What makes a good estate agency? It’s a broad question but one I’ll attempt to answer in this article. Paperclip has provided call answering and admin support services to Estate Agencies almost from the day the company started trading way back in 2008.
A common trait of all of Paperclip’s estate agent clients is a culture that truly believes in the commercial benefits of quality customer service:
What does ‘quality customer service’ mean in the context of using a call answering service like Paperclip? It means the estate agency:
- Captures every call
- Doesn’t keep callers waiting
- Empowers the Paperclip team to answer FAQs
- Facilitates efficiencies by allowing the Paperclip team to enter data into the agency software being used, whether this is Jupix, Street, Domus or others.
Over and above a desire to deliver true customer service, what are the other traits of a successful estate agency?
The individual: traits of a successful estate agent
Like all successful businesses, the best estate agents ensure they recruit, train and retain the best people. Just Google, ‘Qualities needed to be an estate agent’ and you will find an almost limitless supply of lists. Many of the traits identified, however, are common to all lists:
- Honesty/integrity – no estate agent or estate agency will endure unless their reputation is built on honesty and integrity. It’s something that is very difficult to define, but you certainly recognise it immediately when it is absent.
- Good communicator (and listener) – this is often portrayed as having the ‘gift of the gab’, but this implies using language to cover a lack of knowledge or sincerity. In our experience, the strongest estate agents are those that build strong relationships with buyers and sellers through patient, open, two-way conversations.
- Sincerity – The comedian, Bob Monkhouse, used to say that the best piece of advice he received was: ‘Always be sincere…whether you mean it or not!’ The best estate agents have a genuine interest in architecture and houses. They also really want the best outcome for all parties in a transaction and will work hard to achieve that.
- Knowledge – It goes without saying that to be successful an estate agent must know everything about the area they cover: schools, traffic, local amenities, crime rates and They will also know the rules and regulations that need to be followed.
- Work ethic and attention to detail – Good estate agents are incredibly hard-working; Paperclip has first-hand experience of this from working with its estate agent clients. Finally, the key to a successful and smooth transaction is all in the detail. Working closely with other property professionals, including the appointed conveyancing solicitors, a good estate agent will get the deal over the line in as short a time as the arcane English legal approach to property transactions allows.
The business: the characteristics of successful estate agencies
If estate agencies have a workforce imbued, and trained, with the skills outlined above, they will be well on the way to success. Paperclip’s experience of working with successful estate agents, however, indicates that there are at least three other factors that make the great estate agency stand out from the crowd.
Leadership and vision
Firstly, leadership and vision. From Paperclip’s experience of working with successful estate agencies, they are always reviewing, refining and repositioning; not in a knee-jerk reaction, but in a way that takes into account and, in the best cases, pre-empts market trends. They are also willing to innovate and to learn from those ideas that maybe don’t work out as well as predicted, and to ‘go again’.
Leaders of successful estate agencies create a ‘team ethic’ where the sum is greater than the parts. This is easier said than done. Domestic property sales and lettings are exceptionally competitive markets, and individual targets and commissions risk running counter to co-operation and collaboration. Successful estate agencies find a way to square this circle.
Leveraging technology
As mentioned in the introduction to this article, there is a long list of agency management software packages designed specifically for estate agencies: Jupix, Street, Qobrix, Alto, Reapit, 10Ninety, Rex, Loop…and more.
We don’t claim to experts in estate agency software, but we know that the functionality of the estate agent software we have used on behalf of our estate agency clients, tends to be very similar. Some apps have more intuitive user interfaces, a big plus for a company like Paperclip providing third-party estate agency reception services, but the CRM, prospecting and intelligence features all do similar things. The software is not the deciding factor; it’s what you do with it.
In Paperclip’s experience, successful estate agents really understand the management software they have invested in. They don’t let the “software tail wag the sales dog” and, most importantly, they keep things simple. As with any software, there is a danger of becoming overwhelmed with the potential features of a package to the point that it detracts from, rather than supports the business of selling houses.
Understanding what adds value
Finally, recognition of activities that add value, both from a client and a business perspective. This takes us right back to the start of this brief article. Paperclip’s successful estate agency clients embrace the scope and value-added of our reception services.
Some clients simply want Paperclip to answer the phone in their name and take a message. This is a far better solution than simply letting the phone ring, which, as my own experience of selling and buying a house attests to, is absolutely infuriating.
Customers call in their valuable break time at work only to get no answer! It’s up to the estate agency, which is invariably busy and may struggle to return the call within a reasonable timescale.
Successful Paperclip estate agency clients go much further; they get the most from our services:
- They train our estate agency reception service team in the use of their agency management software;
- They explain how their transaction process works;
- They provide us with a strong set of FAQs (which tend to resolve at least 75% of all calls);
- They allow us to enter data into their agency management software whilst we are on a call so they benefit from ‘real-time’ information.
- In some cases, estate agency clients allow us to manage viewing diaries, take and record offers, and make outbound calls to buyers and sellers should, for example, a viewing no longer be possible.
In other words, successful estate agencies ‘stick to the knitting’. They focus on those areas where their knowledge and skills add the most value: strategy, marketing, relationship building, negotiation and closing the sale. The rest they leave, entirely or in part, to Paperclip.
Does your estate agency need help to answer calls?
If the answer is yes, and you’d like to free up the time of your staff members by outsourcing your reception services, phone us on 01246 418181. You can get a free quote by visiting our call-answering pricing page
Alternatively, contact us by email.
Hi, I’m Anne Batty, Managing Director of Paperclip. I am passionate about customer service. I believe enduring relationships are built on being open, transparent and trustworthy.
I love questions. So, if you have a question relating to telephone answering – pricing, technical, scope and more – I would love to hear from you at anne@paperclip.co.uk or 01246 418181.
Paperclip’s clients enjoy working with us. I know you will too.