Latest / The Complete Agent - The Podcast For Premium Real Estate Agents / 130. The 80/20 Rule That Could Transform Your Estate Agency
Transcript
- JK: Hello and welcome to another episode of the Complete Agent Podcast, where each week we get together to talk all things estate agency. My name is James Kendall, and I'm joined by my very good friends and colleagues, Michelle Smith and Ian Storey. Guys, how has your week been? Let's go to you, Michelle. Michelle Smith: Well, my week has been busy, good busy, and annoyingly, I'm in a bout of insomnia, which I do get, it's my age, boring. Honestly, so I've been up since two JK: You can't get no sleep, sleep, sleep. Michelle Smith: this morning and then three the other morning. And it's just awful. Like when you just, I end up just getting up, having a brew, trying to read a book and trying to go back to sleep, but it doesn't work. So. I know you'll relate if any of you have had insomnia or suffer from it, you just want to peel your skin off. So I'm going to do my best to string my sentences together and get my brain brain in, but if I'm not making much sense, you're just going to have to, you know, give me a, give me a break. JK: Can I just say though the the the listeners are used to listening to David Warburton, who can't be with us this week, so I'm sure you'll be fine. Michelle Smith: bless. is my week. Yeah, great, some great JK: That's your week. That's that's your week. Michelle Smith: coaching clients. But I think we're probably gonna go into that, into this conversation. So yeah, that's my week. I just need some sleep. JK: How about you, Ian? How's your week been, mate? Have you are you refreshed? Have you bespt well? Ian Storey: Sorry, I have Michelle. Yeah. I Michelle Smith: I'm joking. Ian Storey: do you know what? Since I stopped drinking, I d I sleep so well. I never got up in the night for a wee. I always used to go up in the night for a week. And I never go up in the night for a wee now. It's seven or eight hours every night, pretty much straight. so I sleep loads, loads better. but no no, we week's good, you know, overall very pleased. Value is a listing away, getting the right kind of fees, sales are good given it's middle of August. I spoke to a potential client yesterday who's got a lovely house that they're going to sell at some stage, and she started by saying, the market's bad, isn't it? I said, Well, actually, Karen, no, the market isn't bad. The market is really good if your house is priced correctly and if the marketing is spot on. The market is always good, really. Michelle Smith: was she really called Karen? Ian Storey: She was actually called Karen, I won't give you her surname, obviously. so you know, things are good, sales are good, listings are there where we need to be, Phil. Is away on holiday this week, so a few of us have been picking up some negs while he's been away. He's actually negged one from by the pool in Mallorca. What a ledge. one that he's been working on and didn't want to give up give away, which is really good. so no, all good, all good guys. our week is good. This morning I'm going to Wild Shore, which is like an outdoor water sports place with the kids and my parents, one of these inflatable things where you put a wetsuit on and launch yourself off into the lake. So I'm looking forward to that. And the sun is shining. The sun is shining. How about you, JK? JK: What well that reminds me, this week's podcast is sponsored by Sleep Easy. The Sleep Easy tablets for no Jake, it's really. no, it's I've I've had a restful week, not to rub it in. actually I haven't I haven't said no I haven't actually. We've had a dog that's been poorly, so been getting me up at two and three AM in the morning as well. Because if he's he's not been too well. So yeah. Maybe I'm in the middle of the both of you. I'm not eight hours, I'm not insomnia. I've been getting up in the middle. anyway, so how's the week been? it's been do you know it's been one of those roller coaster estate agency weeks with fall throughs and deals deals stalling. bit bit of a a mentally tough week in terms of things that are going on, but it's that resilience, you know, you you can't have that good times and good vibes without having the dips of the roller coaster as well, right? You know, you've really got get your your teeth stuck into what's going on and just keep moving forward because, you know, you've got to look at all the this is obviously macro level, you know, you've got to zoom out and look at what's happened for the rest of the year and what else is going on. So but no, it's been it's been okay. you know, we we put on our new well, I say we haven't launched it yet, but we've put on our latest sort of high end listing, a country manor house on three acres. So yeah, I mean it's been it's been really good. So I'm happy with that. Just looking forward to enjoying the rest of my holiday this week. So currently abroad and enjoying enjoying the sunshine when and the rest with the kids. Although technically it's not really been rest. But