Member agents of OnTheMarket have spoken out strongly in defence of the new portal.
One agent begged others not to “succumb to the spin”.
Their testimonials, given over the last few weeks, were produced to press yesterday by OTM after estate agency trainer Richard Rawlings circulated an open letter.
In it, Rawlings accused OTM of damaging the housing market, and asked OTM to drop its one other portal rule.
However, in their testimonials the agents say they have had no loss of business from dropping a portal.
In one testimonial for OTM, Simon Brown, of GKD Galbraith, said 50% of its leads currently come from Rightmove, 25% from OTM and the rest from its own website, advertising and walk-ins.
He said: “Agents who have yet to join must not succumb to the spin put out, and current members must persevere and persuade other agents to join and communicate the long-term benefits which will give OTM time to build.”
Winkworth agent Edward Foley says of Winkworth’s decision to drop Zoopla in favour of Rightmove, to comply with the rule: “We had already discovered the vast majority of buyers and tenants looked at several portals when they chose a new home because they didn’t want to miss anything.
“The thought that a buyer making an investment in property will only look on Rightmove or Zoopla is crazy.”
Foley’s testimonial says: “We monitored leads, service and of course spoke to our buyers, sellers and landlords about the portals.
“Over time it became apparent that nearly all used several and so we knew that the portals market would change as a result of OnTheMarket’s launch.
“Since joining, we didn’t notice any serious enquiries [from OTM] until April.
“They are now a steady flow and are of very good quality.
“OTM doesn’t compete yet with Rightmove but I didn’t expect it to at this stage.
“OTM is for the long term and clearly will take several years to reach its potential, but the more agents who join along with an increase of brand awareness among consumers, the faster this will happen.
“I’ve been very impressed with OTM’s TV campaign and have noticed that more vendors and landlords are now asking if we advertise on it.
“OTM has been formed by agents to take back some control to try and keep a lid on the rising prices of the property portals.
“I would encourage agents who are not yet members to have a serious re-think. Many made their decisions at a time when detractors claimed OnTheMarket would fade out in a matter of months, and of course it hasn’t.”
Foley’s viewpoint directly conflicts that of Richard Rawlings, who in his open letter to OTM boss Ian Springett said that 80% of buyers only ever looked at one portal.
Foley, who operates the Winkworth franchise in Wimbledon, is one of several agents to give testimonials.
Others are from John Payne, with four offices in the midlands; Woodland, a two branch business in north-east London; CKD Galbraith, with 11 offices in Scotland; Kelvin Francis, with two branches in Wales; and Edward Ashdale, a two office agent with branches in Bromley, Kent, and Lambeth, London.
John Payne, of Coventry-based Payne Associates, says: “Getting on board with the only agent-owned portal is about having courage behind your convictions. Of course we had hesitations about joining but these have proved to be unfounded.
“We feel that OnTheMarket.com is the easiest and clearest portal to use and our customers have noticed this too.”
Kelvin Francis says: “We removed our properties from Zoopla and this has not affected our business.”
OTM boss Ian Springett said: “This excellent feedback from member agents proves just how much OnTheMarket has achieved.
“Only nine months since launch, this is still only the beginning.
“We look forward to welcoming new members, building on lead volumes for existing members and continuing to provide a superior digital platform which is clean and clear for consumers.”
The testimonials are here
- Separately, City analyst Anthony Codling at Jefferies – the bank that advised Zoopla on its flotation last year – increased its predictions for Zoopla’s earnings this year by 15%, to £48m. Codling told investors that the trade press ‘war of words’ continues to complain. He said agents “had started to be openly critical of OTM. While we are keen to point out that these critiques are small in number, rather than representative of the industry as a whole, we sense a change in clcimate and when the soldiers rather than the general start to complain, strategic intent, in our view, starts to unravel”. However, Jefferies still rates OTM as a possible threat to Zoopla.
- In a further move, long-standing critic of OTM Trevor Mealham told EYE that yesterday he reported the new portal to the Competition and Markets Authority for alleged anti-competitive trading.
Comments (72)
the message…… remind me? ….you are from Planet Blinkered….. that’s where The Duopoly Beings Exist….. no one else does because you don’t allow them!
Practice marching around your planet….. but it’s a Lonely Place….. all the same, never seeing real Human Beings!
Give over….. same old themessage!
You’ve only said ‘duopoly’ 19 times today, GPL.
The day is young, I suppose.
🙂
…..but in your world DE…..if I say DUOPOLY I Trilion Billion Times it has added value!
