As part of my consultancy work with agents across the country, one of the areas I review with owners and management teams, is the training and coaching of their staff as well as themselves. I’m referring to those topics over and above the required compliance subjects, though sometimes compliance training worryingly appears to be viewed as a necessary evil.
Frankly, I’m not confident that even the legally required compliance training is completed as frequently as it should be and to the required standard, though I may be wrong.
I’m talking about good old fashioned skills training – particularly the skills of selling, negotiating and staff management.
Why is it that so many estate agents in the UK appear to place such little value in training and coaching? I say the UK, because it appears to me that many other countries (Australia and the United States for example) appear to invest much more time, money and energy in training their property professionals. As I understand it, coaching and training is seen as ‘part of being an estate agent/realtor’ in many parts of the world or even something of a privilege that is earned!
I do not believe this to be the case in the UK for some reason. Training and coaching is all too often viewed as a chore, something that that “the bosses” insist on (sometimes) and not as a pre-requisite for real personal development, as well as the benefit of clients which is in my view is as it should be.
So what could the reason be?
Firstly, it simply can’t be because there aren’t enough qualified and extremely competent trainers for our industry. I will resist the temptation to list and recommend particular individuals or companies but having worked with a number of them over the years, I can confirm that the choice really is formidable and the range of subjects that they specialise in is equally as impressive and relevant.
Clearly, some trainers are better than others when it comes to particular subjects but be it to train on selling skills, professional people management or effective negotiating there is plenty of choice from some fantastic people for both sales and lettings. I would advise to check out reviews, question previous clients and even speak to training providers directly to check out what they offer before deciding on who to use.
Is it cost? I simply don’t buy that the cost of coaching or training is a genuine hurdle. In my experience, the cost of this service is remarkably low from most providers, be it online or in person.
Of course, many larger estate agency firms and particularly the so called “corporates” (I personally dislike that description as I have yet to hear a satisfactory definition of what a corporate agency actually is – but I digress!) have their very own training departments and so there is no additional discretionary spend.
They clearly see the real value of such a resource and no doubt view training as one of the reasons for their success. For firms that do not have this facility, may I respectfully suggest that a provision of £500 a year (maybe more?) per relevant employee is a reasonable provision to ensure that your colleagues are able to operate at their most effective and in the very best interests of your clients.
However, if even £500 a year seems a little steep, there are plenty of other far less expensive and even free options that are available.
For example, I know of at least one training provider that offer regular online training sessions on a variety of skills over a number of months for less than the notional £500 I have suggested.
If you are a member of one of the numerous affiliation groups such as Relocation Agent Network or the Guild Of Property Professionals they already offer a range of free training online (either live or recorded). If that doesn’t suit, try the Kerfuffle Club which I can honestly say offer an incredible selection of outstanding online training modules as part of their offering on a wide range of relevant subjects.
If even their (very) modest charge for membership is too much, what about Rightmove? Agents continually complain about their charges without, it appears, taking proper advantage of their online and live coaching sessions which are not charged out as an extra. There really are LOTS of free/nearly free options that I haven’t mentioned, including the various opportunities to learn from the best at the numerous industry conferences we have coming up over the next few months.
So, if cost is not the reason, I’m still left with the question of why don’t more estate agents offer and encourage continuous skill training or coaching for their teams? I can only conclude that most owners/senior managers simply do not believe that there is enough value (particularly in the short term) for even a modest investment of time and money for it to be worthwhile. They will apparently (happily or unhappily) spend their hard-earned income on some new software, marketing initiative or other whizzy gizmo but not on their own staff to do the things they are employed to do to the very best of their ability and knowledge and to the mutual advantage of the individual, the business and most importantly their clients.
I know it’s a well hacked comparison, but just how do you think that the top sports performers continue to sustain and even improve their performance? I simply can’t think of a sports star or professional who does not regularly commit to regular training, often at tremendous personal financial cost. Be it football, tennis, rugby, golf, netball, cricket, athletics or whatever, the top and even mediocre sports professionals ALL participate in regular coaching to improve themselves… so why are us estate agents any different?
I would love to hear your thoughts!