yeah, anyway, so Ian, you had a very good topic that you wanted to talk about this week. It wasn't insomnia and how to get to sleep, it was something else. Introduce it. What what are we talking about this week? Ian Storey: Okay, so I'm on a a drive now to systemise and process our business so that it doesn't need me. I'm not ready to give up valuing just yet, especially the higher end, because I do still love it. But I definitely want to shape the business into a position where it doesn't need me pretty much at all in the next few years. Whether I whether or not I give up valuing or not remains Michelle Smith: . Ian Storey: to be seen. I I do still love it and I still get a real buzz out of the higher end home. So I can't see me doing that just yet. But definitely want to get into that kind of place because I know that It'll be a more profitable business, it'll be more successful, the staff, the team will be happier, and it'll be a more valuable business to own. so I'm on a bit of a drive. And the first thing I've started looking at this week, which I think is where it all needs to begin, is what properties are you selling? So what homes are you selling, and what process have you got to ensure that you only sell the homes that you want to sell? I know we've spoken a few times on the podcast about turning away business that isn't right for you and being selective if that's if that's what you want to do. But I felt that I needed a written-down process to mean that long term, it won't ever need me and my opinion on what the how you know on whether we should be listing these kind of houses. It'd be straightforward for the team to attract the right properties and make sure that we're not selling anything we don't want to sell. So we started off this week by listing. from highest fee to lowest fee, all the properties that we're currently selling that are sold STC. I think I'm gonna do it for this year so far. So from the start of January. and I want to highlight the best fees and the ease of sale. Okay. JK: Mm-hmm. Ian Storey: And that's where we're gonna start. So it's a combination, isn't it? You don't just want to list properties that have got a really high fee because they might be quite difficult to sell, you know, JK: Yeah. Ian Storey: a three million pound house at 2%. Is probably a lot harder to sell than a million pound house at 2%. So it's a combination of the highest fee and also the ease of sale. And then once we've done that, we're going to move on and we're going look at how we sourced those homes. So we're going to create a table with the properties on, the fees, the clients, and how easy they were to sell. We're then gonna have a column that looks at how the properties, the homes were sourced. So is that from our not on the market letters? Is that from our on the market letters? Is that from our boards? Is that from our presence on right move? Is that from our social media network? You know, where were the homes sourced? so that comes back to the team recording it in the first place. It comes back to the value of making sure that it's recorded correctly once they've been to value it because it's not always what you think it is until you go to the property. You don't always know where they've where they've found you. And that column is then going to define moving forward how we can target our marketing and where we should be focusing on spending money, if you need to spend money, to attract the right kind of clients. and I'm hoping that that process will then be able to get the team to have buy-in so that they believe in it as well. and it'll be a written-down format so that any new starters that join the company we'll f we'll have a very straightforward, you know, way of of seeing exactly how we get those clients. So that's what I've started with this week. There's loads of other stuff I want to do as well. I had a conversation with Michelle yesterday because I was like, Michelle, there's loads in my head. I've no idea how to get it onto a piece of paper. Where do I start? And Michelle was great by saying, look, just pick three things, the most important thing you need to be looking at. Start small, you know, focus, which is really helpful. so I just felt like that was quite an interesting topic, and I bet that that is something that most estate agents never do. Thoughts, guys. Michelle Smith: Yeah, yeah, I've got loads of thoughts on this. So I think it's really important to say here, because you're at the stage of growth now where you do have a bought-in team and you are trying to get really strategic to be more effective. And there's a saying which culture each strategy for breakfast. And unless you've got your culture right, you can be as strategic as you want. But it's going to be 10 times harder than if you've not already got the right culture, the right people in the right seats and very clear vision and kind of aligned business goals. So this is like the next step up. So this is kind of setting a standard that can replicate without you being there. Not that you're not going