A former senior Foxtons and Douglas & Gordon agent has hit out at “the relentless key performance indicator culture” of some agencies.
Matthew Thompson has quit Douglas & Gordon, the agency purchased by Foxtons earlier this year. He had been its south London area director. Thompson had previously worked for nine years at Foxtons itself - he ran the Brixton branch.
Now he has joined the Keller Williams agency, to run ‘KW Prime’ - its central London market centre servicing 70 self-employed agents. Thompson insists his move was decided before the Foxtons takeover of D&G this year, but he does not hold back on criticism of what he calls “the established agency model.”
“My belief is that superior client service and agent performance can be smothered by a relentless KPI culture whereas in truth, nurturing great relationships with clients and agents is the key to long term success” says Thompson. "It’s too transactional and so often the merits of talented staff can be diluted by a ‘list, list’ list’ attitude pushed by estate agency leaders.”
Ben Taylor, chief executive of Keller Williams UK, comments: “As the industry is changing to become much more people and relationship focussed, it’s important to me that Keller Williams is not just attracting the best individuals in the industry but also those, like Matthew, that are passionate about supporting and nurturing relationships with ambitious agents and the public alike. The consumer is becoming more sophisticated and expectant and our industry must now move in line with this progress”.
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Ironic - that the excuse for leaving the corporate world is the "relentless, kpi culture", when Matthew is now joining probably the most relentless advocate of that principle.
Do KW not instil an "overkill over-time" ideology on their disciples with the 33 Touch and 8x8 campaigns? Do they not encourage relentless interruption methods of marketing? The scripts for overcoming objections demonstrate a fundamental lack of understanding of the power of persuasion.
I've noticed more and more KW agents claiming to believe in relationships when their whole identity screams transaction.
Good luck, Matthew.
As my grandmother used to say, 'if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." I've watched your posts for a while and whenever Keller Williams is mentioned you spout fatuous drivel about them. What is clear is that you clearly don't really know what you're talking about and never offer any evidence to support your obviously very ill-informed opinions. We're know what they say about opinions... They're like ..., everyone's got one and most of them stink. In this case, I'm afraid that very much applies to you.
Another non-story really - ''Guy leaves job for another''.....
You leave and you move on.
Everyone knows what agency should be about but often the bigger the beast the bigger the burden and “people” get lost. Clients, customers, colleagues and workforce alike.
There you go, Elliott, liking your own comments. It's usually a job for others
Your grandmother was wrong. I prefer the intent of Abraham Lincoln:
" Die when I may, I want this said of me by those who knew me best. I always plucked a thistle and planted a flower where I thought a flower would grow."
KW are that thistle and I will continue to debate anyone with a logical mind of the serious consequences of aligning themselves with that ego-driven leadership and cult-like ideology. I have plenty of evidence to substantiate my" fatuous drivel."
If you don't like it, don't read it!
Bit of a misquote there Chris, perhaps check your source.
You don’t debate, that’s the point. You just state an opinion - this is very bad… blah, blah blah. Evidence is never offered, and debate is never encouraged. So why not provide your evidence and encourage a logical discussion. Without evidence you’re simply trolling and coming across as quite bitter and really rather negative. You’re not helping anyone.
Are you suggesting it wasn't Abe? Or that I have misconstrued the message?
I'm always happy to debate the KW issue - Here's not the place, we don't want to turn EAT into PIE.
How about you write everything that's great and good on KW and I will counter with my own article?
Nothing held back, or edited out. Say, two thousand words max?
I have nothing to be bitter about regarding KW - I would love nothing better for them to change their business model and contribute something to the industry.
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