What Are The Main Things That Put People Off Switching Agents?
I wanted to chat to you today about the common reasons we find that people don't leave an agent they're unhappy with.
The first one will be fees, if you've paid any amount of money upfront, whether it be an online agent, who you paid the full amount to, or a smaller amount for let's say ‘marketing’, that can be really, really difficult to leave.
Knowing that you've paid for something and you're not going to get to see it through, you're not getting that money back - well that's exactly correct you're not going to get the money back! Now, you you've got to the point where you're unhappy with the agent you know you want to leave, and yes you are losing that money but, it's already gone, it's already lost, so minimise your losses and walk away.
Secondly, it can be a little bit embarrassing! We found customers, when they come to us as their second agent on the property, third sometimes, maybe fourth, they're a bit embarrassed that they're going to have another agent marketing their property.
What will the neighbours think or friends, family? A new ‘For Sale’ board goes up outside their home and they don't want the embarrassment there.
Talk to the agent you're thinking about going on the market with, perhaps you can not have a For Sale board, they do help but they aren't ‘essential’.
Perhaps on your second, third, fourth agent round, maybe that one is going to be the one that sells your property, so try not to be too disheartened.
The next hurdle you need to get over is making that phone call or writing that email to dis-instruct your agent. For lots and lots of people that's a really, really scary moment.
Maybe you don't want to upset anybody, you may find it confrontational, you don't want to let anyone down. Making that phone call, or writing that email, is quite a stressful situation for a lot of people.
My advice do it by email! The agent will need you to put it in writing anyway, more than likely. That means that you don't need to have the difficult phone conversation, if you don't want to. It also sets out in that email if you're unhappy about anything, if you have any time scales to complete, maybe asking in that email, ‘what is your notice period?’, if you don't know it already. But make sure you write the email and get the ball rolling just get over that hurdle!
The next one I find is, who can you trust? You've got over the first few issues, now you think ‘okay who am I going to choose next?’ You've done your research, you've looked into people, but how do you know it's not going to be the ‘same’.
What I would say now is, go to Google, look at the Agent’s reviews, ask them, tell them your worries, and they should be able to tell you how they can combat those fears and ensure you’re burnt by a bad agent twice.
Marketing! I would say, from experience, marketing is the biggest barrier to people choosing a new agent, they have to have their photos redone!
Yeah, that is a NECESSARY EVIL, it's not something that I can overcome for you unfortunately. We aren't able to use the previous agent’s images and quite often you wouldn't want us to.
So yes, we do need to make sure the house is ‘picture perfect’, for us to come around for an hour. The good news is, we will help you ‘stage’ the property! We will help plump cushions up, and make sure that curtains and blinds are open, and the property is looking its best.
Some properties, we will even bring in a few bits like plants and throws, just to make sure the property is looking its finest, but yes, that's one I can't get over, you will need to have us in the property for an hour or so, to do your marketing.
The last barrier or fear I would say people have is: they feel that nothing is going to change. So, your house has been on the market for perhaps six months and it hasn't sold, you haven't had many viewings.
Why are WE going to be any different? Why is your next agent going to be any better than the previous one? Well it's really, really important that you understand - not all agents are the same.
As standard with us, after every viewing we will give you feedback. We try to do this, if we have a WhatsApp group set up for you, straight into your WhatsApp group! We usually do this by ‘voice note’ so you can hear in our voices whether we're excited about it, we will try to convey, best as we can, the emotion that the potential buyers bring through to that viewing.
If we see a trend in the feedback, then we will tell you. If you're not getting any viewings at all, come and ask us why, we will send you weekly marketing reports if you wish. We will give you the feedback that you need to make sure that you are informed about your house sale.
Not all agents are the same, not all agents will just ‘leave you on the market’. It will be different, so take the plunge!!!