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The customer’s real estate journey shouldn’t just start and end with a rent, buy or sale transaction, according to the real estate agency CEO behind the “more human” manifesto.
Earlier this week, Real Estate Business reported on the Brisbane-based boutique agency doing things a little bit differently.
To find out a little bit more about the manifesto and the impact it’s having, we chatted with Hutton & Hutton CEO Peter Hutton to find out a little bit more about the effect that being “more human” is having on his business.
Why is it important for you, and your real estate agency, to focus on humanity?
The customer real estate journey doesn’t start and end with a rent, buy or sale transaction. There are so many touchpoints along the way, from the first time we come in contact with a buyer, seller, landlord or tenant through the purchase or rental process to the after-transaction follow-up.
We want every one of these interactions to create a lasting, positive impression. Focusing on the human aspect rather than the transactional aspect, for us, is about creating a meaningful connection with people. It’s what we believe life is about; that human connection. We also believe a humanistic ethos ensures we stay humble and focused on serving our clients and customers. Real estate isn’t about us; it’s about being of service to people.
What are some of the issues you think have arisen in the real estate industry due to people not aligning to humanistic values?
There’s a big focus for agents these days on climbing to the number one position or becoming a “million-dollar agent”. Not that these goals are wrong in any way. It’s just that I feel there’s more pressure today on agents than ever before to be a high achiever. In general, this can cause an agent to lose sight of what they’re here to do, and that is being of service and putting others’ needs before their own. When an agent values getting to number one and becoming a million-dollar agent above and beyond everything else, they are likely to be compromised in terms of their motivation, and in which case, they may put their own desires and goals first before that of their clients and customers.
Customer trust and ethics are arguably more important now than they have ever been before — do you agree or disagree?
Customer trust and agent ethics have always been important. There’s a practical reason why we need trust and ethics in a client-agent relationship. It’s critical to be able to provide great advice that’s in our client’s best interest. Earned trust and ethical behaviour result in good advice being heeded.
What’s been the impact of the manifesto on your employees since it was implemented?
Our manifesto has put a voice to what H & H believes in. That’s an amazing thing for the culture of our business. It has unified us under a common cause. It means our team have now a greater sense of belonging and that their values are aligned with the company’s. The team love it. We feel like a family. And we feel like we’re doing some great in the industry.
A “more human” image is also an interesting marketing tool. Has a focus on people had an impact on your bottom line?
Our brand is about establishing an emotional connection with our customers. From a brand-building point of view, we want to be different to the BIG brands that may be coming across like many BIG businesses, as being transaction-driven, impersonal and, in the worst cases, treating people like a number.
People are tired of being treated like a number — they don’t like it. So, our primary focus is to build a relationship, not to commoditise our service but make it personalised, even bespoke. We get it, we need to sell to make money. But a human-first, bespoke approach will earn trust and build positive rapport with our customer base and set us apart from the big brands.
It’s really about converting every customer from transactional to relational. Transactional agents have a one-sale-and-done attitude towards clients. They’re thinking short-term; a one-off situation and they don’t care if the client never comes back. They just want the commission. These are agents who don’t have a personal connection with their clients. And guess what, for the client, that often means a second-rate experience. But an agent and agency good at building relationships will see their clients and customers return because we gave them feel-good vibes and treated them like a person, not a number. So, the “more human” ethos is good for business, long-term as well as short-term.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Humans are wired to connect, neurologically speaking. High emotional and social intelligence are valuable agent traits — we want more agents on our team with these traits. The “more human” manifesto was written to appeal to agents with these traits.
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