How to Test Your Estate Agent – Can you Handle the Results?!

I’m often asked to conduct ‘Mystery Shops’ for my agent clients, and usually, both they and I are disappointed by the results. Sloppy answering, disinterested staff, and a lack of engagement are all regular elements of these calls. What a wasted opportunity! 

“But my agent isn’t like that” I hear you protest.  Good!  I hope you’re right. Care to put your claim to the test?

Ask a friend to do this for you, in case your agent recognises your voice.  Have her call your agent and tell them that she’s looking for a house in a price range and area that would include your property.  Then award the following up to ten points for each element:

Asked for my phone number

Gave their name

Buying position ascertained

Offered to register your requirements on a mailing list

Asked any questions about your buying criteria

Engaged, interested, friendly?

Mentioned your property and commented positively

Mentioned a viewing
Took email or physical address in an efficient manner

Details requested arrived promptly

TOTAL OUT OF 100
.

How did they score?

Over 70 points – good effort! Worth persevering with this agent, perhaps give feedback on the elements where they could improve but keep it positive.

50-70 points – not quite so good.  Where did they score lowest? Are they omitting to engage callers in an interested way about your house? Or missing the fundamentals of gathering information? Perhaps sit down with your agent and discuss these points, but again, keep your feedback positive.

30 – 50 points – oh dear! Are you getting viewings? I bet you aren’t! This really isn’t a great result.  Consider seriously changing agents to a more proactive one who will engage callers and take information for follow up.

Under 30 points – time to move on! Seriously, if your agent scores this low, you’ll never sell your house! Move on to a new agent as soon as you possibly can.

If you’re wondering which agent to move to, repeat the exercise above with several of the agents in your area and see who scores the highest!

Need some help and advice with this? Let me know.

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.

What to read next: How to get into your buyer’s mindset 

What to do next:  Sign up to my Selling Secrets http://www.home-truths.co.uk/selling-secrets

The post How to Test Your Estate Agent – Can you Handle the Results?! appeared first on Home Truths.

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How to Test Your Estate Agent – Can you Handle the Results?!

I’m often asked to conduct ‘Mystery Shops’ for my agent clients, and usually, both they and I are disappointed by the results. Sloppy answering, disinterested staff, and a lack of engagement are all regular elements of these calls. What a wasted opportunity! 

“But my agent isn’t like that” I hear you protest.  Good!  I hope you’re right. Care to put your claim to the test?

Ask a friend to do this for you, in case your agent recognises your voice.  Have her call your agent and tell them that she’s looking for a house in a price range and area that would include your property.  Then award the following up to ten points for each element:

Asked for my phone number

Gave their name

Buying position ascertained

Offered to register your requirements on a mailing list

Asked any questions about your buying criteria

Engaged, interested, friendly?

Mentioned your property and commented positively

Mentioned a viewing
Took email or physical address in an efficient manner

Details requested arrived promptly

TOTAL OUT OF 100
.

How did they score?

Over 70 points – good effort! Worth persevering with this agent, perhaps give feedback on the elements where they could improve but keep it positive.

50-70 points – not quite so good.  Where did they score lowest? Are they omitting to engage callers in an interested way about your house? Or missing the fundamentals of gathering information? Perhaps sit down with your agent and discuss these points, but again, keep your feedback positive.

30 – 50 points – oh dear! Are you getting viewings? I bet you aren’t! This really isn’t a great result.  Consider seriously changing agents to a more proactive one who will engage callers and take information for follow up.

Under 30 points – time to move on! Seriously, if your agent scores this low, you’ll never sell your house! Move on to a new agent as soon as you possibly can.

If you’re wondering which agent to move to, repeat the exercise above with several of the agents in your area and see who scores the highest!

Need some help and advice with this? Let me know.

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.

What to read next: How to get into your buyer’s mindset 

What to do next:  Sign up to my Selling Secrets http://www.home-truths.co.uk/selling-secrets

The post How to Test Your Estate Agent – Can you Handle the Results?! appeared first on Home Truths.

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A guide to helping your children get a foot on the property ladder Nottingham Estate Agents

Nottingham Mortgage Services explain how parents can offer their financial help Hundreds of thousands of first time buyers are turning to the ‘bank of mum and dad’ this year to help get a foot on the property ladder – including older children who have long since cut the apron strings. One of the main reasons […]

The post A guide to helping your children get a foot on the property ladder appeared first on OnTheMarket.com blog.

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Ed Sheeran's battle to build his own pub, pond and private beach

Britain’s most low-key singer has grand plans for his Suffolk estate, but ‘Sheeranville’ keeps coming up against opposition from neighbours and the local council

Name: Sheeranville.

Location: Dennington, Suffolk.

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Why you should turn your lawn into a meadow

Most lawns are biodiversity deserts, but there is a simple way to encourage nature – and you don’t even have to ditch the mower

My garden sings its own song. It starts after the dawn chorus with the honeybees, followed by the heavier buzz of the bumbles, punctuated by the hoverflies’ higher pitch. You can even sometimes hear the rustle and creak of beetles as evening comes. To lie among it, eyes closed, is to hear something exquisite.

My garden sings this song because it is allowed to. I have long been a proponent of neglecting lawns to nurture nature, as Margaret Renkl recently made the case for in the New York Times – and there isn’t a manicured strip of green that doesn’t ache to do the same.

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from Home And Garden | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2Xz9gNI
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Why you should turn your lawn into a meadow

Most lawns are biodiversity deserts, but there is a simple way to encourage nature – and you don’t even have to ditch the mower

My garden sings its own song. It starts after the dawn chorus with the honeybees, followed by the heavier buzz of the bumbles, punctuated by the hoverflies’ higher pitch. You can even sometimes hear the rustle and creak of beetles as evening comes. To lie among it, eyes closed, is to hear something exquisite.

My garden sings this song because it is allowed to. I have long been a proponent of neglecting lawns to nurture nature, as Margaret Renkl recently made the case for in the New York Times – and there isn’t a manicured strip of green that doesn’t ache to do the same.

Continue reading...

from Property | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2Xz9gNI
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MPs call on landlords to scrap 'no DSS' clauses in rental ads

Critics compare refusal of people on benefits to ‘no blacks, no Irish, no dogs’ signs

MPs have demanded landlords and letting agents end the practice of screening out people on benefits after hearing claims that “no DSS” clauses have become the 2019 equivalent of “no blacks, no Irish, no dogs” notices.

During a hearing into the widespread refusal of landlords to rent properties to those on benefits, the Commons work and pensions select committee on Wednesday confronted the director of Your Move, a national online lettings agency, with an advert it published in March for a home in Telford, Shropshire, that read: “No DSS. Small dogs considered.”

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