When I started in Estate Agency in 1993, with Halifax Property Services, I was trained & developed to an inch of my life.

Countrywide’s training was supposedly even deeper than Halifax’s

Funny that back in the 1990s, Countrywide were a force to be reckoned with.

When you heard they were against you, your bum clenched a little - they were 💩 hot!

Yet 2008 came - and estate agents dropped costs - and training and development got hit (and never returned)

So fees started to drop from 1.6% in 2006 (official Figures from the Sunday Times Awards in 2006) and dropped every year

Many blame the online agents for cheap fees - yet the evidence and facts show that when PB hit the market in 2014/15 - they had already dropped to 1.2%

(Today it’s 1%)

So these goliaths corporates had to top up income with huuuge kickbacks from mortgages, conveyancing and everything else that wasn’t the day job of selling houses.

And now?

As we have been on a race to the bottom on fees since 2006, now we pay our Negs minimum wage, service stretched to breaking point, and a profession that’s lost its backbone.

And no money to train and develop our people

This isn’t a Corporate thing - it’s an industry thing.

14,500 estate agency firms in the U.K. - and I challenge you to name more than 10 independent EA trainers

When you take skill and knowledge out of the equation, don’t be surprised when the public stops seeing the value.

The industry isn’t in trouble because of Connells, Purplebricks or the portals.

It’s in the $hit because we did it to ourselves.

Corporates and the large regional chains only account collectively for no more than 18% of the U.K. housing nationally.

And on a town by town basis, it’s not normally more than 10 to 15%.

Yet why as an EA industry , primarily made up of small one man and one woman bands, have we allowed their poor performance on fees to pull ours down.

Look at the stats show I do every week for that last 120 weeks - and small independents out perform the big agents most weeks by 20% (exchange to listing ratio) And get higher prices for their clients.

So why do we drop our pants on fees if we are better?

Lack of training & development of ourselves & team?

Lack of belief in ourselves?

Let me ask you ..

1. When was the last time you sent your team on some training & development ?

2. When was last time you shadowed your Valuer on free Vals for the day?

3. When was the last time you sat next to your neg for half a day?

4. When was last time, YOU as a boss, went on some training & development?

What are your thoughts on all this????

PS: I am not a trainer.