You have said it a trillion times, and there they are – as dominant as ever with the public at large thinking nothing at all has changed.
“An agent is entitled and indeed expected to use their professional judgement in deciding how and where to market a property to the best advantage of their client…” Come off it. There is, never was, and probably never will be any client advantage whatsoever in using OTM, as opposed to RM or Zoopla – any more than there was any client benefit to those agent-owned rags that used to clutter up people’s doormats back in the day. By all means let some agents stuff their poor unsuspecting clients’ properties onto a minority-interest portal in order to save themselves a bit of money – if they think they can get away with it. But at least spare the rest of us the pretence that it’s being done for the client’s benefit!
So what about agents that just advertise on RM? – Are they to be vilified just because they are on one portal?
STOP PRESS! ENDANGERED SPECIES ALERT!!!
Duopoly Portal Digital Employees! One can recognise their bleating call which repeats over and over again!
No One brings up the duopoly as much as you, my friend.
Which one of the two do you work for?
I’m amazed how many agents don’t think OTM a good idea considering the cost of RM & Z; anyone thinking OTM would suddenly be producing tons of quality leads within months of launch was clearly a fantasist, we signed up with the view that it would take a good couple of years to see lead numbers anywhere near rivalling RM but after 9 months we’re not getting a lot less than we previously were with Z, who we dropped due to the ‘big boys’ not being prepared to drop RM- if they had then we as an independent may have followed suit.
The buying public aren’t stupid, if they suddenly only see half or less of what they are used to seeing on a site they will wonder why and look elsewhere and as we are seeing a slow but seady rise in OTM enquiries that is happening, but it has to be seen as a slow burner.
‘Half or less of what they used to see’, hang on! These are different buyers. The buying public might be classified as one group but the individual people are different and hence have zero ‘memory’ of how many properties used to be on Z. They don’t know what they don’t know, and they haven’t been told !
Plenty of non AM agents, including me, think the concept of OTM is a very good idea.
The problem is the one portal rule which is dictatorial, not for the immediate benefit of buyers or sellers and in turn leads to (in my opinion) an increased awareness of the importance of RM and Z due to non AM agents consistently plugging the advantages to sellers particularly of being on the duopoly.
I totally agree with your statement “anyone thinking OTM would suddenly be producing tons of quality leads within months of launch was clearly a fantasist,”
However, whichever way you look at it, few leads from OTM for AM agents also means few leads from OTM for clients. Like it not, past and current AM clients are being used to tread water until, and a big if, OTM ever does produce “tons of leads”.
Define ‘cost’:
How does advertising in the newspapers/print add up to the cost of RM and/or Zoopla for example?
if it’s expensive but works – invest! If it expensive doesn’t generate any response – don’t invest!
Advertising to mass, but targeted markets has never been more cost efficient.
The buying public can still find everything available on RM & Z – thus there is simply not the need to look anywhere else. As is being playing out all over the country.
It’s a funny old world Digi….. every single week I have to talk to clients about “which portals” to look on….. and I promise you this, I have to write the names down to search as so many have no idea!…… this is despite The Duopoly spending Gazillions on advertising! Thing is a real/active homebuyer searches when they want to move home NOT every day of every year, and they most often get in touch with their local High Street Estate Agent….. at which point they engage more deeply….. so, the biggest misconception of all is that The Duopoly Portals drive the market?…… their biggest failing is they are only as good as the agents who provide them with property ads to display…… like an Autotrader style publication….. no ads, no visitors!
You can dress your digi world whatever way you want however it only exists because estate agents place ads on it…… turn that tap off and those enpty portals will wither and die!
70m+ visits a month to RM, 50m to Zoopla says otherwise GPL…
For those tiny few who don’t know these sites, their journey starts on Google and they end up there anyway.
People visit these sites before contacting an agent these days, just as you get insurance quotes online or look for holidays online before speaking to a broker/agent.
Thus is 2015.
……and that remains the biggest piece of fiction in the Portal World….. that hits/visits matter?!….. really?!
So, 1 Trillion Billion is Top Trumps?….. and yet real estate agents know that there are NOT 1 Trillion Billion or 70 Million or 50 Million Homebuyers in the UK…. and we all know that those hits/visits are magic numbers that can never be effectively dissected down to 3 people looking to buy a house in a particular area?
Every night Blightmove delivers a search result to my email despite the fact that I have no interest in buying….. however here I am…..a hit, a visit….. it’s laughable that so much “value” is placed in so much statistical nonsense.
