Tony Brazier

www.braziers.co.nz

Tony Brazier

The Press - Wednesday 23 September 2009

Choosing Your Selling Agent

At first glance, all real estate companies look the same, or so we get told. No wonder vendors put little thought at times, into who they choose to sell their greatest assets. Upon greater investigation, it becomes very apparent that not all agencies are the same.

Philosophies held by the Principals can differ dramatically and this in turn filters through to their sale consultants and the behaviours they show. Some companies have favoured ways of marketing which others don’t adhere to and there is always the decision as to whether it is better to deal with the individual or the brand.

By necessity agencies employ many differing personalities and any principal will tell you that there is no fool proof way of saying one personality over another will be successful. The truth is, different personalities of consultants, philosophies of principals and exposure of brands, appeal to the many differing personalities of vendors (and purchasers).

I, personally have a lot of time for the larger corporates and the magical marketing, professional dressing and well practiced scripting but it doesn’t necessarily always suit the clientele that we personally deal with. Just look at how a motel broker dresses and operates. Like a farm consultant he dresses, talks, and in other ways empathises with his clients. He speaks their language, understands their psyche and markets in the places and in the way that his clients use themselves. But how does one find an appropriate agent.

Firstly, the most obvious question to ask oneself is “which agent mostly sells what I have?” Whether it is location based (i.e. a suburb) or type (farm, commercial, residential investment or motels) go to those that specialize in this type of property or geographic area.

Secondly, within this sector of the market there will be those agencies that are very visible by their branding and others that prefer to operate more covertly. It is often worth the extra investigation not to assume that the most visible have the best results. Indeed some of the most successful sales consultants in the country work for low profile companies in Christchurch but only their clients know who they are. To them that’s all that matters.

Thirdly, once you’ve whittled your way down to a few likely agencies, interview them. I don’t mean to just judge them by their marketing presentation alone, I mean sit down and ask them questions like; “On average how many sales per month per salesperson does your team do?” (The average is 0.5 per month in New Zealand but a reasonable agency is 1.5-2.0). “How many on average does the sales consultant you’re talking to do?” (Should be 3-5 or more if they’re experienced and on their own, or many more if they have a team of PA’s and helpers.)

Fourthly, compare the agencies and/or consultant’s market share of the type and location of property you have. Carefully compare these, as 10% may be extremely good for a suburb well stocked with rival agencies but 30% may be low for a boutique part of the market that no-one else is interested in. When comparing market share get the agency to print out the sales for the last year in your suburb or category of the market. (Generally they’ll use REINZ stats.) Take as many copies of this table of sales as you have people to interview. Get each of them to highlight which ones they sold hence allowing a percentage to be determined. (Don’t allow a company to count what they listed that another agency sold. If they all did this the market share would look better than it is.)

Fifthly, gauge the repoire you have with each consultant. Are they confident? Knowledgeable” Affable? If you like them, generally the people who are attracted to your property will like them too. Sometimes the chemistry just doesn’t mix for some reason.

Choose your agent on your own inquiries. Certainly start with recommendations, by all means, but choosing your brother-in-law or team-mate because they’ve just started out in real estate generally doesn’t do you nor your relationship much good if they prove to be unsuccessful or below par. Consultants work hard to be successful, they deserve for you to choose them because of it. As one company says “Results aren’t everything but what else can you go by.”

Finally just remember, any fool can organize a marketing programme. Judging your consultant’s selling skills on this alone is foley. It just may be that the buyers for this property don’t read the paper but are sitting on another consultant’s database waiting to be emailed this week’s new listings. Analysing the results achieved is a much better indicator of your chances of success than gauging who can spend the most marketing.

Lastly, there are excellent sales consultants in all agencies. No one brand has a monopoly on that. Your job is to choose the philosophy, location and personality that best fits your own. Good luck.