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​Estate Agency 2.0. Looking at America. 

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Since I launched Mr and Mrs Clarke in 2014 I have felt the influence from the US permeate the UK estate agency industry more and more. Maybe it is because Selling Sunset has graced our screens or it could be because influencers like Ryan Serhant are constantly popping up on our Instagram grids (and in our ears thanks to the deverellsmith podcast). 

 

The big three learnings I have taken from America are…

 

Personal branding is vital if you want to stand out in the UK estate agency market. 

Another of Andrew Deverell-Smith’s podcast guests, Daniel Daggers, is a champion of “personal branding” and he has been a trailblazer on using social media to grow his influence and build his business. I’m a fan! 

If you want to win more business and get the best jobs then you need to stop being British when it comes to self-promotion and be more American. Here are my top tips on improving your social media content strategy:

 

  • Be authentic. You are great, so show people the real you.  

  • Don’t sell, be sociable. Instead of “buy this house!” Try “Check out this interior.” 

  • Get posting. You just have to start posting to get noticed. Perfectionism is the enemy of progress, so just get positing sociable and authentic content. A wise man once said to me “You don’t have to be good to start, but you have to start to be good”. 

 

Home staging is becoming a trend in the UK property world

Estate agents need to show value when they are trying to win business. A flash High Street office, strong market share and bags loads of experience is not enough anymore. You need to have more tricks up your Saville Row suit sleeve and you need to be able to provide your clients with methods that increase they of getting max price in super quick time. Home staging is standard practice in the United States and it is growing in popularity over here.  

I recently worked with Burbeck Interiors on staging an empty property. No one else was offering the service so it was the instruction winner. The empty property looked incredible when it was staged and the web views, social media impact, viewing requests and offers were higher than we expected. The result was a sold property, a happy client and lots of great reviews. 

 

The brokerage model is breaking new ground. 

Mr and Mrs Clarke is one of the growing number of estate agency brokerage in the UK. Along with Keller Williams, ExP,  Fine & Country et al. we provide estate agencies with a platform, network, training and support to run their own business. This is the way agency is done in the US and I have analysed companies like Compass and Serhant to understand how they work. I predict that the brokerage model will account for a significant part of the UK estate agency industry in the next three years and I think ambitious agents will make the most of the huge earning potential and life balance they find when working this way. 

If you're looking to learn more about Mr and Mrs Clarke, you can visit the careers site here.