Relationships & Communication
Why technology will never replace an agent
Before we go into in-depth discussions on how we implement a battle strategy for agents, we should explain why technology will NEVER replace an agent.
The buyer might need a 3-bedroom 2-bathroom house. An experienced agent will be able to sell a 2-bedroom 1-bathroom house if he/she has the ability to win the buyer’s trust.
An experienced agent will be able to explain that there is no need to worry about the work ahead to upgrade the 2-bedroom house to eventually fulfill all the requirements. The best building partners can upgrade the home within a 1-month… it could even be arranged that this will be completed before the buyer actually moves into the house. Building can commence as soon as all the warranties is in place. (Agents deal with human beings… The agent can only beat the “fear emotion” of a client if he/she has the ability to win the client’s “Trust”)
The agent that manage the “trust relationship” with the seller will be able to explain that the best price could come from a buyer that can buy for much more, but who were persuaded to rather buy a smaller property and spend money to upgrade this property.
There is no software programme that can capture and manage emotions… software does not understand “emotions”. If an untrained agent only use technology to source potential properties for his/her clients, the agent will only focus on properties with the minimum required features. This limit the agent and the buyer.
Experienced agents will first focus on other emotions… such as is the buyer willing to spend long hours in traffic etc. It might be that the smaller property is better positioned with regards to access roads. There will therefore never be software that can sell properties successfully.
75% of time allocated to homeowners
Agents often make the mistake to allocate time on relationships with buyers… The reality is that although you might have a personal friendship relationship with a buyer, the chances that the person will not buy a Sole Mandate of opposition agency is slim if the person loves the Sole Mandate property.
It is therefore not wise to allocate all your time to a buyer. The only thing that you can be sure of is the relationship with the homeowner.
It takes time to win a person’s trust…. It is impossible to do this within 20 minutes. We explain under the Listing of Properties page what you will need to do, to outsmart the opposition. You will then understand why you need to meet the homeowner during office hours. You will also have a better idea on how it will become possible to ensure that homeowners do not phone opposition and ask them to also help with the marketing process.
There might be a scenario where the principal will introduce a new commission structure which he/she will discuss with the agents. Agents should know that such minor changes will only be implemented if it can benefit the entire team. You will at the end of the website understand why we suggest an increase in commission towards securing mandates. There is no agent that can remain for years in the industry if stock levels are low. You can not rely on luck to be a successful agent. It is only possible if the entire team work as a unit that agents can outsell opposition.
Feedback
This is most probably the most important aspect of selling properties. We even publish a separate section about communication which you will read about later.
The problem is that principals and agents ASSUME that the agents in the team communicate with the homeowners.
We know that it is important that each agent should immediately after they brought clients to a property phone the homeowner and give feedback about the person they introduced.
It often happens that the agent took a client to 3 or 4 properties during late afternoon. When he/she arrives at home after the appointments, the kids need immediate attention. The agent then does not get time to phone each homeowner to provide feedback.
The reality is that the principal cannot manage this process. It is not possible for the principal to phone homeowners on a regular basis to find out if agents are providing feedback.
This is an industry problem… It is something we urge the principals to address. We ask them to appoint a stock controller specifically tasked to talk to homeowners on a weekly basis.
There could never be enough feedback…. It is furthermore important that feedback should be done telephonically. You should if possible, never e-mail, sms or WhatsApp a person feedback on this important task of helping him/her sell their property.
The role of the Stock Controller will become clearer as you read the content of the website.