Portals have a place in our industry however it is only a place…….one day estate agents and everyone else will become extinct however for the timebeing let’s be sure that Portals do not rule the world, they serve estate agents for advertising property, as part of overall marketing which includes something as simple as a Window Card, a For Sale Board, an Estate Agent picking up a phone and calling a real homebuyer etc….
When any portal can deliver Buyers only, Negotiate the best possible result for the Seller and have no bias towards 3rd Party Products or selling/directing data to related/unrelated retailers/sellers then talk to me about Portals in the 2015/2016 era and beyond…… for the timebeing they remain a giant ineffective fishing net that trawls not for real Homebuyers however for Visitors in order that they can suck data, sell date and 3rd party products/services!…… the monumental con of the Property Portals is that they are there to serve the buying public……nothing could be further from the truth!
In contrast, I, the Real Estate Agent, along with so many others are actually here to serve our clients!
Your digital bias is clear DE, you can’t see the Human Beings for the processors cluttering your view!
So, you agree – there is no point at all to On The Market?
The point of OTM DE is to provide Portal Marketing for our industry that is not owned or driven by profit sucking companies that sh@ft their members…… namely The Shaftopoly!
I was talking to a print man about the effect of print advertising on digital traffic. Traffic was noticeably higher on properties that had a print presence.
Adjusting a tariff according to a product or service that does not share the same fixed costs is unjustifiable. Boasting and gloating about the % profit margin creates bad feeling especially when done, as it was, when the market had crashed.
Advertising to a mass audience has never been less efficient; by your own figures today 110+ million visits per month to achieve less than 100,000 sale is a KPI of, at best 0.09%; 44 times less efficient than eyes viewing junk mail.
See other eye story from KnightFrank today.
I don’t want to put 2 and 2 together but I don’t suppose there is any connection between KnightFrank’s move off PL and their drop in 30% of applicants. Other ‘economic factors’ accepted but maybe the Russians and Chinese haven’t heard of OTM or в продаже yet. один портал perhaps the cause!
One question left unanswered.
Can someone please tell me how the ‘one other portal rule’ benefits buyers and sellers?
It’s a reasonable question Ben. In deciding what is best for their client (remember that is who agents act for, not applicants) an agent is entitled and indeed expected to use their professional judgement in deciding how and where to market a property to the best advantage of their client. That may be RM + Z. It may only be RM or Z. Or it may be OTM and A.N. Other. It is a fact that not all agents ever were or are on more than one or two portals just as they don’t advertise in every local or national paper or magazine. If that does not benefit particular applicants it’s arguably unfortunate – but it’s the way of the world.
AgencyInsider … the difference is newspapers don’t have a ‘one other newspaper rule’ so agents have always had the option of marketing a property in 1,2,5 or 10 papers depending on ‘what is best for their client’.
Your inference that not one strategy fits all is correct … but the problem for clients instructing AM agents is that is exactly what they get as far as portal advertising is concerned.
Yes I accept that but surely you might choose a different magazine (like country life) for your high end properties and ensure that you met the expectations of your vendor clients by advertising to the right target audience. So if you had the flexibility to choose for instance to have all your properties on RM, and your high end ones on OTM and PL and your lower priced stock on Zoopla to suit 1st time buyers etc, would that not give you and your clients more coverage and if you had the budget, maximise your reach?
It just seems that these restrictions aren’t helping anyone and removing the flexibility that is needed in an ever changing market.
Ben, my view on marketing is that you can try and advertise to your target market but it will never ever be 100% perfect.
There are paupers who read the Sunday Times and millionaires who read the Sun.
If I were to join AM and drop Z I lose not only Z but Primelocation and access to Z’s property search facility in most national online newspapers and over 150 local online newspapers. Why would I want to do that when PL is used by high end searchers, and online newspapers are increasingly used by every age and demographic.
AM agents will scoff at the importance of Primelocation and Z’s newspaper search facility … but in advertising less does not equal more.
Ben, the simple answer is … it doesn’t.
The one portal rule was never designed for the benefit of buyers and sellers but to drive a wedge into RM and Z and thus ultimately (hopefully) benefit AM and its agents.
Any AM agent who tries to suggest otherwise is pulling their own leg.
It meant agents would keep the portal which they knew provided them with the most leads and for them had the most visits, thus ensuring the properties would still be on “One” or indeed the “Other”.
Z suffered most as it was clearly an easy choice to drop…… especially as many Z agents had other competitor agents close by who were not even on Z and this further confirmed, if they can succeed without Z then we can also.
Simple really, the rule actually allowed agents to choose which site would be best left for their clients (the people who ONLY pay when job is finished) so no agent dropped a site without some serious thought.
