The Loch Ness Monster.
Bigfoot.
A competent Conservative minister.
The above may or may not be flights of fancy/fantasy.
Agent X isn’t. He’s real. And he keeps things real.
He is, in my opinion, the best estate agency mind I’ve been lucky enough to pick.
He runs a mega-successful agency. Always thinking forward and yet remaining humble, generous, curious and with no pretence.
I’ve been asked on several occasions who he is.
But it’s classified info, like an estate agency AREA 51, so let’s stick to the pseudonym (or AX for brevity).
When I spoke with him last week (he speaks, I listen, to be more accurate), I asked him what he does in a recession (he’s owned an agency since 2006).
He’s continuously emitting good energy, but the mere word ‘recession’ seemed to raise the enthusiasm and excitement levels in his voice.
Here are three things he shared with me.
1.Your response is a choice. Remember that dark day after Brexit (24 June 2016). AX told me about a text he received from a rival agent the day after the EU Referendum result was announced, and the property market froze in disbelief. The text was simple. It read, ‘We’re all fuc&£d!!’.
But that wasn’t AX’s thoughts. He showed the text to his team and told them: “Look guys, this is how the competition thinks and feels. If we roll up our sleeves, aim to help more people move and stay positive, we will do very well out of this period.”
His Nostradamus-like prediction proved bang on as his agency kept its composure and seized market share that they continue to keep.
Lesson: When the brakes of many agents slammed, AX and his team floored the accelerator to go clear.
2. Every market makes a market. Sure, you’ve probably heard that phrase before, but AX expanded on it. “A recession doesn’t mean people stop buying and selling. But it does mean agents have to become deal makers rather than order takers. The past two years have been an easy time to be an agent. Now we will see who REALLY knows what they are doing.
We are going through our client list to see where opportunities to help them are. For example, if we know someone is coming towards the end of a cheap mortgage deal and may need some guidance, we’re making sure we call them to see if we can be of service. Perhaps the biggest market opportunity right now is people that are downsizing. We are focusing on this section of the market and a couple of other areas where we think the recession will create opportunities.”
Lesson: Banks are still lending, so people will still be moving. Laser focus your efforts on the markets the recession is making.
3.Don’t believe the hype. AX stressed the point that if all agents do is constantly consume the news, they’ll probably just hide away until the recession ends (if their business is still there afterwards is a different story). It’s exciting and enlightening how the best in the home selling and renting business think. AX’s team hold weekly, non-negotiable mindset meetings. To keep them all in a positive, enthusiastic and healthy state of mind.
I think this act alone shows the levels AX, his magnificent MD and his brilliant team are working at.
As one in-awe agent told me when I shared with him about the mindset meetings, ‘Shi7 man, we’re playing draughts, and they are playing chess.’
Lesson: Where focus goes, energy flows. And yep, I know some will read that and think, ‘what a load of claptrap’. Fair enough, but I’d lay a fiver on it their agencies could benefit from a more holistic approach when it comes to their team’s development, learning and success.
And finally, AX shared with me the two agency owners he looks up to most.
Watch this space as Agent Y and Z may join Agent X in future articles.
Kind of like the Avengers of Estate Agency… definitely a trio we can all marvel at.
Thanks for reading.
Jerry