Tesco's - estate agents of the future?

So why didn`t fixed fee property shops take off??

I would rather be lied to by someone costing me £300 than £3000, or does paying more get you a bettr liar?

Because people like to have a personal liar to moan at,who will bow and scrape in the appropiate manner to suite there particular ego.

oh sorry walk in property shops,to cheap so can't be any good everyone knows it cost thousands to sell a house

funny lot the human race,we all want things on the cheap ,but would rather forgo that pleasure in case Jones & Co finds out were cheapskates

Earl

 

[Encantador]

Because people like to have a personal liar to moan at,who will bow and scrape in the appropiate manner to suite there particular ego.

oh sorry walk in property shops,to cheap so can't be any good everyone knows it cost thousands to sell a house

funny lot the human race,we all want things on the cheap ,but would rather forgo that pleasure in case Jones & Co finds out were cheapskates

Earl

So marketing our new EA business as such might be a winner.....

"We have some of the best most convincing liars in town"
"Our fee is just 25% of the sale price, plus expences"

What shall we call ourselves?

 

So marketing our new EA business as such might be a winner.....

"We have some of the best most convincing liars in town"
"Our fee is just 25% of the sale price, plus expences"

What shall we call ourselves?

"The Pirffo property company " what else

 

[directmarketingadvice]

Quote:
Originally Posted by SteveGibson
Good point.

I think the typical Estate Agent is doomed.

They do a third rate job and charge a fortune. Which means they're wide open to attack from the first organisation that gets its act together and offers a credible alternative.

Steve

This subject has been discussed on various business forums for years. No one has ever come up with a reason why they are still in business, but they are.

I should clarify.

I'm not saying the Estate Agent model is doomed, just the typical estate agent.

My own experience of Estate Agents has been that they:

(1) offer poor customer service

(2) list houses but don't really help to sell them

(3) didn't educate me about what they did or why I should use them again

(4) didn't ask for feedback or testimonials

(5) never asked for referrals

(6) didn't stay in touch

Now, each of these things is like taking a big pile of your own money and setting it on fire.

It significantly reduces repeat business (I've never used the same estate agent twice) and referrals (and I've never sent a referral to an EA).

Now, if you reduce those two things, you reduce the value of a new customer.

Which means you can't afford to spend so much time and money on things like marketing and customer service.

But .. at the same time, you have to spend more time and money on marketing because you're not getting the levels of repeat business/referrals you should.

So, it's a problem.

That's your typical EA.

However, there are smart ones out there who realise the importance of offering good service and they've no shortage of clients because they're so referrable.

Steve

 

Steve we use a slightly different method to sell property see

http://www.studdsey.fsnet.co.uk/house.htm

so next time you are flogging the family castle ,DIY.

It only seems to work with a certain type of property ,The one shown took us 2 weeks to sell or 2 insertions in the Times.The client deals directly with the vendor.

our fee 1k

Earl

 

[voucha]

In reference to your comment mountie, In my eyes it is about seeing defects in the current property sales industry and being able to produce a product and service that deals with these defects.

If you read this thread then you will see a lot of negative comments regarding estate agents and their poor levels of service in such a customer focused enviroment. These are simple mistakes that once corrected can push a business along way, due to referals etc... And due to the average persons thoughts on estate agents, these corrected defects would not go unnoticed and will stand out from the norm that they have used previously!

This is where the larger agents are missing out, the clients are the core part of the business and not looking after them to the correct level is dangerous.. Its not about inventing a exciting new product, its about taking steps to improve an existing idea.

Lets put this to the test?

I would like to ask the question, that if you sold or bought a house through an agency where you received a high level of customer care and interaction, including, small touches like `welcome to your new home cards`, follow up calls, local advice, local property service referals etc... And to top it off you were charged a lower fixed commission rate, but your property still had high exposure like other agents.... Would you use them again? Would you refer them to friends and family??

 

[Lee Thomas]

Ah well at least good old fish4 pulled out at the last minute

 

[mountie]

Voucha

If you have ever worked in the industry you will realise that there is far more to it than leaving chocolates on pillows!

