AGENTS WITH PULL

Anyone who has bought or sold a property recently will probably be struck by the range of marketing styles shown by property consultants.

“The two main modes of conducting sales encounters are often distinguished as opposites by the labels ‘push’ and ‘pull’,” Bellarine Property managing director Christian Bartley said.

“Consumers and consultants alike prefer the ‘pull’ focus on trust, empathy and service.

“‘Push’ techniques create distrust, alienation and increase client (and consultant) stress.”

According to Mr Bartley, the difference is instantly recognisable because “pull” creates satisfied clients while “push” creates hostility.

“Because ‘push’ is not intrinsically enjoyable, consultants need to fall back on hype or artificially induced enthusiasm.

“The resulting atmosphere of distrust and uncertainty frequently leads to communication breakdown.

“It is very hard to negotiate with someone in this kind of atmosphere.

‘Pull’, on the other hand, attracts people who are genuinely enthusiastic about their job and prepared to go the extra mile to meet client needs.

“Consultants get more positive feedback and results and develop good long-term relationships with vendors and purchasers.

“Clients are not harassed into meeting consultants’ needs for targets; rather consultants attract clients and sales by their level of expertise and service.”

Mr Bartley said that true ‘pull’ professionals have the conviction that they are adding measurable value to the selling/buying process.

“They don’t bluff and bluster their way through the sales encounter.

“Their product knowledge and expertise win every time. They can demonstrate a wide range of genuine purchasers on their books because they follow them up with service and information about new listings.

“They have good quality listings because satisfied clients recommend them to their family and friends. This in turn attracts even more purchasers and so on.”

Mr Bartley said that at Bellarine Property, consultants constantly got client references that demonstrated how much their integrity and expertise was valued.

He said the following quote from a vendor summed up the success of ‘pull’ marketing.

“I saw a number of real estate agents before going to Bellarine Property,” the vendor said. “None of them was as realistic or as forthright. I say with all honesty and sincerity that Bellarine Property has restored my faith in real estate agents.”