At the Lettings Live event in London on 15 June a busy day of conference sessions finished with an interesting slot by Ruby Wax which gave delegates an insight to Ruby’s unique interviewing skills. The techniques she uses are a great way for agents to gain an understanding of their potential clients’ needs while building up the essential quality of trust between agent and seller or landlord. Her presentation showed that by asking questions that lead the person to ‘open up’ a good rapport can be quickly made, before getting down to business.
This presentation neatly concluded the theme of the day which was improving business by quality of service and innovation, bringing some top tips, business experiences and a ‘Property Management Bootcamp’ from trainer Fiona Blayney.
The very best innovation to be discussed was by Northfields, who, having found that their end of tenancy disputes were running at an unattractively high rate, introduced pre checkout inspections. This inspection is carried out four weeks before the actual checkout allowing time to resolve any issues – simple!
Delegates also met sponsors of the event, led by Zoopla and ARPM, with Rentright, Homelet, Live Letting Exchange and thebu2iness amongst others. The Awards, after the conference sessions, were held in partnership The Sunday Times and The Times.
After a champagne reception, Ruby bounced back onto her box (enabling her to reach the microphone) to present the Awards in her alternative persona as a comedienne.
The happy winners were:
Outstanding contribution to Lettings: John Hards, Countrywide Residential Lettings
Letting Agency of the Year (overall winner): Northfields
Best Single Office Agency: WA Ellis
Best Small Agency: Northfields
Best Medium Size Agency: Edmund Cude
Best Large Agency: Chesterton Humberts
Best Luxury Agency: WA Ellis
Best Franchise: Belvoir
Best Customer Service: Lenwell Property Services
Best Technology and Online: Lenwell Property Services
Best Property Management: Foxtons
Best Marketing: Northfields
Best Training & Development: Romans
Best Innovation: Orchard & Shipman