Its all getting a bit t*t for tat.
I think OTM should say nothing and rise above it.
The only way they will silence the doubters is a release of members numbers. Unfortuanlty as this has been deafening for months i am guessing its not worth bragging about.
At least with the testimonials you know people have a vested interest still puzzled why RR’s open letter came about!
I know we do not mention the other “Pub” but did make me laugh seeing Quirky calling this desperate, this is coming from a man who has run out of money multiple times and is having to beg the public to keep him afloat!
No, not in its original format but a number of agents started their own free papers then to replace or compete with the local paid for medium. It soon brought the local papers to heal. The situation is exactly the same with RM today. As agents we need to act in a concerted and unified manner.
You started your own newspaper? That’s a bit drastic. Is it still going?
Many agents did, they did VERY well off it.
I don’t usually post, but like newsboy I am at a loss as to why so many agents are supporting RM so strongly, when all I see is their prices increasing. An agent owned portal is the only way ahead. Its like the 80’s when many of us started our own newspapers because the local papers were killing us. Frankly if there was only one portal everyone would look on it. How many more negs could we all employ if we weren’t paying extortionate RM fees, and by how much would our overall service improve? Remember accompanied viewings, feedback, quality advice….This is what sellers want, not a load of BS about which portal provides more punters (many of whom are an absolute waste of time) than another. Roll on OTM!
There aren’t many testimonials are there?
Talk about spin !
Well done Winkworths and the others. Money where your mouths are. What I really cannot understand is how any single agent in the UK can be against the idea of one single agent owned portal run by agents to the benefit of our clients, without taking 85% profit away from everyone.
I’m all for that Newsboy. I will not however support a portal run by upper end agents , for the good of upper end agents , paid for by anyone who wants to give them money.Be intersting to see the average listing values of these guys …
That’s like saying I won’t support my football club because I don’t like who owns it!
My company isn’t high end but we have enjoyed an above price rise increase in our average sale value this year so I guess thanks upper end agents. In our area its Knight Frank, Savills then us! No middle to upper end agents like Hanptons on there so we pick up the spoils ….
It’s not like that at all though is it…
This is more like a rich sugardaddy creating a football club out of thin air because they think there is lots of money in the premier league but instead of putting in their own money, they ask the fans to put in their money and then the owner uses the club for their own ends. If it is a success the sugardaddy will have made a fortune. If it fails they have hardly put any money in so not a massive loss. Oh and they brought in a manager who already failed elsewhere with the expectations that it will be different this time around…
So Danny, you would rather continue to pay higher than needed fees to other portals in order for them to return fantastic dividends to their shareholders? Visualise if you will, a hamster on a treadmill
I’d rather pay an advertising media that offers a return on my investment . I do do the we are in together nonsense …. Because we aren’t . When the dust washes over this there is a lot of people who will have thought they have been taken for fools
Hmmmmm…… Newsboy I am unable to understand why OTM (a start up) charge the same as an established company Zoopla. So enlighten me please just where does the extra 85% profit go? Could it be to fund salaries? Could it be to fund advertising in top end (nearly suggested top shelf) magazines like Countrylife? Could it be to operate a London office? Or maybe an international division?
Some basic errors for a start up?
I don’t know what goes on at OTM HQ but surely the penny must drop soon as we approach their own pre-set deadline of 26/1/16. New membership must have come to a standstill now. Why would any potential new member join now rather than wait to see what has happened by 26/1/16? There seems to be absolutely no way they can meet their own deadline and that would mean a severe loss of credibility and also cast doubt on any further predictions.
OTM need to act now to persuade the majority to join before this happens.
B6RKY?…… which bit of the bigger portal picture don’t you get?! …… without myself and thousands of other there would have been no start-up fund to launch OnThe Market.com…… however we all looked at our industry rather than up our own ar@es!…… I grudge not £1 to OTM if it helps all real estate agents and our industry re-focus on our industry!…… or do we end up like the steel industry!
GPL your nonsense rants and personal attacks do tickle me. If you are representative of a typical OTM agent then its already dying.
Sadly at this time of year it reminds me of the First World War when the Generals in London made mind boggling decisions and poor old Tommy knuckled his forehead and went over the top. Well done to you and thousands of other for going over the top first. Do you want a medal? Or is Gold membership enough? OTM are in the trenches now and its stalemate. Do they keep sending the foot soldiers over the top whilst they reap the benefits in London?
Take your blinkers off before its too late. If I make promises to my clients that I cant/dont/wont keep I get sacked and my business fails. If I make a decision for my business and it doesn’t seem to be working I will change that decision if necessary.
