Have you ever wondered what you clients really think about you? A recent national study by Roy Morgan Research of 300 vendors has revealed what they really think about their real estate agents and the service they delivered – and luckily it’s mostly good news. 

The survey found that most vendors are satisfied with their agent, with 31 per cent reporting excellent service, 35 per cent reporting good service and 20 per cent reporting average service. Just 14 per cent of vendors said they received poor service. 

But while most vendors reported good service from their agent, there are still some issues that agents need to work on if they want to keep their clients happy.

According to the survey, 58 per cent of vendors felt confident about their agent before the sales process, but that dropped to 50 per cent during and 41 per cent after.

Managing price expectations was one issue that was flagged by vendors. At the start of the sales process a lot of agents make the mistake of trying to woo clients by promising high sales figures but this rarely ends well.

It is in everyone’s best interests to be honest from the outset and to have a hard conversation about property prices. Pricing a home correctly is so important, and while agents are prone to making mistakes like anyone else, if you promise a price you can’t deliver then your vendor will be disappointed and it may actually result in the property selling for less than market value.

Another issue that the survey revealed is that a high per cent of agents aren’t demonstrating their local knowledge by sharing things such as local clearance rates or recent comparable sales with vendors. 

It’s good to see that overall vendors are mostly happy with the service they receive from agents, but it really is important that agents have those tough conversations with vendors about price from the start of the relationship and that they share as much information as possible and offer the best service. After all you don’t just want to win a client’s business, you want them to be happy with the end result and recommend you for the future too.