Population migration habits are now at the highest level ever known. How many people sell a house more than once in the same catchment area? If you're relying on repeat business or referrals you won't survive.

 

[directmarketingadvice]

How many people sell a house more than once in the same catchment area? If you're relying on repeat business or referrals you won't survive.

I'm not convinced.

When someone in the UK buys their first home, I reckon they usually go on to buy another in the same area.

(usually= more than 50% of the time)

Also, they usually have influence with someone that subsequently buys a home in that area.

If one out of every 2 clients you have sends you a new client, your business can stand still without doing any external marketing.

(this is because referrals compound)

Really, if you're a good estate agent, is that too much to ask?

Just one out of two in a business that most people need and where there's so much disatisfaction and so little loyalty?

(and that's ignoring repeat business)

Steve

 

[Mark Davis]

Tesco property market stands to benefit the consumer, allowing them to have full control over the process of selling and buying their home, without having a middle man. The website is a very new venture and the initial feedback from customers is excellent. More and more people opt to sell their homes privately to avoid both the confusion and the cost involved in having an estate agent involved. The website offers comprehensive information helping buyers and sellers through the whole process, in combination with online negotiation tools and much more makes using Tesco Property Market a good choice all round.
Mark Davis, Tesco Property Market

 

[mountie]

Tesco Property Market needs to define its core business strategy.

Is it:

1. A private sale site?
2. An online estate agent?
3. A property portal?

You cannot be everything to everyone.

 

[PintoPotts]

Sounds like a load of waffle to me....

Why can't you stick to selling groceries!

 

[Stephen Berry]

Why can't you stick to selling groceries!

low margins?

 

[PintoPotts]

Low morals, more like!

Why is the Tesco Estate Agency guy coming on here to try and justify their actions? Hasn't he got houses to sell...

Part of a campaign across the web to try and change the negative media they have been getting I suspect.

 

[Stephen Berry]

An interesting observation.
On 'Strategic thinking' training courses, I often open up with 'companies you admire / companies you loathe' as some material for discussion (which leads on to their strategies etc etc).
Up until about 2 years ago Tesco was ALWAYS on the 'admire' side.
Over the last 2 years they have slipped to being probably about 50/50.

By contrast, M&S in the same time period have moved from almost always 'loathe' to probably over 80/20 'admire.

What do UKBF'ers feel that Tesco are doing wrong that M&S are doing right?

 

What do UKBF'ers feel that Tesco are doing wrong that M&S are doing right?

as the Uk's biggest retailer not a lot

who are these people who don't like Tesco certainly not there customers.

what a load of twaddle to suggest they are unpopular

must be the city guys e.t.c

 

[PintoPotts]

We are going round in circles, but a growing number of people dislike Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury etc for the damage they have done to the High Street retailers, greengrocers, fishmongers etc'.

They have taken away choice by giving us what we all thought was more choice.

People don't have such an issue with M&S as they have been in the High Street for years alongside the same retailers Tesco has been killing off.

 

We are going round in circles, but a growing number of people dislike Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury etc for the damage they have done to the High Street retailers, greengrocers, fishmongers etc'.

quote]

maybe but not as much damage as the internet is doing to the bricks and mortar retail trade.

I agree myself included that Tesco and Co are not good for society as a whole ,and fully understand the moans of the high street retailer,but unpopular?

I hope I become that unpopular

 

[PintoPotts]

Fair comment, but many of the 'bricks and mortar' retailers are the same ones now earning a percentage of their income through their own websites.

 

[WebServerHost]

We buy our fish from a van in town every Tuesday, they are fresher and a bit cheaper. We have a local veg shop, but it just isn't as fresh as the supermarket, otherwise we would buy from them. As an agent? I'd rather pay an estate agent to go out and sell it for me, I don't have time to mess about doing it myself.

I think the high street is or will evolve, I don't think bricks and mortar is under threat, I can't get my hair cut on the Internet and in most cases an e-com site compliments the high street shop.

