Peter Knight

“Words are all we have.”

I’m indebted to Colin Blundell, the finest teacher I’ve ever known, for introducing me to many concepts and in particular helping me to understand better the power of language. “Words are all we have” said Samuel Beckett and whilst some might argue that we can communicate through other mediums such as pictures or even music we tend to label the landscape and describe the emotions using words. And of course we speak to ourselves using words and it is the choice of these words that is my current fascination.

Are you talking to yourself now? Of course the answer has to be “YES” as we rarely if ever cease. Some might be saying “what a load of old bollocks” whereas I hope others are saying “this is interesting and worth reading,” of course whatever you are saying right now will be different to anyone else and will change again should you choose to reread this at any future point.

Stephen Covey offered the idea that you make the greatest changes when you change your paradigms. Building on this, I actually believe the trigger is to review your language and it’s tonality too. Some clients tell me they have a very critical inner voice, some that it’s quite aggressive and challenging, “Come on idiot”…”This is going to be too hard”… “I’m going to cock this up…” My response is to encourage first a change in structure so that every thought is communicated positively – “Now I’m dealing with this”….”I’ve succeeded before and will do now”…”I’m looking forward to this…” Next I suggest the tonality is softened, perhaps even adopting another gender or accent – Colin for example chooses Marilyn Monroe to whisper to him! Finally, I suggest the speed of dialogue is reduced as well, ideally to half the normal speed or even slower. This of course takes practice and begins with making a correction every time you fall back to the old patterns, you will discover quite quickly that the change takes hold, probably around the 30 day mark, although for some much sooner.

Once you have started talking more positively with yourself you might then discover how your communications with others have improved as well, in fact I guarantee it. Words are all we have, so choose them carefully.

Charitable business

Over 100 estate agents played football at Wembley yesterday in the Estate Agency Foundation (EAF Charity) Property World Cup. On the same day Northfields, the winners of the competition, were also sponsoring Pittshanger’s “Party in the Park” where several thousand locals turned up for a great event on a summer weekend. These examples of estate agents getting involved with charities and local communities is the norm – every week, up and down the country, estate agents are involved with local projects or fundraising for great causes. And yet, as a group, the estate agency industry is not nearly recognised enough for all their hard work, indeed I doubt there is any other business sector in the UK where such a high percentage of the workforce get involved.

As part of The Estate Agency of the Year Awards in association with The Sunday Times & The Times we have recognised the estate agency which has made the greatest contribution with the Cecil Jackson Cole award, named after the philanthropist who founded Oxfam, Help the Aged and many other charities and funded these through his estate agency business, Andrews. There are going to be many contenders this year including estate agents who have cycled across the country and the USA, others who have won several marathons and triathlons. Then there are those who have held coffee mornings and other less strenuous but nonetheless important activities for their local communities. But my vote, if I had one, would currently go to Greg Young and his team at Intercounty.

Last weekend, led by Greg, 10 estate agents slept rough for Shelter. And this wasn’t pretending to sleep rough; for 24 hours they had a litre of water, a sleeping bag and that was all. Two members of the team tweeted about their experience although one had his phone stolen and experienced just how frightening being homeless can be. I particularly admire this as they actually experienced hardship, whereas all the charitable activities I’ve taken part in have normally had a benefit for me personally, such as getting fit or seeing an amazing part of the world, or both!

Since helping to set up the Estate Agency Foundation, (whose purpose is to eliminate homelessness) I’ve seen how charity and community work can be seriously beneficial for business. Not only does the local community see you involved, as importantly the team are engaged together on activities other than their day-to-day roles and often discover new things about each other whilst having a shared experience. The Estate Agency Foundation is inviting estate agents to become Ambassadors by making a minimum commitment to raise just £100 a year, although many firms will raise considerably more than this. As an Ambassador you will have access to fundraising resources and ideas, receive first invitations to events like the Property World Cup and be able to display the charity logo on your marketing materials. You will also be contributing to the idea that everyone deserves a place they can call home, something we’re totally committed to. For more information please visit eafcharity.org

Multiple-I’s

I’ve been taking careful note of my “I’s” – or the parts of my personality that are present in different circumstances, following several years of selecting specific “I’s” for various situations. For example, if I’m coaching a client on a one-on-one basis I select attentive-I, concerned-I, listening-I and when I’m working with a large group I’ll choose presenter-I, communicator-I and so on. Right now I’ve engaged writer-I, thoughtful-I, and quiet-I too, and later I’ll select editor-I to hone this blog into something critical-I will accept.

