It is hard to believe that any estate agent would withhold knowledge of any skill they have, oddly however in 25 years+ as a professional landlord and developer never once did an agent tell me!
Worst of all, in many ways it is the most important part of their service and likely most costly in terms of time generally and yet they appear almost ashamed of the fact.
It was not until I started researching estate agency four years ago to turn my proptech idea to reality, that I realised this hidden in plain sight, unspoken, valuable aspect of estate agency service. Twenty-five plus years I had been waiting, so forgive me reader for making you wait for the big reveal to this point!
SALES PROGRESSION – yes, the dirty phrase of estate agency they dare not mention to the general public. Although, since the advent of the online agency bad boys, Purple Bricks (PB), some agencies did start to inform the public of the dark art of getting a property sale over the finish line. However, only doing so once a PB property sat within their sales chain. They hated the low-cost voyeuristic approach PB took towards sale progression.
It is to the detriment of estate agency in general that sales progression is an unspoken phrase at market appraisal and instruction. Perhaps because most negotiators or listers are unwilling to highlight potential pitfalls or because they don’t do the process themselves. Perhaps, they think they are the stars for dragging in the business and undervalue their own office-based sales progressor colleagues. Whatever the reason, it is time that estate agency highlighted sales progression to their clients, arguably, this is the biggest reason people use agencies to sell their homes today. With average sales fall through figures nationally at just under 30% (Source Property Wire 2019) An agency with a low sales fall through rate should be houting it from the rooftops!
For members of the public, finding a property has never been easier, valuing a property is becoming simpler and more accurate, with advances in photography and online tools for brochures the public perceive less value in what was once seen as professional services and route to market.
People value what they cannot or are unwilling to do themselves. Isn’t it time to highlight the hidden value of sales progression to your clients?