Feelgood Factor
December 20, 2019
We recently ran a training course as part of our ongoing staff development programme, using a specialist external estate agency trainer. One particular module of the course encouraged our managers, negotiators, valuers and lettings specialists to consider our core values. What are they, and do our customers recognise them in our day- to-day activities?
After the session, the trainer told me how impressed he had been with our staff. During one exercise, he had posed the question “Why don’t you work for another estate agency, and, as Managing Director, the responses brought a lump to my throat!
The values that are clearly experienced internally completely reflect those I cherish myself and which I hope our customers experience. The themes that came out of the session point to a company that treats its staff well in every area including motivation, development, career progression and pay.
Staff enjoy the fact that whilst the company has a contemporary feel, traditional values continue to thrive. Our people work in a team-spirited environment where enthusiasm, a sense of fun and good-humour are prized, and where there is a passion for ethical standards, proactivity, innovation, and technology. The personal accountability of every staff member to the customer also featured very highly, as did our strong “shared responsibility” approach and the ability to respond quickly to changing market conditions.
Our staff turnover is extremely low, and staff members put this down to the feel-good factor of being part of a forward-thinking, growing and successful business with a “good vibe”.
It is pleasing to note that these types of observations mirror the comments I regularly receive from clients who feel they have been treated with courtesy, respect and professionalism. In estate agency, it is no longer good enough simply to be competent in the job. The customer has to feel good about the whole moving experience, and I am proud that we have already gone beyond the call of duty in achieving this aim.
