One in ten chains now include an online agent, a sales progression specialist has said.
Sohail Rashid, CEO of View My Chain, said that the figure will rise to one in six chains over the next two years.
Rashid, whose technology allows the progress of chains to be viewed online, said that the presence of online agents in a chain does not increase the fall-through rate, but does slow down progress.
He said: “Our data shows that those chains take on average two weeks longer to complete – which is testament to the hard work that good traditional agents have to put in to get the sale across the line.”
Rashid was speaking out after a new report, by law firm Rix & Kay, criticised online agents over their sales progression, claiming that high street agents were having to do their work for them.
Rashid said the report “simply outlined what many of us that work across the industry know and work with each day”.
He said: “Telling us about the problems that we are already aware of doesn’t make them go away.”
He said that more must be done to enable traditional agents to hold online firms to account, and added: “It would be naïve to assume that online agents aren’t also aware of the problems they cause.”
Comments (11)
I had a demonstration at an event some time ago for this View My Chain tool by one of their representatives; i reckon it doesn’t provide much by way of additional benefits and it’s user interface is god awful. I doubt I would use it, even if it was free. Much easier to pick up the phone and call to check the progress of a sale.
Aside from the fact that this piece reads like an advertorial, I notice that every article that has been written praising this company or featuiring grand quotes from Sohil is authored by Renshaw. Is she on the payroll?
“Aside from the fact that this piece reads like an advertorial, I notice that every article that has been written praising this company or featuiring grand quotes from Sohil is authored by Renshaw.”
That’s Frau Renshaw to mortals like you and me. Actually, it reads like a re-wording of a badly-prepared Press release – which is no doubt exactly what it is.
The same was covered and posted on the bog door down the other pub. See for yourself.
“Is she on the payroll?”
You’ve got ‘nads, pal – I’ll give you that.
Just be careful with them, though – when you whip ’em out here on EYE in such fashion they are most likely to be tapped, unwrapped and segmented like a pair of fun-size Terry’s Chocolate Oranges… and you’ll be force-fed them (metaphorically speaking, of course… you hope…) by a certain Lady who ain’t on nobody’s “payroll” but her own.
In the meantime – suggest you at least try to disguise your agenda by posting on more topics than this one. Three posts in sixteen months, only when this company is mentioned kinda makes ‘davey_surrey06’ stick out like a painful opposable digit of the upper extremity…
Wows. So technically the article should read:
9 out of 10 chains have no agents.
That is if all traditional agents have stopped using the ‘tinternet’.
Truth is. Traditional agents have been doing the internet before budget and online only agents ever started.
Ive not met an agent in some years who doesnt do the web.
Equally innovation hasnt changed that much from when WHICH reported that portals only gain 43% of all solds.
The web is a must. But theres much more to agency and selling homes at best price than just agents doingbthe same old same web bits.
Mr Mealham – today you say
“The web is a must. But theres much more to agency and selling homes at best price than just agents doingbthe same old same web bits.”
This is a quote from a little fracas I was having here on EYE, back in 2015:
“Nope – my ‘contribution’ is to match people with properties. Something I have found I do quite well.
I don’t consider myself an ‘expert’ – wouldn’t be so vain – but I do consider myself experienced, as I have been at it since the average UK house price was a shade under £16,000. The Sony Walkman was the year’s state-of-the-art technology breakthrough. You couldn’t afford a ‘home’ computer.
BUT I SOLD HOUSES. TO PEOPLE.
Funny how things only change in the minds of some…”
I once asked the question along the lines of ‘What would happen if the internet shut down?’ You would think I’d suggested I welcomed the prospect of impending Armageddon.
I fear for many on the billion-to-one chance that such a thing were to actually happen.
They have no incentive to get deals to completion. when they have been paid at the outset.
None, Nada, Zip, Zero
Oh and by the way no incentive to turn up at accompanied viewings either as one viewer told me last week
The PB rep was coming from 26 miles away and cancelled the viewing half an hour before it was due.
My earlier comment was based on my own personal experiences with online only agents. I am not anti online and can only report on the facts as I see them.
Can we not have one day go by without laying into online agents. The only articles on here that seem to get any response are anti online. Yesterdays chain article got 70+ comments. Yippee, lets run another one today and see if we can get more.
I run a flagship office in a busy city centre. Every day my sales progressor comes across other high street agents who seem incapable of managing their sales progression, providing chain details or updates or returning calls. Sometimes the incompetence of other agents when it comes to progression beggars belief. I agree, online agents can be a challenge but we really don’t see the issues being any worse than with fellow high street agents. If high street agents could get their act together rather than putting all the blame on online agents progression would be a hell of a lot easier.
I am not exaggerating and I am definitely not sticking up for online estate agents. I am not a lover of the model. NSNF is the fairest way to sell and charge. With 20+ years experience in estate agency I know what I am talking about and I know what we as an office experience day in day out and there is no way on earth that our experience of other agents progression is unique to my office or my town. How about taking a good look at ourselves rather than one particular model who according to this article appear in one chain in ten. My progressor spends most of her day doing the work of other high street agents and the odd bit for onlines (obviously, as there are less onlines in our chains)
We discussed this at yesterdays end of day meeting. Her view (and she has 5 year of progression experience) is that overall online agents are reactive rather than proactive which can be quite frustrating. The smaller the online agent the worse they tend to be. Purplebricks whilst still reactive generally know what’s going on and do return calls and chase when asked to. Corporates and multi branch agents that don’t have progressors seem to be the worse. Independents and single office agents seem to be the best. She also pulls her hair out at the fact that most progressors deliberately do not answer their phones and she more often than not has to leave a voicemail….an then not get a call back.
Anyway that’s our take on it. It ain’t just online agents!
Such a sweeping statement. I would dread the day when my business had a pipeline where one in ten of It’s chains featured an online only agent. Thankfully, I rarely come across them in my chains, but when I do, I know that I will have to work twice as hard to get the deal through.
They really don’t give a monkeys.
They have been paid already.
These no sale still pay agents are not agents! They do not represent the client at every stage of the process!!!!
They have been paid when the sign goes up. Job done!!
Online firms cant be held to account by high street estate agents, it’s about making people aware that should they use a call centre style estate agent they are going to have a much harder time secure a property to buy
Knowing our luck, the govt. will make traditional agents pay for sales chasers to be employed in online agents..