According to the New York Times it is the latest craze among property marketing professionals – get chummy with potential clients.
Gone are the days of attempting to impress with slick property sales brochures and glossy property photography, it seems that these days agents believe the best way to seal a deal is by indulging in some serious sucking up.
Estate Agents Use Friendship to Identify with Clients
Where once being businesslike was a byword for success in home sales, in the tough current market property marketing pros are being encouraged to identify another way in with customers.
A straw poll by journalist Elizabeth A Harris reveals that home sales workers are willing to indulge in a wide range of activities, if they have to potential to secure a sale or purchase.
Enjoy Activities with Your Estate Agents
Entertainments that estate agents have admitted to enjoying with customers include:
- Exercise classes
- Hang Gliding
- Discount Shopping
- Drinking Games
- Scavenger hunts
The list reads like something from the imagination of a cartoonist commentating on business culture – but agents are keen to assure critics that the tactic brings results.
One young agent who woos clients by taking them to a themed bar and indulging in student-style drinking games assured the author: “When people get to know you as a friend, they’re more likely to refer their friends.”
Another added that the relaxing of boundaries allowed for a stronger trust to develop between agents and clients: “You see each other as real people,” she said.