I mention this as I’ve also been noticing which of my I’s are activated when I receive good and bad service. Last night a taxi booked for 7.15 turned up 15 minutes late despite a phone call at 7.10 to say he would be arriving imminently. The driver then proceeded to lie saying he’d been waiting outside (he didn’t know we had been standing on the pavement from 7.15 until 7.25 when we returned indoors to call the company). He reversed down our street onto a busy road causing a car to swerve, then took a ridiculous route and when I asked him to make a U-turn and follow my directions his reply “I know my job and this is the best way” caused irritable-I to be replaced by angry-I along with stingy-I as he certainly wasn’t getting a tip! I’ve noticed that at the very first moment of receiving poor service several quite negative-I’s are activated that in turn cause the issue to be compounded. By contrast, when receiving good service, a dozen positive I’s come to the fore that then amplify the experience. In other words, from the first good or poor impression I’m actually determining the sense to which I regard the service I’m being given as good or poor. First impressions have always counted, this is universally accepted, what I now realise is how much they alter the state to such a significant degree.

When observing good service I can palpably feel the effort being initially exerted which then can be relaxed as the recipient, or their positive-I’s, takes over. The key, I think, is to be able to activate the group of I’s that together make up “excellent-first-impression-I” such as friendly-I, approachable-I, carefully-observing-I and above all listening-I. Almost without exception, I notice listening-I to be present when I receive or observe great service. And it’s listening-to-really-understand-I rather than partly-listening-I that’s engaged.

So I offer you this very simple idea – if you want to improve your customer service all you have to do is select “listening-to-really-understand-I” and then your customer will do the rest for you. Question – do you know how to activate “listening-to-really-understand-I” and what it looks and feels like?

Tyre Kickers

 

Right now I'm going to buy a car.  I've had my current one for six years, the longest I've gone without changing as a consequence of two things.  Firstly I felt it was inappropriate to get a new car in the recent climate but more significantly I'm no longer a petrol head, if in fact I ever was one.  I've come to realise there is no sport as mind numbing as F1 - I really would rather watch one man and his dog. Current car models do little for me, sure the latest Aston, Lamborghini or Ferrari will still turn my head but my days with exotics are over, I've had my fill, and most other cars on the road seem so similar and bland.  So whilst I know I'm going to buy a car I really have no idea which make and model I'll choose.

 

I've been weighing up the Jaguar but still struggle with the Arthur Daly association, the Mercedes range looks more geared for LA cruising than the autobahn, plus the depreciation rate on the last two I've owned cause me to feel I'm damned if they'll rip me off again. BMW's are no better, once they were so cool in my eye, so perfectly engineered, but now all I see is a huge backside and no offence to J Lo or others with a similar body shape, I've always preferred sleek and elegant. I've thought about the Lexus Hybrid every time I pay the congestion charge but actually I've become a fan of the tube and even if my choice of four wheels is electric I'll still take public transport, and talking of four wheels I've been wondering about a return to the Range Rover, not least given the condition of our roads, but not sure I really need one when 90% of my travelling is alone with just a briefcase. What I would really like is a vintage, my dream being a DB 5 or 6 - (many people don't like the 6 but I could be persuaded to buy it rather than the overhyped/priced 5) - but is this really sensible when I do need to drive long distances, sometimes following a long, tiring, albeit highly satisfying, day on my feet speaking and coaching?

