‘Be remarkable’ is a phrase we use every day at Sewell & Gardner: It has been instilled in me by my directors and I, inturn, ask my staff to go the extra mile whenever they possibly can by thinking outside of the box and standing out from the crowd.
Sewell & Gardner believe that real estate agents are not all the same and, quite frankly, I would not be doing this job if I didn’t wholeheartedly agree.
Granted, a lot of agents can sell houses but my aim is to for the customer to leave us happy and knowing that, not only did we sell their property for a good price, but the service was exceptional throughout the deal and afterwards too. To us recomendations are everything so we need to surpass expectations so that our customers know to come straight back to us again when they decide to move in the future and that they pass on our details to friends and family looking to move in the areas we cover.
Just this week a had a call from our lettings department saying an applicant had got a little lost on the way to a viewing and could not find the property one of my negotiators was waiting at. I went out immediately to find them and walked them to the apartment, where I was able to introduce them to my colleague so they could view the property. As I was leaving I saw a couple moving a sofa into one of the other apartments in the development so I chipped in with some muscle and helped carry the ‘heavy’ 3 seater up a flight of stairs from their car. Nothing in it for me because the couple were just moving into their rental property but you never know, one day they might remember the helpful chap from Sewell & Gardner.
On the same day I drove to Watford with some keys for a couple moving into their new home and handed them over along with a big bunch of flowers and a useful Sewell & Gardner ‘Bag4Life’ full of essential moving day goodies, which really brought a smile to their faces. Every time I have moved home I have had terrible customer care from the agencies I have dealt with (never been fortunate enough to move with Sewell & Gardner) and the last house I bought I didn’t even receive a phone call to say that the sale had completed and I could collect the keys!
Another story saw me doing a property walk round with a seller and consulting on positioning of furniture and which colours to paint rooms in order for the house to present at it’s best. I am genuinely shocked every time I go on Rightmove and see some of the details that have been put together and the photos that agents are happy to be posted under their banner. Just this morning I saw a house with photos showing a massively cluttered kitchen, washing everywhere and reflections of the agent themselves in mirrors. All of our sales & lettings staff are trained on how to present a property in its best light and we ALWAYS use professional photography, there really is no excuse whatsoever for shoddy property presentation in this day and age. I wholeheartedly believe that poor quality property details at the marketing level will undoubtedly run through the entire sale or rental transaction, including the deal negotiation and sales progression, so avoid this type of marketing like the plague! Did you know that the National Average fall through from sale agreed to completion is 37% and at Sewell & Gardner we boast 88% of sales agreed go through to completion. This is a tremendous reflection on our skills from start to finish.
I passionately believe that our attention to detail at Sewell & Gardner, along with our huge focus on customer service, gets our vendors a better price for their home and a sale which is stress-free and a pretty darn enjoyable process. We are here to take the worry out of the transaction and we strive to be remarkable for our clients.
One last example of ‘over and above’ service’ for you: An elderely couple needed to get some forms picked up from the Council offices and to get their sales contract signed and delivered to their solicitor, based in a different area a few miles away. At the same time they had been put under extreme pressure to exchange quickly, by others in the sales chain, so they were feeling very stressed. Of course, it was no problem at all for us to collect their forms from the Council, pick up their sales contract and drive it over to their solicitor. Happy clients, happy chain, speedy sale!
“The bitterness of bad service and low price long outlast the sweetness of low fees” so never be tempted to pick an agent based upon a cheap deal, you will, without doubt, get exactly what you pay for and a lot of stress into the bargain!
Joe Rylett
Branch Manager, Rickmansworth
01923 776400