 

[Stephen Berry]

as the Uk's biggest retailer not a lot

who are these people who don't like Tesco certainly not there customers.

what a load of twaddle to suggest they are unpopular

must be the city guys e.t.c

who mentioned popularity?
On a strategic thinking course you are considering a range of aspects about the brand and organisational operation.
To answer whom - in the last few months - a range of mangers / executives from fashion retail, motor vehicle industry, construction - and even a group of entreprenuers who included none other than Forum moderator Duane of Kashflow fame!

 

To answer whom - in the last few months - a range of mangers / executives from fashion retail, motor vehicle industry, construction - and even a group of entreprenuers who included none other than Forum moderator Duane of Kashflow fame!

Well I expect they shop in M&S so Tesco ain't going to worry about them ,besides they all have there own agenda


Earl

 

[mountie]

Mark Davis said earlier this week:

"Private sales are competition for traditional agents but they are a small part of the market and there is plenty of room for everybody who provides a good service for customers.

Agents must believe their services are valued by their customers, so I hope they see the benefit of competition and will use Tesco Property Market to advertise their customers' properties."

Pity they don't adopt the same 'competition' mantra when other stores want to open in their Tesco towns. Seems competition is OK when it suits them.

 

Fair comment, but many of the 'bricks and mortar' retailers are the same ones now earning a percentage of their income through their own websites.

Most of the bricks and motar business's who's websites I am involved with sell between 5 to 10 times more through there websites than.there retail units,and our car parts site possible up to 40 times.

In 10 years it is possible half the uk bricks and motar business's will be gone?

Earl

 

[sergio]

We are going round in circles, but a growing number of people dislike Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury etc for the damage they have done to the High Street retailers, greengrocers, fishmongers etc'.

They have taken away choice by giving us what we all thought was more choice.

But is that their fault or ours? All they did was offer us a choice. We could have all chosen to ignore them and keep going to the High Street, but we didn't. Now many of us regret that decision, but perhaps we should bear responsibility for our own decisions rather than blame whoever gave us the option.

 

[luapnampahc]

I was one of the first to sign up my property on tescopropertymarket... the MD gave me a call and said he wanted me to talk to the press!! A board was put up within one day, there is a number on the board which allows passers by to get details.

The trouble is the traffic they need to get !! Rightmove and Primelocation are not playing ball and there is contractual issues with Fish4Homes, as it seems all these players are protecting their estate agents interests.. not the consumer.


And whats the big deal about doing it myself... I have sold four houses and ended up doing all the chasing anyway.

If I sell I will save myself over £6000..!!! Heres hoping..

 

I was one of the first to sign up my property on tescopropertymarket... the MD gave me a call and said he wanted me to talk to the press!! A board was put up within one day, there is a number on the board which allows passers by to get details.

The trouble is the traffic they need to get !! Rightmove and Primelocation are not playing ball and there is contractual issues with Fish4Homes, as it seems all these players are protecting their estate agents interests.. not the consumer.


And whats the big deal about doing it myself... I have sold four houses and ended up doing all the chasing anyway.

If I sell I will save myself over £6000..!!! Heres hoping..

agree every time we have sold we end up doing all the work.Estate agents seem so unintrested in anything but there profit

Give Tesco time to get there mighty machine going ,and my bet is they will blast right move and Co out of the water

well I hope so:|

 

[mountie]

But don't you understand -

1. Tesco are proclaiming to be a private sale site

2. Rightmove et al are 'portals' which list estate agent properties

3. The portals are protecting their clients interest because they do not want to be advertised on a private sale site

4. Tesco are confusing consumers -are they private sales or do they want agents properties?

5. Private sales are great but they've got to stick to that if that is what they are caliming to be

6. Private sales are at the other end of the scale - why should agents want their properties shown side by side

7. Tesco only want the traffic from having agents properties on their site

8. This would obviously detract from the original portals

9. Fish4 pulled out because Tesco tried to move the goalposts (no surprise)