 

So with absolutely no clear direction at all, it will be interesting to see the response I get from car dealers. "So, you don't have a price range, no preference for 2 or 4 door, engine size isn't really a factor nor is brand or type," - I could regard myself as a waste of time too, but the fact is I am in the market, and I will be buying a car.

 

I wonder how many businesses will lose my custom because they choose to ignore me or worse make me feel uncomfortable or stupid?  How often will a salesman lose out on a commission cheque for mistaking my indecision with an inability to proceed? But might there be one person out there though who will see me for the opportunity I am and truly help me with my search, guide me through the options with informed authority, assist me to narrow down my choices and finally, rather than selling, simply help me to buy?

 

I've heard many salespeople describe potential customers as "tyre kickers" and yet these people all live somewhere, all drive cars, all wear clothes, are all consumers - every tyre kicker becomes a customer someday - just not yours if you treat them as a tyre kicker to start with.

Focus on your strengths

A principle of my coaching work is to encourage people to focus on their strengths rather than wasting energy attempting to correct their weaknesses. After all, if you're 30, 40 or 50 something and you've always been poor at one activity it's unlikely you're going to become expert at it now. On the other hand, investing in further improvement of the things you already do brilliantly well, and more importantly, really enjoy, is likely to yield a much larger dividend.

Now, despite knowing this and coaching the principle to many clients over the last decade I found out this week why the theory is so much easier than the practice. We ran an event two weeks ago, "Marketing LIVE" which was attended by 92 people, most of whom completed our feedback forms. Now despite an average score of 9.1 out of 10 for the event I found myself drawn to the two people who scored us 4 and 5 respectively. I've been agonising over these scores, wondering how we went wrong, trying to see how we could have done better and in the end it took a colleague to remind me of my own words to cause this unhelpful fixation to cease.

Why are we so drawn to the negative? What is it about human nature that we spend more time focusing on our failures than on our successes?

I think the problem starts at school where our reports (well mine anyway) cause parents to focus on the D,E & F grades rather than on the A's & B's. When my Maths teacher wrote "his ignorance of the subject is almost complete" and my art teacher wrote "whilst he will always struggle at this subject it is unfair to describe him as completely hopeless" (both comments made when I was 8 years old) I'm sure they thought this might somehow cause me to focus more or to work harder but actually it had the reverse effect. Similarly when performance reviews are carried out at work how much time is spent praising accomplishments compared to discussing "issues"?

I truly believe that "catching people doing things right" is the most direct route to improved performance, and anyway, it's so much more fun for all concerned.

It's good to talk...and listen

Increasingly it's become the norm for people to have their mobiles and PDAs switched on during meetings and to then answer calls and emails once they have finished talking. Rudest of all are the people who answer calls without knowing who the caller is, effectively saying "anyone calling me, including a salesman from Mumbai, is more important than the people gathered together for this meeting."

It tends to be the boss who defines and dictates the behaviour (for this and all other protocols) - if the boss takes calls, answers emails, tweets during a meeting then it's fine for the team too. I attended one meeting recently where 5 of the 7 people present took a call or answered an email - and no one seemed put out in the slightest!

Not only do I find it incredibly rude but also incredibly distracting and so I've adopted a new policy - I now start a meeting by asking if anyone has any calls to make before we start and if anyone has anything so important that they might need to be excused from the meeting to deal with it. So far, everyone has stated they haven't anything that significant and the meeting has proceeded uninterrupted however when I see someone on their blackberry taping away I just stop whatever I'm doing and wait for them to finish. On the 3 occasions is has recently happened the crackberry addict has stated: "it's ok, carry on" to which I now reply, "No, I'm happy to wait until you've finished." Sometimes is isn't enough, and the individual just continues at which point I point out that whilst they might be blessed with the ability to multitask I unfortunately can only give my full concentration to one thing at a time.

In coaching sessions I'm building in breaks now every 60 minutes, never more than 90, as it's clear some people just cannot be disconnected from their network for any longer - this is a sad indictment of how technology is now our master rather than our servant.

It's good to talk, even better to listen.

