Changing Times Week: Changing The Mindset Of Agents & Clients

This week on my guest blogs I thought we would tackle the latest gritty subject:- The Changing Face Of Estate & Lettings Agencies. Todays blog is from Baiju Solanki who is himself a landlord and a performance coach.

Mindset of the Estate Agent vs. Mindset of the Client

The way we buy and sell houses is changing.

Whatever the industry, a change in methodology also requires a change of mindset. One thing that can be predicted about the housing market is the way we buy, sell and research will never be the same again in a few years time.

Therefore today I pose the question; With these changing times, has the approach of the estate agent changed with the shift in thinking of the client?

Before we consider this, we need to know what is the current mindset of the estate agent. What I would say is the following would not be far from the truth:

Show me the MONEY! – its all about the sale, doing whatever it takes to get the sale
Meeting my sales target – to get the bonuses, praise etc
Er….that’s it.

So what is the client’s mindset?

For a residential purchase probably the biggest purchase they are going to make for a good while at least. The property has to feel right, can they imagine themselves living there. So my thoughts are that their objectives are different;
Budget – how much they want to spend
Reason – true motivation to buy or sell.

How does the mindset of the estate agent correlate with the mindset of the client? They both want it completed quickly however for very different reasons. What would be the impact if the estate agent approached the service from the point of view of what the client is looking for?

What Do Clients Want?

The clients want to feel valued, listened to and have the belief that the estate agent has their best interest at heart. If this cannot be achieved, what is the client paying for? Now you could argue, the ability to have your property listed on Right Move or similar portal is what they are paying for. However, if there is nothing else, apart from the marketing what is the client paying for?

How Do Agents Need To Change?

So what can the estate agent do to ensure they still have a role to play? MINDSET. They need to realise that they need to shift from being an estate agent, to an agent for the client who facilitates the selling or buying of the property. They may need to specalise in one or the other of those two ideals too.

This model already exists in the USA. The real estate agent is someone that stays with the client wherever they are. Other industries have this, when you find an accountant you like, you may move house or country even, but it doesn’t mean you need to change accountants.

Up Close And Personal

For this to occur a much more personal relationship needs to be achieved between client and estate agent. If the estate agent were to take the time to truly understand what the whole picture looks like for the client then maybe a better and fairer system will appear for the client. One thing is for sure, by taking this time there is a greater chance that trust will develop between estate agent and client.This can only be a good thing for the reputation of agents, which has suffered greatly in recent times.

The Professionals Do it!

There is an argument that professional property investors have this kind of relationship with estate agent. The estate agent knows the client, what they are looking for and how they do business. The result better service is often received.

Is there any reason why you can’t have a personal agent that looks after you when you move, irrespective of your location? If this is going to be the biggest purchase you are going to make and in some cases the most stressful, you want someone who truly understands your needs and you can trust.

The estate agent know’s this, however they still treat the process as if someone is buying their weekly groceries. Now, I am not suggesting that all estate agents think this way. What I am saying, is that for the estate agent to survive and play an important role they need to look at their service from the point of view of the clients needs, as opposed to being seen as the expert in property.

Summary

The internet has allowed people to search for property whatever  24/ 7, and not be restricted to when an estate agent is available. For the estate to survive, the ones that shift from focusing on the property to focusing on the person, will benefit the most.

What will it take for this to happen? Not a lot really. People are already searching for property themselves and by-passing the estate agent. At the moment the estate agent is relying on the ‘expert’ status they hold to ensure they stay part of the process. The problem that the agent has to overcome is that people are becoming more and more aware of what they can do for and by themselves.

If you like this blog from Baiju, you can contact him on Twitter here or visit his coaching web site here.

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