How to Mystery Shop your Estate Agent

The Stowhill Estates team were recently awarded a gong from The British Property Awards.  Our ‘Gold’ Award placed us as the best estate agent in Wantage, which we were very excited and proud about! 

The judging process involved us being ‘mystery shopped’ on no fewer than five different occasions over the past 3 months, and then assessed on the speed and quality of our responses.   It led us to think what a great idea it would be for potential sellers to ‘mystery shop’ their agents to get a REAL picture of how they deal with customers on a day to day basis, and not just when they're on their 'best behaviour' at your listing appointment.

 It’s easy to do – simply call the agent you’re considering using and ask them for a brochure on a particular property they have for sale.  Here’s what you should be looking for:

 1)    Do they ask you about your buying position?

It’s very important that the agent has a discussion with you as a potential buyer about your position and ability to proceed.  They should be asking you if you have your house on the market, if you are under offer, or if you are a cash buyer.

2)    Do they ask you what attracted you to the property?

The agent should be attempting to get an idea from you at this stage about what you as a buyer are looking for in a home, so he or she is able to highlight any particularly appealing features of the property, and overcome any potential objections.  How much does the agent know about the property?  Have they personally visited it themselves and do they know the sellers or are they just answering the phone?  Do they make positive comments about the property? A detailed discussion at this stage could be the deciding factor in whether a viewing is booked or not.

3)    Does the agent offer to book a viewing?

Whilst you’re on the phone, the agent has the best opportunity of encouraging you to book a viewing, otherwise the buyer may be tempted to do a ‘drive by’ of the property and may make a decision about its suitability without ever setting foot over the doorstep.  For some properties, this may mean the buyer misses out on some stunning features, views or other attributes.

4)    Do they take your details and do they follow up?

When we were looking for a house ourselves a few years ago, Michael and I visited Open House events on several local properties.  Not once did the agent ask us for our name, phone number or email – thus wasting a golden opportunity to follow up with us!  After all, if the particular property we’re enquiring about isn’t suitable, what’s to say there won’t be our perfect property just about to come up for sale?  When (or if!) the brochure arrives  - is there a card attached? Or even better, a hand-written note?

 Why not put us to the test? We like to think we would pass a ‘mystery shop’ test with flying colours!  Call us any time on 01235 751 888 or drop us a line at hello@stowhillestates.com