Phil Spencer: Restoring Trust In Estate Agents

I wasn’t completely surprised to read here on Estate Agent Today that our industry remains near the bottom of the league table for public trust.

It isn’t that agents should be distrusted - those I meet day in, day out are typically very e-pert, professional, and genuinely caring about their customers.

But public perception is hard to shift, and this was reflected in a new index from polling firm Ipsos Mori, showing agents among the five least-trusted professions alongside politicians in general, advertising executives, government ministers and journalists. Just 28 per cent of respondents said they trusted agents, which was a four per cent fall over the past year.

I think I know why, and I hope I can contribute to a debate about how to change that.

Acting for the seller or landlord

Polls like the Ipsos Mori one fail to break down responses between buyers and tenants, and sellers and landlords - and of course it’s the latter group that agents work for.

So, if 20 people view a property and five make an offer, only one (at best) will be accepted; there is potential, therefore, for the rest to be unhappy with the agent. This is not an excuse for inaction, as I hope I show below, but it’s a likely reason behind some distrust.

A relationship, not just a transaction

We’ve had an exceptionally busy 18 months in the industry, both for sales and rentals, and while that’s easing back now there’s no doubt that agents’ workloads have forced some to move swiftly from transaction-to-transaction. While that seals the immediate deal on behalf of the seller or landlord, it doesn’t always allow time for the building of a relationship.

Let me explain what I mean.

In a hot market such as the one we’ve seen since 2021, an agent (and especially one who’s been in the business for only a few years) might be tempted to simply list a client’s property on the portals and wait for the offers to roll in. Then it’s easy to move on to the next transaction and repeat the process.

What this doesn’t guarantee, however, is long-term goodwill or the chance to explore a more nuanced link with a potential buyer or seller. A daily phone call or weekly face-to-face meeting might be much more powerful and produce long-term benefits.

Do that with a seller, for example, and it might trigger comments suggesting they want a different approach to marketing their property or are willing to tweak the property in response to viewers’ comments.

And do the same with a buyer and it might reveal they are open to purchasing in a wider area, at a different price range or a type of property you thought (from their online request, perhaps) they had ruled out.

In other words, the more personal the agent’s work with a customer, the greater the information you have, and thus the better the service is likely to be. In return, a relationship is formed and the Holy Grail of word-of-mouth recommendation and repeat business may come your way.

Credentials

I make no apology for returning to the importance of agents showing their professional credentials, and especially membership of the industry’s leading trade body, Propertymark.

This means much more than putting a sticker on your branch window or a logo on your property details - but doing both of those things would be a simple indicator to consumers that you take your work as seriously as we know you do.

Going further and checking out Propertymark Qualifications, encouraging staff to take appropriate courses, and then letting customers know of these successes is a sure-fire way of boosting your personal and your agency’s credibility.

Likewise - and a point I made last month - don’t regard awards as just a great day at an event in London: show how well regarded you are within the industry or with awards voted for by consumers. Put your awards on show as these count in the process of building long-term respect.

Respond To Reviews

We all know online reviews can be a mixed blessing.

There’s a widespread awareness that they often attract complainants so risk giving undue prominence to the unhappy customer, but even so it’s vital not to leave an online complaint unanswered.

It’s best to try to take the issue off-line - suggest you deal with a complaint via a phone call or meeting - but leaving it unanswered will allow the issue to fester and possibly gain momentum amongst others.

Emphasise Your Expertise

You probably do this already but do not be afraid to let people know you have ‘X’ years of experience in an area, or that your firm’s staff have a combined ‘Y’ years in the business.

Justifiably or not, poll after poll shows that consumers have more trust in those based and working locally more than those in larger corporates, so this is a real chance for the smaller independent agents to shine…but you have to tell people about this expertise through your marketing.

And you could do worse than to embrace all the consumer-friendly information we have here on Move iQ. We’d be flattered for you to point your clients at the guides we have (which, of course, may help save you time in explaining selling and renting too).

And at the same time this would help cement your reputation as a trusted voice in what many consumers believe to be the difficult process of buying and selling - and the pitfalls that can befall the unprepared.

Will this work?

I’m afraid I can’t guarantee that taking up these ideas (if you haven’t already done so) will transform the public perception of the industry. Nor do I pretend that these are the only ways agents can win the trusted status I genuinely believe they deserve.

But it’s a start, and something which can perhaps be done over the slightly quieter holiday period.

And that brings me to my final comment - you guessed it, have a wonderful Christmas and a successful start to 2023. I’ll be back in the New Year…

*Phil Spencer is a presenter, author, businessman and property investor. Phil’s consumer advice platform Move iQ, is a website, YouTube channel and podcast. Each preserve and reflect the same impartiality that consumers trust and base their property moving plans.