to be there, but that that actually is what it's for and it's putting the scaffolding in place to allow that to happen. One thing I also want to say, had a conversation with some clients last week and they have processes and they're in a folder and the staff don't follow the processes, which I, not just in a state agency, I see it time and time again when I've... worked with other businesses in other industries as well. And there has to be the kind of buying and the way that these standards and processes that are embedded within the team that allow them to actually work. So I just want to give that kind of caveat to what you're saying. Just going in straight away without having the other stuff sorted actually doesn't allow these strategic. exercises to have the impact that I know they will have for you. But also I find it really, really interesting that in, you know, I know your business quite well. I think you're already excellent at doing that and Ian Storey: Yeah. Michelle Smith: sorry, go on. Ian Storey: I agree, yeah. And as as I was starting, so I've got a few sources where I've sort of got information from to help me. And as I was starting on the process, I thought we are already quite good at this, but I do think it still needs to be defined because Michelle Smith: Yeah, I agree. Ian Storey: you can't guarantee that it's gonna carry on like that forever, can you? Especially as new people join. Michelle Smith: No, no, definitely. I think getting it solid before you go through the next phase of growth is the most sound kind of strategy that you can have. And also, know, you know what, you'll hear me say it time and time again, don't let best be the enemy of better. Just because you're good at something doesn't mean that you'll have impact on your business growth by becoming even better. So yeah, I love that you're doing this and I think the thing that people can take away from it is, know, people may have heard of the 80-20 rule, the Pareto principle, where, you know, 80 % of your results come from 20 % of your activity. So if you know which those 20 % are, you want to do more of that 20 % and, you know, bin off the other 80 % of your activity that isn't getting you those results. that are magnified. Ian Storey: It's it's so true you say that. So so one of the one of the columns that I've created is a is about the source of the business. And I think writing that down really, really makes you and will make the team realise how there are certain things that you just don't need to be doing. So the amount of times over the last few years people ask you for a hundred quid to sponsor a beer barrel at the local beer festival, or they ask you for you know you know what I mean, things like that. And you think, it's only a hundred quid. Yeah, go on, do it. And I and I've become a lot tighter on that, a lot tighter on that in the last in the last probably six to twelve months. Because if you add it all up over the year, there'll be thousands of pounds there that we've spent JK: Yeah. Ian Storey: that you don't need to be spending. And that that that money could be much, much, much, much put better put to use. Or it's just profit, you know. So I think highlighting that and really getting down on where your business comes from, the right business, where the right business comes from is important for any business to do. Yeah. JK: The only thing I would say on that is I challenge you a little bit on that, in that whenever I I mean, I don't sponsor a barrel of beer for a hundred pounds, but we do the odd like football team sponsorship. we do the odd charity giveaway, we do the odd charity thing that we kind of publicize and we kind of do it for kind of I suppose the do it for the good and also for the goodwill. And I just think sometimes those sorts of things like let's let's be real. No one's gonna go, do you know what? In story, he sponsored a hundred pound bout. I'm just gonna give him a five million pound ounce. It's no it doesn't happen, does it? It doesn't happen like that. Ian Storey: No. JK: But the way that I look at it is is that it it can be a a mix. You know, y that might come up in conversation where someone's like, yeah, they're the ones that do X, Y, and Z or they did this or that you know, they it's being seen to be a good business and being a business that's got community care. But absolutely Ian Storey: Hm. Yeah, this level Yeah. JK: I'd agree with you that you can't quantify, you you You wouldn't go out and have a strategic meeting and go, Right, guys, what we're gonna do is we're gonna knock all of our market updates on the head and we're just gonna donate all of our money to sponsoring football teams because it it's yeah. Ian Storey: Yeah. There's there's levels. You you're right. It's nice to be able to think there's a local girl in a village recently who was raising money for something I've forgotten what it for, and we we we we we've sponsored thirty, forty quid from the business. It's great to be able to do little things like that. Equally we sponsor a cricket team on a main A road, so we've got a board JK: Yeah. Ian Storey: up, things like that, you know, but there's there's l I think I do JK: But you also do a lot of work as well though for your community that you you it's not you giving money away. It it's things like the Ian Storey: Great, yeah. JK: community interviews, you know, how much are they worth? 