OTM need to review and revise their decisions for the benefit of the Industry. It is not the Industry nor even representative of it and never will be if it doesn’t listen itself.
Ah Yes B6RKY….. the perfect bystander commenting from his comfy armchair…. don’t go outside, the world is hard and not perfect…..wait quietly until it is….. then pop your slippers off and shuffle outside…..it’ll be safe then…..because everyone will have done the hard work for you.
I can only hope that you are not an estate agent as I wouldn’t want your attitude anywhere near my house sale!
Haha, are you auditioning for your own series on DAVE?
Anybody who has been in this industry a long time knows that they have to be flexible to survive and thrive. And following anyone blindly and without question is not an option.
Testimonials???? Hahahaha hilarious!
C’mon you jokers, still defending them? Who when under attack offers members testimonials?! Who does that! lol
MrJobs did exactly that when he went back to Apple.
From customers not from investors…
Agents mutual members are OTM customers.
Customers that have invested
Just as Agents who have Rightmove or Zoopla shares are investors, what is your point Gump?
My point, allow me to explain
How many times have RM or Zoopla needed to get testimonials from their investors because and open letter was written about how wrong/bad/desperate/tragic they were?
Allow me to answer that too
Never.
Between August 2014 and today there have been 6 stories covered by Eye doing just that for the most desperate of the two in question.
Because an open letter was written?
Sorry, I don’t have as much spare time as you to check
Tut, tut. Come on EHenderson, you’re slacking. Danny has beaten you to the punch with the first OTM slag-off of the morning.
Hopefully she will be taking a long lie in, like Mr Mealham, who was giving Tw@ttrer some welly until the early hours. He’ll need to recover so don’t expect to see him surface until at least 10.30.
Bless…
And in a retaliative move agents reading Trevor has reported OTM to the CMA roll their eyes upward and thank their lucky stars they don’t drink in his local.
“On,y 9 months since launch , this is still just the beginning ” …. Wrong Ian , it’s 3 months away from when you claimed you’ll be the second largest portal . Releasing 4 client testimonials urging others to join isn’t going to wallpaper the cracks , as a potential client you give me nothing about your business that’s positive . “Growing , getting better , decent amount .. Are just words . My experience of your rep coming in last was claiming that I would miss out if I didn’t come on and bad mouthing zoopla for 40 minutes . I suggest you rethink your strategy
If the rep has to explain what is the most obvious ‘no brainer’ the property industry has seen in a very long time to you, in my opinion ? deserve to miss the boat.
danny?….. you dance every time Ian pulls your chain yet you ignore, if you are an actual estate agent?….. the opinion/decision of over 5000 other estate agents who joined OnTheMarket.com?
It’s easy to keep shouting at 1 person danny….. tell the other 5000 plus why the are wrong and you are right….. 5000 to 1 odds danny….. no doubt thousands of years of estate know how, business experience combined….. however they are all wrong and you are right?
Take it from me danny….. I don’t think 1 single OTM Member cares about toppling Zoopla at the end of Year 1 as they are a dead duck!….. what we will look at is Year 1?….. OTM still here….. despite all the flak!….. it’s annoying danny however it’s a fact!
5000 and falling….daily.
Remember, a vast majority said ‘no’ to OTM, and those that did are falling in number. How it has played out cannot be called a success in any measure, surely you recognise that?
And Zoopla a dead duck? Seems annoyingly robust from where the city, consumers and vast majority of agents are standing. And you call others blinkered? Superb level of awareness. Keep it up!
Zoopla gave up a long time ago DE….. they accepted their fate was to stare up at the @rs* of Blightmove….. and so when it came to binning a portal we all rushed to dump Zoopla….. and it seems they are massaging their figures to prop up their forever No2/submissive Blightmove Portal Badge, however that will be played out in due course.
The Stock Market is NOT the housing market….. it’s a market of manipulation that should be properly regulated however as London and the economy of the UK is welded into it from a European/World perspective….. there is not much hope of it becoming a trustworthy environment anytime soon.
I’m one of the 12000 who said no at the start … And all this year… And probably will to be honest. There is no compelling reason to join. I would happily join a mutual that looks after the needs of the estate agency market… This is not that . This is a start up business that has fooled thousands of my peers using greed and hatred of portals to pay for an upmarket portal , the founders haven’t paid a penny more than joe blogs and co. The guy at the top hasn’t risked his house … All very comfy
You’re like a broken record Danny. We get where you stand, no need to waste any more of your time that you could be dedicating to your clients.