Autumn brings a change to the weather, the landscape around us and the amount of daylight hours we enjoy. Whether it will also bring a change to the property market remains to be seen. Either way, change is a key issue for estate agents right now.
Market conditions dictate that sales and lettings agents cannot rely on a natural flow of business. Transaction numbers have fallen significantly year on year, with low levels of available stock the main concern - "Property drought reaches crisis point" was one recent headline attributed to a story about the fact that the average estate agent reported a 20% drop in the number of people selling up since June.
So, stock remains key. As a result of this fundamental business challenge, if agents are going to seize sufficient market share and dominate their market place, it is not enough to simply work harder or keep fingers crossed. It is crucial to change and to raise standards.
One estate agency firm we run training for runs a business development meeting in their branches every month, allowing every single member of the team to have an input into how their company could adapt and improve, during a two hour get together with no interruptions. Mystery shopper calls are listened to and reviewed, customer feedback is studied and dissected, close scrutiny is made of what other agents are doing, brainstorming is carried out on how to improve the customer experience and detailed market share statistics are monitored and discussed. This honest forum has spawned a whole raft of ideas that have ensured superb results in the face of stiff competition. A market share of 27% in a town where 12 agents operate is not a coincidence.
Remember the old adage "If you focus on results, things will never change. If you focus on change, you will get results."
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