Revealing the Secret! – TNT

According to Wikipedia…

“Letting the cat out of the bag is a colloquialism that means to reveal facts previously hidden.” Here’s why that phrase is one of the most important colloquialisms an estate agent can ever use.

Too many years ago I had the privilege of working alongside one of the best individual estate agents I have ever personally known. Caterina O’Dell was my business partner at Thomas Morris Estate Agents. She is in fact the late wife of Julian O’Dell who remains an excellent trainer and coach to this day. “Cat” as she was known, was revered by everyone she worked with, was instinctively brave in both her personal and business life (we frequently clashed at partners meetings) and had a well earned reputation for being “nosey”.

This aspect of her personality was frequently commented on both to her face and behind her back. Personally, I found it an endearing quality because I could see why she did what she did and that she combined her questioning skills with another attribute, much under valued by today’s agents and sales people – listening!

In my opinion, when qualifying a prospective buyer far too many estate agents simply “form fill” either literally or metaphorically. They find out the contact details, price range, area, blah blah blah and that’s it – perhaps their buying position and if they will need a mortgage or not. The agent will probably even feel that they have done a good job by collecting that information and their line manager, upon checking the records, will almost certainly be satisfied. But not Cat!

Of course she would get the basic information, that goes without saying. However, she would also find out so much more. Much more information than the applicant was expecting to share and critically MUCH MORE than her competitors! Why? Well primarily she was genuinely interested in them as people and in helping them to achieve their objectives. Cat knew that if she really understood them as people, what their needs were and even very personal things such as what they liked to eat (Cat was an AMAZING cook herself) – she would really be able to help them.

So why am I sharing this with you? Well recently I had an experience that really reminded me of Cat and her amazing selling skills. It started simply enough. An enquiry sent to me from the fantastic people at the telephone answering company Moneypenny inspired by an advertisement on the equally fantastic Rightmove. So far, so good and nothing out of the ordinary. I called the prospective buyer back and that’s when the lessons I had learnt from Cat really kicked in.

Firstly, Cat taught me that even the way that the basic details are requested should be a conversation and certainly not a form filling exercise – so that’s what I did. Next, what about their needs and not just their wants. The buyer explained that they wanted an individual home with at least 3 bedrooms in the St.Neots area with easy access to Cambridge and Biggleswade and a maximum spend of £500,000.

I could almost hear Cat whispering in my ear… Why 3 bedrooms and why easy access to Cambridge and Biggleswade? Well, as a couple with no children they actually only needed two bedrooms – one for themselves and one for guests. However, as the lady explained, she particularly wanted another bedroom as she is a graphic designer and worked from home 4 days a week, though once a week she needed to go to the office in Cambridge. Her partner, a carpenter, worked mainly in Biggleswade and ideally would like a shed to indulge in his hobby of bike repair. Fortunately, this property had a large well lit bedroom on the ground floor and two sheds!

“Keep going Simon” said Cat from beyond the grave. OK so why (see how many times that simple 3 letter word comes up!) St.Neots? I was wondering as there are plenty of other locations that might suit? “Have you visited St.Neots?” I enquired. “Yes” she said. “We currently live about 20 miles away and have visited the market square which we love as well as the shops. “Any particular shops?” said Cat (Oops I mean me!). “Yes – we absolutely LOVE the Italian delicatessen in the town.” Incredibly, and this is absolutely true, Cat was Italian herself and I swear I could hear her shouting “Mamma Mia.” I will spare you the further details of the conversation which must have lasted 20 minutes but by the time I finished the call, Cat and I had found out her favourite sandwich from that deli and even discussed the pricing mechanism that Roberto’s use – and believe me the food there is not cheap.

I arranged the viewing with the vendor and shared all of the information I had garnered. Suffice to say he was very impressed, blown away even, and he agreed to assist me with the next stage of my masterplan. If he would provide plates, wine glasses and serviettes, I would provide food from Roberto’s together with Red wine. (I had also received a text from the applicant which, when I enquired, confirmed that “I’m a red wine girl”) What a wonderful way to spend a Friday afternoon.

The day of the viewing arrived and I visited the legendary Roberto’s. I was dealt with by Roberto himself who listened to my story and actually sold me a small hamper of goodies for me to impress my viewer. “That’s £62.90 please”. Nice one Roberto!

Cat (in spirit) and I proceeded to the property and set out our stall ready for the viewers fully aware of their needs, their wants, food and drink preferences and particularly that the woman was a graphic designer with a requirement if possible for a separate room with lots of light. The scene was set and to say that they were impressed with my preparations is an understatement.

Now I would love to claim that all of Cat and my efforts resulted in an offer or even a sale but sadly it was not the case. The garden was not facing in the direction required by the potential buyer and this was something that ultimately was a non-negotiable factor. Perhaps I should have anticipated this with better questioning skills at the qualifying stage of our conversations. I will leave you to decide.

So who benefited from this experience? The vendor, my client, was mightily impressed with the effort I had put in to sell the property and says that he is already singing my praises to anyone that will listen.

The viewer was “overwhelmed” by the care I had taken in listening to their needs… and food preferences! She has even offered a positive Google review.

Roberto too is over £60 better off!

As for me… I have benefited from a reminder that in spite, or perhaps because of, all of the technical, I.T. and A.I. support that we now enjoy as agents, it really is all about that personal connection and desire to do your very VERY best, even for something as apparently mundane as a viewing. Something that Cat knew and implemented every day.

So if you’ve read this article and thought “yes, I already do that” – good for you and well done. However, if you were not aware of the importance of questioning skills and more importantly acting upon them…

The Cat is out of the bag!

Simon Bradbury is a consultant specialising in securing new instructions and runs a (very) small estate agency powered by eXp.