Rightmove is hosting an open forum with agents, to discuss how to tackle misconceptions from the public about the estate agency industry together.
Taking place tomorrow at 10am, the open forum is an opportunity for Rightmove and agents to work on solutions together, to dispel some of the most common misconceptions that agents have said that the public has about the profession.
In research amongst agents of different sizes and business types, agents said that dispelling some of the public’s negative beliefs about agents and the value of services, was something they felt Rightmove could play a significant role in.
Rightmove’s director of agent partnerships, Christian Balshen, will be joined by Katie Griffin, director at Sawdye & Harris and Ben Gee, of Hat and Home, in the open forum format.
Griffin is a qualified chartered surveyor and previous president of The National Association of Estate Agents, while Gee has over two decades of experience in the property sector and founded his own agency in 2021.
According to Rightmove, agents joining the session can expect:
+ A live Q&A between Rightmove and agents, to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges and misconceptions facing the industry and what Rightmove can to do to support improving the perception of agents by home-movers and the general public
+ New data insights from Rightmove’s latest home-mover research, uncovering how the UK public feels about estate and letting agents today
+ Working on solutions together and setting expectations of what is needed by agents from portals and professional bodies, for example the recruitment and retention of staff, or training and qualifications
Rightmove’s Christian Balshen said: “Many estate agent partners I talk to feel that the public perception of the role of an estate agent is not always aligned with what an estate agent can actually influence, and that very often the skill and expertise it takes to get a sale or let over the line goes unrecognised.
“We see this as an opportunity to support the industry and help to change those misconceptions, and we thought that an open forum for our partners to tell us what we could and should do is the best place to start.”
Rightmove agent members who would like to sign up for the open forum can do so here.
