“God this is going to be a long journey.”
“These people are blathering corporate knobs.”
“I am seriously considering throwing myself out of this moving car.”
“The conversation is so painfully dull I want to put my head out of the window and start screaming help!!! I can’t take it anymore.”
These were a series of texts I received from my missus yesterday morning between 6 – 8am as she car shared with three other people on a journey into London thanks to Southern Rail’s seemingly never ending strikes.
The following are a series of texts I received from her between 5pm – 7pm the same day on her way back home with the very same car sharers.
“This is a bit better to be fair.”
“Actually they aren’t too bad. They are growing on me.”
“Two of them are really nice, it’s a lot more enjoyable drive than this morning.”
She came home as calm as someone can be who has just put in a 14 hour shift and being stuck in a car for five hours of it.
“So what happened on the way back to change your tune” I asked her?
“In the morning it was a group of strangers trying to impress each other. ‘My job is really important’ , “I’m working 60 hour weeks’ and ‘I’ve a Masters’ Degree’ blah blah f***ing blahdee boring blah.”
And she continued.
“On the drive home we just talked about normal stuff. Family, getting ready for Christmas, dick head colleagues.
The air of pretence was gone. It felt like the urge to impress was replaced with being real and having a chat. I even got an introduction to a potential new client.”
There’s a big lesson here for a lot of agents about the way they communicate through their websites, their tone and the ‘image’ they portray.
Don’t car share.
I’m kidding – please read on.
I come across a lot of agents whose website copy is shockingly bad.
In fact I’d say the majority is poor.
I can tell within 10 seconds (I’m not kidding) if a professional copywriter has written the stuff on an agency’s site.
But it’s not so much the skill of the writer, that’s very useful for sure.
No, it’s the tone the agency is using.
In an age where people want companies to be more personable a lot of estate agency copy is the opposite.
It’s far too focussed on sounding like ‘the area’s leading agent equipped with innovative marketing solutions and shiny windows’ and less like a group of decent people who know what they are doing, can be trusted and are here to help you sell or let your home successfully.
The internet and reviews sites are bringing about a new age of authenticity and transparency.
And as your website is increasingly a potential customer’s introduction to your agency you better get that tone right.
Think about making your content, copy and any communications as personal, helpful, interesting and above all as real feeling as possible.
Think about what you can do to stop sounding like ‘a typical estate agent.’ That’s a good starting point.
Employing a professional copywriter is another good step on the road to realness.
Thanks for reading and here’s to your next instruction.
Jerry
PS: Think the tone of your communications doesn’t matter? Tell that to Ewe Move, Innocent drinks and those companies whose success is built on good products and a fun, interesting and honest tone of voice
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