The pivot point

As I write, on the 75th anniversary of VE Day, our great nation faces another pivotal moment that affects us all. This time it relates to the “panic-demic” response to Covid-19 which has swept the globe accounting for to date some 270,000 deaths and been attributed to taking over 30,000 lives in the UK. Our Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, delivers his address at 7pm this Sunday evening unveiling the Governments roadmap for opening up the lockdown restrictions and, we hope, a clear phased outline of how we can start to return to work, resume education and plan for our futures. This moment is critical for the economic prosperity of our great nation, balanced precariously against the conflicting health and wellbeing of all our residents. For our Government, making the right calls now are legacy decisions impacting generations to come. Every industry has been deeply affected by a reported 6 million employees furloughed at huge expense to the future tax payer. Our recent record low unemployment rates could be about to see a sudden change in fortune as we are on the cusp of seeing whether employers will chose to re-employ those furloughed or not. In America, the impact on their unemployment numbers has, according to CNN, seen 1 in 5 workers filing for unemployment benefits since mid-March taking the total to 33 million workers, up 3 million from just last week. Any economic weakness in any underfunded business is now being exposed and swift change is needed to react to find resolutions. One certainty for all is that coronavirus has tested.

One certainty for all is that coronavirus has tested every fibre of our humanity in so many ways and we just cannot expect that life could ever go back to “normal”. Any business that isn’t agile or flexible, isn’t proactive or authentic and isn’t progressive with its leadership, will see its customer base and staff at a disadvantage and vulnerable to more progressive firms. If businesses cannot adapt, this pivot point will make survival difficult.

“a blank canvas created by a reset button none of us were expecting”

To focus on the sector I know best, estate agency has seen considerable disruption to the norm over the last decade, enabled by adaption and integration of technology with varying degrees of success. Every estate agent now is online, simply by adopting their own website or placing their listings through portals. I believe however that this moment’s impact will fast-forward progress into a timely revolution. The old hands-on traditional service methods can finally align with technological benefits across a blank canvas created by a reset button none of us were expecting.

To focus on the sector I know best, estate agency has seen considerable disruption to the norm over the last decade, enabled by adaption and integration of technology with varying degrees of success. Every estate agent now is online, simply by adopting their own website or placing their listings through portals. I believe however that this moment’s impact will fast-forward progress into a timely revolution. The old hands-on traditional service methods can finally align with technological benefits across a blank canvas created by a reset button none of us were expecting.

All of this indicates a desire for change; internally from the industry and externally from customers and investors; where opportunity is recognised. But for all the hundreds of millions of pounds invested by very clever financiers & funds into online platforms, they have been forgetting that essentially estate agency is a people business and cannot be replaced by a computer’s lack of empathy at key moments in often complex and emotional transactions. How could any AI modelling be prepared to handle the ebb and flow of the sale of a family home resulting from a bitter and awkward divorce case; negotiating between parties including lawyers and even the courts! A disruptor model isn’t necessarily the answer; more a hybrid agency utilising the best tenets of credible, knowledge-driven service activity and technology combined. But it is, after all, what the general public customers want from estate agents that is most important.

“a hybrid agency utilising the best tenets of credible, knowledge driven service activity and technology”

While Century21 & Re/max, both large American agent franchises started in early 1970’s, have been in the UK for decades, they haven’t made any significant indent on the main agency market – & this is down to two factors. One is they haven’t managed to secure a strong and renowned leader in the UK to take them forward and two, they are American in a very British localised marketplace. Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway Home Services came to London in September 2018 through a franchise agreement with local Connaught Village & Marylebone based Kay & Co, who have since opened up an office in Kings Cross. And more recently EXP Realty have launched in 2019 in the UK, another mega US business offering a cloud based tech formula for agents. The success of outposts of American businesses is yet to be proven and in my mind can only be successful if they attract the best, renowned British agents. While virtual tours & FaceTime viewings have been available as tools for estate agents for years now, what has changed is the public’s recent and wide adoption of this tech as a result of the lockdown freeze on physical viewings. This new found acceptance is another step in streamlining the search process and will save time for those looking. It also means agents can concentrate their efforts on the most suitably motivated and qualified buyers who have their funding in place and conveyancing lawyer instructed. The past misconception that throwing as many unqualified buyers as possible through a door is a good thing will hopefully be a thing of the past. The pressure on estate agents to undertake multiple viewing comes from a common misconception more often than not driven via agency management’s desire to see key performance indicator viewing numbers as high as possible – but it is by no means a measure of quality of work. This measure has subsequently been engrained in the mantra of agents as an indicator to customers of their success – “if we can throw all these people through your door, then it just proves how proactive we are being.” Open house events can be a great opportunity for nosey neighbours to snoop around your house with no real intention to buy. I am not suggesting real buyers don’t need to physically see properties but that they should only be doing so when in a position to commit, or at least nearly commit. On the Cote D’Azur, I was told by Michael Zingraf of Zingraff Immobilier that they never take a buyer out until they have interviewed them, for often 2 hours, to fully understand their motivation and their ability to buy; ensuring they have all their paperwork in place to enable them to buy quickly, when and if they do see the right property.

There is certainly a huge appetite for change driven by customers and agents together; equally keen to find a more flexible model and enabling better service standards of satisfaction. A Masterclass online lecture in April by Fine & Country titled, “How to become a luxury Estate Agent in your area” was over-subscribed in 24 hours – proving that there is a big demand for agents to reconsider their career paths. Keller Williams, who claim to be the largest agent globally with 180,000 agents yet is virtually unheard of in the UK, boast that “Each of our agents is their own boss”. What a hook, right, that’s the dream and now it is a reality. But from the customers perspective, that only works if the boss has the experience to back it up. A boss who doesn’t know what he is doing is a liability!

Recent UK start-ups, in the form of The London Broker, YouHome, Harding Green, Tedworth, to name a few, have started to show that there is a case and further demand for different models of estate agency businesses – focusing on local expertise and providing more freedom for the brokers in terms of flexible working and commission structures that incentivise care for clients. These businesses offer the hundreds of brokers who leave large estate agency firms to help their clients by becoming search agents, now have a route to delivering sales for their clients through cost effective platforms that provide virtually all the competitive edge of the larger agents – and through technology and agility, in some cases these platforms offer so much more. With honesty, transparency, appropriate discretion, a can-do attitude alongside some humour and character of personality, these self-employed and self-motivated brokers can provide creative magic for the best results for clients.

“For all those people who are finding it difficult at the moment: the sun will shine on you again and the clouds will go away.”
Captain Tom Moore

So while coronavirus brings this pivot point moment in estate agency, so we must adjust our approach on so many different aspects of our lives and look at new beginnings ahead with positivity. Sure, there will be financial pain for many, confusion and inevitably “fingers being pointed” amidst the media frenzied blame game, however I would rather focus on hope and future prosperity. With VE Day 75 years ago came hope and joy – and so we must look for the same. We can all take pride in the great work being done by our heroes across the NHS, scientists and essential services embattling todays deadly outbreak. They have all had to make personal sacrifices by changing their lives to carry on everything they are doing for us. We can too, to make things better for our future.