I was chatting with my father the other week. He was the third generation of Watkin's to take on the family butchery business, started by his grandfather (William) in 1912. William passed the business on to his sons' Lou and my grandfather (my dad's dad) Phil just after WW2 and my Dad took over in the late 1960's. I asked my father how he judged whether the business was doing well (or not) back when he took over in the 1960's and 1970's) and he said he would probably have counted the week's takings, subtracted the costs of the staff and pigs and seen what was left.
But then he dropped a couple of lines in that made even more sense. He said that his takings or costs or profit wasn't his only measure of success. The relationship with his faithful customers was the lifeblood of the Butchery business. My Dad, and his dad and his dad before him relied on repeat business.
The butchery's existence depended on the ability of him and his staff to generate enough value for customers to make them walk the extra 500 yards from Grantham town centre car parks, past the front door of the new (new in the 1960's) Tesco's and Fine Fare supermarkets, that had just opened up in the town and to the shop.
Staff that had been there for decades. Half them were called Aunty as they were part of the family.
He couldn't contend and beat the supermarkets on range and price, but he (and the staff) could beat them on connection.
In an ever increasingly competitive estate and letting agency business, I believe we habitually forget that the amount of pound notes in the sales pipeline, market share on Rightmove Intel, number of boards we have at the end of the day isn't the only measure of success.
More market share, more boards, more of this, more profit isn't the only means by which to gauge and measure your prowess and awesomeness in estate (and lettings) agency
An awesome estate/letting agency-whatever its market share, fee, market penetration or number of for sale boards respects and cherishes the people it employs and the people it serves. An awe-inspiring estate/letting agency company doesn't just prosper because it's lucrative and makes loads of profit, it's profitable because it helps staff and customers to flourish and succeed.
Remarkable estate/letting agents (just like any remarkable company) give more than they take away - which is why those of us accountable and answerable for starting and building our agency's must be as clear about the way we get to our goal, as we are about what that goal is.
So, what does this mean in the real world of UK Estate / Lettings agency? We need to give our existing and future potential house sellers, landlords, buyers and tenants (and most importantly - YOUR STAFF) reasons to stay connected to us MD's of our agency. We must give them a reason to keep coming back .. day in - day out, year in -year out ..and that's tough.
Watkin's the Butcher's is a Grantham institution. They sell 700+ cooked sausage and bacon baps a day ..and that's just a side line. They have thousands of customers week. The sausage rolls , especially warm, are to die for. The head butcher Derrick started there in the mid 1970's and his right hand man is the new boy (John) - he started in the late 1980's. Up until a decade ago, until they retired (some in the late 70's!) .. half the serving ladies baby sat me and Richard in the 1970's.
Just like my family's butchery in Grantham, still going strong today with my awesome 43 year old brother Richard taking the helm off Mum and Dad a few years back, with the butchery employing 30 FTE people and queues out the door nearly every day, the businesses (butchers/ bakers/candlestick makers and yes .. estate/letting agents) that will succeed in the coming years will be (and are) the ones that are really close to their staff and customers.
How's your estate/letting agency business?