'Cause you're Ian Storey: Yeah, of course. JK: you know, if they were to get a professional company in to to film a you know segment like that in their business, they're probably looking at two, three, four, five hundred quid. So, Ian Storey: Yeah. JK: you know, yeah, I I totally agree with you. but also on the other side, you know, I think if anyone listening, like it doesn't mean don't do anything for your community. It what it means is is that, you know, you Don't you know, if you've got a choice between sending a hundred on the market letters out to people or sponsoring, I don't know, like you said, the local keg at the beer festival, then you know where your money's better placed. Michelle Smith: Yeah, I agree. They're two different things really, but they can get confused. I think if people are looking for local sponsorships, et cetera, to generate business, the money definitely will be better spent elsewhere. However, if you just want to do it because they like, you know, the charity or they support the sports club or whatever it is, they're two different things, aren't they? But it's getting really clear on that. I think that's the key bit, isn't it? JK: One thing we found in terms of where business comes from is in terms of the volume of of of new business, there's nothing in our business at the moment that can beat the market update letters and the market updates that we send out. And but it's multifaceted. And and the thing is, some of the houses we sell aren't as a direct result of that. So for example, we had a house recently before where we listed the house at 1.4. and the people that wanted to buy it had a house at 850. And then people wanted to buy that. so basically we we got it off the the off the market update. they instructed us, someone viewed it with a house to sell at 800. We ended up selling their house at 800. So it's not a direct result of that letter going through their door, but it's a direct result of that instruction that came from a letter through the door. And then the 800 house came on the market, and somebody else with a 600 house that wanted to upsize to it. Caitlin want so what what I because we're really what I find we're really good at is spinning the business and asking for the business. So if somebody has a local house to sell and they inquire, we're very good at getting through the door and signing it up. And but that that's a really nice way of, you the the market updates where it starts. So you kind of get the top aspirational property, then the person in kind of that sort of mid to upper end of the market wants to buy the aspirational property, then you get the person maybe in the sort of know, lower premium end at sort of five, six hundred, that then wants to buy that next step up. and we've just found that the market updates for that have have I mean that's been been doing that for about six years now. and that's really sort of transformed our business. And you know, if we look at where our revenue has gone over the last five, six years, you know, it's it's consistently gone up. Michelle Smith: absolutely. I love that though. That's proper estate agency, isn't it? You know, you just get one little chink, one little in, and then how much business can you create from that one little in? Ian Storey: Yeah, and if you're not doing that, then like you say, that's one of the fundamentals of a state agency, isn't it? You've got a serious problem if you're not doing that. JK: So what's next on your list, Ian? Ian Storey: Well, that was that was the first stage of the process. The next stage of the process is defining I wanna define what our sort of main business goal is, our main sort of driver. So is that selling really nice houses? Is it giving amazing service to clients? What's the main that's what's that the number one thing that we want the team to have in their minds? so that's what we're gonna come on to. When I I You know, I'm gonna discuss it with the team and I'm not I'm not sure if it's gonna be the service or is it gonna be being known for selling the nice friend homes? What you what do we really wanna be known for? JK: I th I think that, you know, just discussing it out loud while you you just you just put it out into the universe. I think in my mind it you know it one kind of almost looks after another. So if you become known for the the service, then I think the kind of the people that will value service are the people that live in the high end and aspirational homes. And it's like that s saying, isn't it? You know, if you if you look after your team, your team will look after your clients. so if you're service is and and that service doesn't mean you'll just you know I mean it does mean you'll ring