A high street presence is still important to most sellers, delegates at yesterday’s myhomemove ‘Bricks and Clicks’ conference heard.
Miles Shipside, of Rightmove, said that over 60% of sellers said that a high street branch was an important factor in their choice of agent.
He said that an agent’s reputation and their online presence also influenced their choice.
He also emphasised the importance of communication, saying that 81% of clients expected at least weekly communications.
Shipside was taking part in a session called ‘How far will Online go?’ with fellow panelists Adam Day and Jon Cooke.
Day, of online agent Hatched, said he predicted that online will enter the mainstream market – and maybe even overtake it – in 2017. He forecast that this would be the tipping point.
He also said that technology-driven online agents can deliver customer expectations of speed, ease of use and convenience.
However, Jon Cooke, newly appointed managing director of Your Move, echoed Shipside’s view, saying that high street branches are still needed for customer trust.
Comments (26)
Ampersat, the effort appears to be coming from the both of us, not just me. I am asking people to at least consider the proposal or in the very least attend a meeting so as to find out more, you appear to be spending even more time trying to persuade people that AM is only going to line the pockets of the nasty corporates who set it up whilst presenting MANY other solutions based on your superior knowledge and excellent ‘fact finding’ skills, indeed you have already apparently established (without finding my need) that by advertising on AM I could lose £24k, £48k or even £108k in one year, you sir clearly have a hidden agenda.
And to answer your question, I know and understand my local competition and how to win an extra instruction or two, and I don’t need you telling me what I should be doing with my time.
Paul it is obvious you haven't been reading what I have put in any detail.
If you had you would notice that none of what you just typed is true.
At no point have I said nasty corporates will line their pockets and as for average effects on an agency's earnings they are fairly easy to assess, again I said that those shortfalls were as a result of the way agent use Rightmove and Zoopla not as a result of using AM.
I didn't actually ask you about the use of your time but you are right you can do what you like with your time and it is wrong of me to suggest otherwise, sorry.
There is no need to apologise Ampersat.
Day, of online agent *******, said he predicted that online will enter the mainstream market – and maybe even overtake it – in 2017. He forecast that this would be the tipping point.
Mr Day doesn't know what I have got planned for his sorts!
What have you got planned then Ampersat, and does it involve selling anything to your fellow agents?
What's the damage, nothing in life is for free apparently?!
I don't think it is possible to "sell" anything to agents especially those on here jaundiced by so many false hopes.
What's the damage? I am not quite sure yet the instructions on the internet just say fertiliser which isn't a great help.
"So many false hopes"…There you go again trying to paint a portray people as being gullable, naive and foolish. It is not an endearing quality.
No Paul there you go again. You think I am referring to AM, I'm not but you are trying to discredit me. If the EAT archive were available I would point you to at least 9 different projects in the past 6 years that offered to be the salvation of Agency, none have. Most everyone else who read that short sentence would have understood it.
It doesn't matter how cheap an offering is, Propertylive was free, unless a project stacks up for an Agent they simply will not buy it.
Paul you can keep up your crusade against me if thats what floats your boat but my recommendation to you is to wonder if the effort is worth it and whether the effort might be better spent understanding your local competition and how to win an extra instruction or two. With the PIE system clock an hour behind it doesn't make sense for anyone to be scratching around the archive threads and posting when it is gone midnight.
" If the EAT archive were available I would point you to at least 9 different projects in the past 6 years that offered to be the salvation of Agency, none have."
More like 90, ampersat. Or maybe even 900.
And every one a gem in its own right… 😉
Of course Rightmove are in favour of High Street offices. Where else would they get 24/7 advertising for their portal?
Very good point!
"Where else will they be getting 24/7 advertising for their portal"
Exclusivly purple bricks as of 2017ish
Mr Day has been banging this drum for long time now and he can use words like 'tipping point' and 'mainstream' all he wants.
The facts are these: The onliney's do less, not more. Having an office does not mean I'm any less efficient, convenient or slower than him.
Adam should be careful what he wishes for, If online takes off the way he thinks it will, then all it takes us office based agents to change over is to take our laptops home.
Hello Trevor, can't you see this is a very shrewd move by Miles? (that is one of those questions that doesn't need an actual reply Trevor) I can not remember the last bit of 'maundy money' advice or comment for Mr Shipside so it seems a bit of a coincidence that this comment comes at the same time as all the great and positive PR for AM and all the outpourings about Zoopla and Alex.