Are awards worth winning?

As the deadline for entering The Lettings Agency of the Year Awards in association with The Sunday Times & The Times fast approaches*, (I thought I’d get a quick plug in early), I’ve been pondering their value and the reason why I first set them up almost a decade ago.

I remember very clearly one lunchtime eating a sandwich at my desk and reading several stories criticising estate agents, (the news must have particularly thin that week as these were all the same old tales lazily rehashed without any research), and thinking no one ever says anything about all the good things estate agents do nor highlight the best performers – and that was the moment that the longest running awards in the industry were conceived.

I don’t judge the awards myself, instead an expert panel is chaired by The Property Ombudsman, but I do know from the judges that the standard of entry has improved every year as has the number of entries, up by over 100% in the last two years. So we are definitely achieving one of our founding aims – to provide incentive to raise the standards of the industry ever higher, but how do we score with the other goals we set, to reward the achievements of the best agencies and to help raise the profile of the industry?

I’m grateful to Gareth Ashington of Ashington Page in Beaconsfield, who won Gold for his Best Small Agency in 2009, for sharing his experience. Using his achievement to spur his team on even further, the following year he increased turnover by 54% by repositioning his agency towards the higher end of the market, which resulted in double the sales of properties over £750,000. Of course it wasn’t just the award, Gareth gave his office a facelift and produced a new marketing campaign, but he confirms that the award actually won him business as a consequence of displaying it on all his communications plus it helped to give his team the confidence to know that they could compete with everyone in this highly contested area. Many other winners have told me that thanks to the awards they too have enjoyed huge publicity, won business and increased their profits.

As for raising the industry profile I fear we still have a long way to go. The tabloid media had a feeding frenzy when they learned that the number of complaints to The Property Ombudsman doubled last year although none chose to pick up on the Ombudsman’s report that the amount of compensation awarded in each case had halved which suggests that the issues people are complaining about are much smaller than a few years ago.  I’m not so naïve as to expect the press to run a story along the lines of “estate agents do a great job selling over 90% of all properties in the UK” however when we carried out a survey of 1,562 home movers recently, 84% did say they would recommend their estate agent, a statistic few industries would be able to claim and something I’m keen to get covered in the media.  We will persist in our pursuit to put the record straight – many sales and lettings agencies do a fine job for their clients and comprise teams of highly entrepreneurial people who contribute a lot for the general economy and to society as The Estate Agency Foundation charity, and many other examples of good works, clearly demonstrate.

The awards have rightly attracted criticism as well as plaudits, the most common being the judging process and we take all constructive points on board and have made several changes as a consequence.  The trouble is I don’t think a perfect judging system exists; some suggest the public should judge but how can they compare and contrast estate agencies when they normally only instruct one and move on average once every eight years?  So yes the judging has an element of subjectivity but this is true of all industries awards and each year our panel has had new blood, categories rotated and the format changed to include an interview with every single entrant rather than just relying on a written submission.  I’ve only had two rather nasty critics, and both made me smile recently when they were themselves the recipients of other awards similarly judged by a peer group but overall winners and losers alike have been very helpful and positive.

As both sales and lettings agencies struggle to find and to communicate their unique competitive advantage for their customers I feel that the awards are doing their bit to help the best performers differentiate themselves and so conclude that they are worthwhile and worth winning.  Of course only those who enter have a chance so with less than a week to register and two weeks to make your submission you’d better get your skates on.

*The deadline for entering The Lettings Agency of the Year Awards is still the 31^st March however the deadline for submissions has been extended to the 6th April. You can register to enter at www.estateagencyevents.com but only until 31^st March.

No Show v Show No

I bet several papers are writing a piece for tomorrow highlighting the cost to business of the cold snap, (indeed Surrey County Council for one, should give businesses a year's rates rebate as a token for their complete incompetence), but the cost of absenteeism is insignificant compared to the price of dysfunctional employees which for the most part are all those who are disengaged. Take this opportunity to notice which members of your team made it in and also those who are clearly working (that means doing work) from home - the others aren't necessarily slackers by nature, chances are they haven't been engaged by the company - those who show no interest cost you more than those who just don't show - and 8 times out of 10 that will be the business owners fault.