somebody back when you say you'll ring them back, but your service is how you market the homes, your service is how, you know, you you present them on social media. Your service is the community interviews. Your service is the market. Like all of that builds around and leans into and that will resonate with what you've basically just talked about as your ideal client. You know, where do they come from? Who are they? What is their demographic? What are they tuned into? And I think I well, again, I'm again just out loud, in my mind, my thing would be the standard of service that you set will resonate with your audience. And then your audience will automatically gravitate to you. Because let's be honest, people in two, three hundred grand houses that are just looking for the cheapest fee. that that that's what they're looking for. They're looking for the cheapest fee. They're not necessarily look they want the service when, you know, the proverbial hits the fan. they want someone that's going to pick up the phone and sort it out for But the reality is they're not looking for it and they're not in tune with you it's it's wider people at the upper end tech fly Emirates business or first class when they could just fly economy for a lot less money because they want the service. They want it they want how it makes them feel. And that that's Again, that's part of your service as well. How does your service make someone feel? Do they feel like, we're selling our home with stories? Or, you know, James there's a James Kendall. Like I'd a a client that completed last week and we we were having a good chat. And we I mean, I this is this will be a third house I've sold for the family. And he said, you know, I just obviously always rated you. And you know, you you'd sold two houses first before he goes, but you gone you've gone to another level with the new branding and the team and the marketing. and he just said, like, you know, everyone I come into he's say he's a local builder, so he sees loads of people. and he kind of, you know, does like higher end like extensions and stuff like that. and really, really well known in the area. And he just said, like, you know, we knew we wanted to sell our house with you. Because you know, we wanted that board outside the house. It said, because he goes being a bit vulnerable here. He goes, but I would rather have your like especially the new boards that you've got swinging out the front of the house. Because then, you know, I'm known for doing a quality job. People know that J JK is quality. Like, and I I, you know, I kinda I kind of selfishly said like while I was there, I like, Well, you know, to be fair, when someone sees a JK board outside the front of the house, they know that it's going to be a certain standard of house and it's also going to lock value in to whoever's selling a house because they're gonna know, well, they only sell 'cause yeah, like you've said Ian, like it's a nice brand positioning where, you know, it's only really, I suppose, in the last four or five years that we've had this. But people say, you only sell the nice houses now, don't you? That's that's what you do. Ian Storey: Yeah, it's an interesting thing, isn't it? We've had that obviously quite a lot as well. And that's why I don't think there's any need to worry about your competition because there's plenty of people trying to trying to emulate, but you know, I think there's it's impossible to copy exactly what you do. And the main thing that comes back to is your culture. And it's impossible to cut to copy the culture in your office and that is what permeates th out through everything. And we have people Michelle Smith: Yes. Ian Storey: now that only want to use us, even though there are other agents that can do Twilights and videos and but that but it's the brand, isn't it? It's the brand that they believe in that they buy into. JK: Hundred percent. And the thing is you've got you've got the proof as well. You know, because you've got the thing is you're you're consistent and we talked about consistency, I mean, well, hump teen times. It I mean, it it's what it's what drives us forward and you've you've got to have that consistency in your marketing because it's all about showing up consistently every week. You know, you've got Premier League footballers, which I know neither of you are gonna resonate with, but you know, that Michelle Smith: you JK: come on and you know, score you can score a hat trick in one game. But I'm sure even though neither of you are massive football fans, both of you know who Ronaldo and Messi are. Michelle Smith: No, no, I heard of them. JK: No. No, very funny. so Cristiano, Ronaldo and Messi are arguably the greatest to to play the game. And the reason they are the greatest to have played the game is because they are consistently putting in a result and a shift every week. You know, anyone can turn up for one game and score a hat trick and be forgotten about, but these guys are putting it in week in, week out. And that that's the thing, you know, people