I think we should all relish the first bit of agent schmoozing I have ever witnessed from that quarter. It will be intersting to see what FindapropertyZoo come up with to counter this
It could also be a reaction to the markets, Rightmove shares are down 6% over the last week.
and why do you think that is Paul? If you notice yesterday when the employment figures were mentioned no-one used the percentage figure as they have ever since the Gov BOE said interest rates would rise at the 7% trigger.
Interest rates and the credibility of AM will have a lot of influence over RM shares
I believe that the BBC website quoted 6.8% although rates aren't going up this side of Xmas in my opinion. Hence why Carney has changed his position on using employment figure.
The emergence of AM has clearly made a difference as well as rumours of the duming down of the R2buy scheme, don't forget the BOE's growth upgrades should have given confidence.
RM share price still up on the year!
Brilliant
Miles has definately bided his time to see who he wants to allign with.
I think, like others, that AM will do serious damage to the major 2 and that the 2,500 AM branches are major proffessional agency players…Miles clearly agrees with this.
He (and his sales staff) are suddenly realising there is a big threat from the industry owned alternative and are suddenly activating themselves….I know Miles has been telephoning alot of the big players direct and sounding them out.
Shame they are only showing this modicum of customer service now they feel threatened.
I mentioned on a previous thread about a week ago that Rightmove had recently sent me two emails asking me to fill in a survey, the very first question was "where else do you advertise" with one option being 'Agents Mutual (when launched)".
Only now are they starting to realise the rebellion that is on their hands. It will be interesting to see Rightmoves approach over the coming months.
A shame it takes all this for them to show signs of reconsidering their arrogance and greed.
I was at the conference and heard the debate and what was clear from what Adam Day was saying is that Hatched ISN'T an 'on-line only' agent – they have 6 regional offices from which staff go to visit properties that list with them to advise of value and take photos etc. They are in fact just like the rest of us, they have an online presence and they have PEOPLE to go to see the clients.
The only difference between Hatched and the 'traditional' agents is that our offices cover a smaller geographical area than Hatched's 6 offices and our online presence probably isn't as advanced as Hatched. As Hatch grows, they will need more regional offices to cope with demand.
I think that the 2 models will morph into something currently in between the 2 – better on line presences and a rationalisation of bricks and mortar offices.
Big portals like RM and Zoopla should show more support for TRADITIONAL models be they Hg St or Virtual. 99.9% of agents are now online. But the really annoying bit is that RM and Z are allowinging in still budget models like Purple Bricks Tepilo and others. Its wrong unless RM and Z start making their subscriptions budget too?
No budget model has enough fees to outweight what a traditional agent can do to benefit consumers.
Hi Sam – Personally I think the market will fragment. Years ago I used to go to the high street for my car insurance. The fact that Direct Line et al don't have branches is not an issue for me. Ask yourself when the last time it was that you took out your insurance at a branch. You see the same thing happening at a rapid pace with Travel Agents.
I agree that for a large percentage of the population, they are wedded to the concept of a branch, and they are familiar with it – but a younger, tech savvy generation are not. And over 90% of people find their homes via the portals. I think branches are great for building brand awareness which in turn adds to the trust.
But at the end of the day, in any business or service, the most important thing is the estate agent. People want to do business with a local person they can trust. So the individual matters far more than a shiny office or fancy dan website.
Totally agree with Miles – there will always be those vendors and landlords who want the reassurance of a high street office – somewhere they can pop in and speak to someone if they need to. On the other hand, as we all become more social savvy and confident with online management of our accounts, 'virtual' estate agents will most definitely grow in popularity.
In short, it's not online vs high street, it's online PLUS high street.
Simples.
Sam
Agreed Sam – the way we sell homes is changing and like it or not the online route is becoming a reality. It's great we can give consumers a choice finally. High street agents shouldn't necessary see online agents as purely a threat. There will always be people who cannot or will not undertake viewings. In the future, online agents could even give local agents a few leads from vendors who are thinking of selling online but are unable to do the viewings themselves. We can work together! The most important thing is that the customer comes first.
Henry Nash from Sellmyhome.co.uk