FINE PROPERTY
Q&A With House Revolutions Founder, Chris Sargisson Revolutionary Estate Agent, Chris Sargisson under the spotlight Its eight years since Chris launched his lower priced disruptive estate agency, House Revolution. Despite a difficult recession the company has grown, selling in excess of 70 million pounds worth of local property and reportedly saving the average customer thousands of pounds in fees. Judging by the online feedback people love it. The business is undergoing a significant brand ‘refresh’ and gearing up to grow and expand but have they got the model right? You describe your business as disruptive. What does that actually mean? Disruptive is the term used when a business sets out to improve a service in a way that the market doesn’t really expect. Typically by working within an industry to find ways to significantly lift and improve the customer experience. Think ‘Branson’ and Virgin airlines. He didn’t improve and reduce the cost of transatlantic flight by buying old planes with an engine missing and using cheaper airports; he broke the British Airways cartel, took unnecessary
cost of out the business and used his vast experience of air travel to create an experience which was more comfy, tastier, slicker and a bit ‘funky.’ Consumers have been saying for a very long time that estate agency offers poor value for money. House Revolution is ‘doing a Branson.’ Evolving estate agency to make it lower cost and consumer focused. Lots of talk about online estate agency, is this the same thing as you? Hmmm not really although our first incarnation back in 2006 was an online business but we soon evolved. The internet has significantly improved estate agents ability to market their properties. It’s faster, provides ‘worldwide’ reach, is available 24/7 and is significantly cheaper compared to the old days of multiple branches and newspapers. All estate agents, every single one of them fully embrace the ‘online‘ as their chosen way to market and sell properties either via
portals such as Rightmove or Zoopla or their own websites. It’s why buyers don’t walk through estate agents doors anymore and why we can service the whole of Norfolk from one branch. Why did we evolve? Well, the internet provides many things but personal service is not one of them. Without people who know what they are doing then the wheels start to come off a house sale quite quickly. Finding a buyer is about 20% of the agents’ job and online agents only talk about finding buyers online (and being cheap) which means 80% of the work you require isn’t going to be done. What have you learnt in the last 8 years? A couple of things. Firstly, considering that we have now sold hundreds of homes saving customers money and making lots of people happy along the way I know the business works. From relatively humble beginnings we have grown into an extremely effective and
accurately priced modern estate agency and I can say with real pride that there is no else in the market as low cost and as professional as we are. Secondly, I now know the formula that improves estate agency: 1. 2. 3. 4.
Accurate fees – You should know (and therefore only charge) what it actually cost to sell a property which like most retailers should include a fair profit margin. Also don’t hide costs such as ‘set up’ or ‘cancellation fees.’ No tie-ins - No contractual minimum term means you’re always focused on keeping all our customers happy otherwise they will leave and go elsewhere. Make your customers agenda your agenda - Deliver excellent service all the time and always be open, honest and transparent. Use technology to improve the experience - All our customers are provided with a unique online ‘my House Revolution account’ allowing total access 24/7 to all house selling
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