remember that consistency, you know, the selling the nice homes, actually getting them sold because You know, what was the stat that came out last year? And I think it don't think it's changed much either. And if anything, it's probably going to get worse. That the average agent only actually exchanges on about fifty-two percent of what they list. And, you know, if we're out there exchanging on 80 odd percent of what we list, you know, that is an elite stat in in the industry. You know, we are not the norm. And people will recognize that. you know, people always people say to me, you you get them sold as well, don't you? You they look great and you get them sold. And it's being known for having that consistency of the marketing where people are, you know, sort of looking at you aspirationally and going, you know, and again, it's like the feeling you get when you sit in a nice car. You know, you could sit in a Chinese car now that's got leather leather seats. But I guarantee you you feel better sat in a Bentley than you do sat in an X Peng. You know, sorry if you're listening to this and you've got an X Peng, but you know, the it but it that but it's true, isn't it? You know, you could be sat on the same leather. But if you're driving down the street, you know, let's say you've got a convertible Bentley, you're driving down the high street in a convertible Bentley, you'd feel you'd feel better. Not better, but you would feel better. But you'd do what I mean, you Ian Storey: It's brand. JK: it's the brand, isn't it? You know, I that's that and that's kind of what I'm I'm trying to allude to really, really badly. But you know, you could have the same car with a different badge, but it's how that person makes and that's where the agency branding comes in, like having a stories board, having a JK board outside, having a Burton James board outside, you know, We're we're at that level now where we've been doing it consistently enough where people almost want us to have a board. Yeah, will you where will you put the board? Rather than can we have a board? It's where will you put the board? And people buy into that. Michelle Smith: Yeah, I agree. And just kind of to tie this together. that's already where your business is. And what you're doing now is sifting. So even though you've got that brand presence, you're now drilling down to say, yes, I've got the right homes. I get excellent fees, but you know, the categories that you said in the beginning were what were the best fees and what were the easiest to sell? so, JK, when you were talking about how many, what percentage from listing do we sell, you're actually sifting now for gold. And when you're in that position, it's amazing because your business is already successful, but you're now really honing in on the 80-20 principle. So you can focus your efforts and get kind of even better results. So it's just the next layer, isn't it? The next layer of effort and energy and where are the team going to be focusing? JK: So I think maybe a good place to cap it off is, and this this isn't an advert, but we it actually is, which maybe we should put some music behind this bit. but if anybody's listening to this and is thinking about moving to the next level or you're stuck or you've just been going through the day today, there's loads of agents, we've got hundreds of agents each week that listen to this podcast. And I'm pleased to say in the last few weeks, we've had loads of people join our free Explorer membership on the TCA website. And it's a really good place to start on the portal. So If you're intrigued about dipping your toe in the water as to what TCA is and how it can elevate you to the next level, then jump onto the completeagent.co.uk and just try the Explorer membership and see what you can see on the portal there. Because there's obviously there's loads more in the paid membership. But even if you're just dipping your toe in the water, we've got a great free buyer letter as as part of that that you can download and start implementing straight away. But honestly, for Some of the members that we've got in the group, they've doubled fees, they've gone from one to two percent. we've got a range of members in the group and they are all amazing people. So if you'd like to be considered for a paid membership, then let us know as well. But I think that would be a really good place to start for a lot of people because you know, this market, in my opinion, is only going to get harder. And if the market's gonna get harder, you need to get better. And the best way to get better is to learn and improve. So just my Two pence, guys, anything before we bid these people good week. Michelle Smith: just enjoy the rest of your holiday JK. JK: I will. The sun's I I'm Sam already tanned. I've been enjoying the sun all week. It's lovely. And I also flew Emirates as well, so I I do practice what I preach. Ian Storey: Nice. Lovely. JK: Right. Well, look, it's been a pleasure, guys. Love you both. Thank you for listening, guys, and we will see you next week. Ian Storey: I