Property Expert.

Property Expert.

That don't impress me much.

I've known a few guys who thought they were pretty smart. But you've got being right down to an art. You think you're a genius, you drive me up the wall. You're a regular original know-it-all.

Lyrics courtesy of the huge talent that is Shania Twain.

I've expressed my low opinion of estate agency training previously with my article The Blind Leading The Blind and with a few other posts. Nothing has changed, in fact it has been cemented by a recent Facebook dialogue with the experienced but self-confessed gamophobe, Simon Leadbetter.

Do what works being the essence of the debate.

Time spent at Countrywide, Knight Frank, Keller Williams and Fine & Country might, one imagines, have provided
a basic understanding of marketing but as they say, success leaves clues. Same old, same old reliance on brand awareness and little in the way of brand loyalty, then or now.

"Starting with market orientation and research is about genuinely understanding the needs of the customer. My "what works ideology" is based on major consumer research and practical evidence. And proves to be massively profitable for those I advise."

Zzzz. Could it be more boring? Careful not to break your arm, Simon, as you pat yourself on the back.

As you might imagine, I have a very different point of view.

I mentioned that what works was always backward-looking and that it stifled creativity. (Incidentally, a huge component in genuine marketing).

"Nope, wrong again." was the reply.

Seth Godin has this to say about marketing:

" Modern marketing has split. On the one side are the roboticists. They test and measure and do what works....On the other hand are those that seek to get to the heart of what makes us human. They know that truly understanding our narratives is the essence of doing work that matters, that connects and spreads."

Best practice, that bedrock of agency training, produces commodity work. Every agency striving to be incrementally better. Resulting in naive, uneducated homeowners having even less choice in a sector where hustle is often the name of the game.

Where's the creative spark? Where's the willingness to be wrong? Where's the vulnerability of not knowing all the answers? Sacrificed at the altar of mediocre best-practice.

Property Experts is fast becoming an omnipresent term. Every Tom, Dick and Harriet are Property Experts. It's subjective at best and misleading at worst.

Jay Acunzo has greatly influenced my thinking.

"The creative world needs fewer experts and more explorers" was the headline.

The creative world, i.e Marketing.

Persuading potential clients with emotion rather than logic. Ditching what has always worked in the past in favour of inspiring with how things might be. Attracting those that think alike and who turn out to be evangelists for the cause.

Because as Seth Godin says: "Everyone is not your customer." Much as Simon Leadbetter and his ilk would have you think they might be.

Little need then for "major consumer research, or practical evidence." Zzzz.

Easy promises of more awareness, more leads and "massively profitable for those I advise."

The Blind still leading the blind. Focused on the promise, only a promise of easy profits, than on the work.

"We seem to live in a society that seems to value the ability to have answers, but the path to making work that matters might just mean admitting I don't have the answers but I'm going to figure this out." -:Jay Acunzo.

Reliance on what works includes the impertinent practices of door-knocking and cold-calling. Interruption on steroids - encouraged, not surprisingly, by the "trainers" that fail to see the damage they do to every estate agency. Add to that the Never take No for an answer brigade that are told to overcome objections. Limited thinking by self-proclaimed experts.

Greedily gobbled up by those that can't think for themselves and who let others do their thinking for them.

Property Experts aren't only in the "training" sector - every single agency has a Property Expert' somewhere. There's even, can you believe it, a business named The Property Experts. And 500+ local Property Experts draped in purple.

Years of experience doesn't make one an expert - especially if those years have been spent reacting to what others are thinking and doing. Dropping fees because of some purple-hued disruptor. Making videos that demonstrate how uncomfortable you're feeling because everyone else is doing them. Building a following of many thousands on social media that don't engage and who wouldn't miss you if you were gone.

It's time.

Time To stop pretending you're an expert.

Time for Property Experts to explore outside the claustrophobic world of estate agency.

Time to try other ideas that might , just might, redeem the god-awful reputation with consumers of this industry.

Time for them to be transparent even if that means admitting you're not the expert - just someone that passionately believes in creating a more inspiring future for your clients.

If you start with the past, it's easy to be burdened with legacy thinking and confirmation bias.

The dialogue from Mr.Leadbetter got a little personal - a sure sign of someone unable to follow the logic.

Let's not go there but of one thing I'm supremely confident of debating with anyone is modern marketing.

All I require is someone with the intelligence to consider options other than their own without necessarily accepting them.

Those that rely on the evidence of what works will always play small.

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www.andsotgestorybegan.co.uk

Chris.

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