EXTRA-ordinary

I've been reminded of the futility of seeking something "unique" to differentiate a business when the basics are not being done brilliantly well. Many companies ask me to help them find something that will knock out the competition when all that's required to achieve this is to just deliver what they already have, superbly well.

I now get clients to look at the ordinary things, the stuff they have to do anyway, and ask "are you doing these ordinary things EXTRA-ordinarily well?" Only when they can truly answer "yes" should we then seek to discover something new - although in most cases this won't be necessary as by doing the EXTRA-ordinary you'll be beating the competition hands down anyway.

Why should I instruct you?

One of the first questions I ask a new estate agency client is “if I was a home owner, please tell me why I should instruct you rather than another estate agent?” The answers are very often the same and include things such as: “long established”, “high quality marketing”, “experts in our area” and “professional.” It really is quite amazing how often these nominalisations are trotted out and what’s more, when I ask for substantiation such as “show me your ‘high quality marketing’” I frequently find it’s no better than any other agent, indeed sometimes its worse. But what really lights my blue touch paper is when an agent describes himself, and his company, as “professional” (which the Oxford English dictionary describes as “doing a certain kind of work as a fulltime occupation”) – every estate agent is a professional, even the really poor ones – if you mean something else then say so but please don’t tell me you’re a professional as if this somehow separates you from the pack, it doesn’t.

I used to think that John McGrath’s answer: “your home is worth more with McGrath” was the best I’d heard but last month, when I spent a week with the senior directors and managers of Romans, (developing a new strategy to help make this brilliant business even more successful), Managing Director Peter Coles said “but that’s rubbish, an estate agent doesn’t define the price, the market does.” We debated this point and came to the conclusion that with the data available from Rightmove, Zoopla and TDPG not to mention the Land Registry and dozens of surveys and reports each month there really is no mystique to house prices any more. The days when an enquiry about the price a property sold for prompted the reply: “well, I’m not allowed to tell you exactly but I can say it was very close to the asking price” are in the distant memory, now every detail, from how long the property has been marketed to it’s original asking price and the history of price adjustments, are all available for everyone to see, agent and buyer alike. The key differential between one estate agency and another is therefore the experience the client will suffer/tolerate/enjoy as they sell and buy or let or rent. And of course as just about every agent will claim they can make it hassle free* (*as possible) the client is none the wiser until it’s too late in many cases.

Although the results aren’t all in yet, The Property Academy’s Home Moving Trends survey, now in its fourth year, is so far showing that 40% of people have lived in their homes for 10 years or more, indeed 10% for more than 25 years. The survey also confirms that people spend very little time looking for a property before putting their own on the market – 30% in fact did so before viewing a single one. What this adds up to is that many people suddenly decide to move, it’s not something they plan a long time in advance, often as a consequence of a life stage event (although in around 30% it’s a lifestyle driver), and despite their lack of experience make decisions around the appointment of their estate agent very quickly, almost instinctively. Indeed, when we asked people why they appointed one agent rather than another 63% said “the one I instinctively trusted the most.”

The key therefore, to winning instructions, is to be trustworthy, which Stephen Covey describes in the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People as “requiring the presence of both character and competence in equal measure.” However, simply telling people, “I’m a trustworthy estate agent,” is probably not going to work! Instead you have to communicate your trustworthiness in ways which are self-evident. This is easier with the competency aspect as you can prove your expertise through examples of properties sold, market share, etc but it’s harder to prove your character and this is made even more difficult when you consider that over half of the people we surveyed only met with one or two estate agents, which means that you’re being largely judged online and in the media. I think that estate agents need to concentrate much more on communicating their character and appealing to the emotional drivers of their clients rather than the current fashion for simply promoting facts and figures and appealing to the rational. After all, how many rational clients do you have on your books right now?