Agents are changing the way they work and growing FAST

In this latest article from the team at Iceberg Digital, they discuss the evolving world of Estate Agency and Estate Agents.

2020 started with the world forced to change how we lived due to COVID-19. Some of those changes have stuck, and some have drifted away, but one thing that seems to be evolving faster than ever is Estate Agency and Estate Agents.

Innovative companies like Avocado Property, The Avenue and By Design are taking the industry by storm with their new ways of working internally with their teams and externally with their clients. The speed of growth they are experiencing is unique, especially in a market most consider to be slow. Avocado started just before COVID-19 and already has 24 branches/partners listed on their website, including their Lettings and New Homes, with more in the pipeline. The Avenue started in 2021 and already has up to 13 partners/locations on their website, and By Design, launched just 12 months ago, has burst up to 17 locations in less than a year. All these levels of growth in what most would agree to be a tough market are impressive and would have been unthinkable just five years ago under the traditional model, even in a booming market.

Not just that. Unless you have been living under a rock, you will have seen these companies talking at industry events, on podcasts and all over social media as people look towards their recipe for success.

So, what are these companies doing that leads to such extreme success? 

Of course, there is no 'one thing' a company does to make itself successful. Still, there are some incredible similarities in what these and other companies like them are doing, transforming the way they and their clients view Estate Agency.

A Digital-first Approach

Digital marketing is nothing new, but in the past year, our industry has finally reached a tipping point whereby it has taken a front seat with certain companies and the public is reacting. While many agents are still producing printed brochures for valuations and sending letters in the post, they are firmly heading in the opposite direction and telling their sellers so.

Centralised Systems

Whilst By Design is not a traditional self-employed model like Avocado and The Avenue, all three share similar traits in that they have 'licensees. They are all also identical in that they are all running a centralised CRM/Marketing system, namely Lifesycle. 

A centralised system gives them an extra leg up by doing things like creating content for them, constantly nurturing all of their leads, automatically identifying new valuation leads, qualifying all of their enquiries and many more things that are both appealing and useful to someone working alone or with a very small team. These centralised systems also compound the growth as more agents join, more data is shared, and more listings appear.

Purpose Over Profit

Each of the companies mentioned has taken the idea of purpose over profit to the heart of their company. Of course, no one can operate without making money, but having something more than that as a guiding light for both the team and your customer to grasp is something new in our industry, as most purely offer the logical steps of selling a home.

If you would like to listen to Ian MacBeth from Avocado Property or James Humphry-Stone from The Avenue talking about their journeys in Estate Agency, you can access them on the No.1 Estate Agency Podcast, Estate Agency X, here:

• James Humphry-Stone Episode
• Ian Macbeth Episode