Ryan Power

How did you come to work for Pattinson Auction?

I met Richard and Justin whilst networking at a property exhibition. They came across well and at the time my current company were not being ambitious enough in a thriving market and felt Pattinson Auction were on the right path to being the UK’s number 1 property auctioneer which matched my career ambitions.

Your role requires self-introductions, cold calling, and visits, while simultaneously maintaining existing relationships. So, how do you approach your day?

Unusually, my day starts the night before, where I will do a small amount of ‘admin’ work, so I know which part of my role I need to focus on more being homebased often. This could be from cold calling estate agents, following up from meetings to ensure that all questions were answered, and supporting potential partner agents’ needs, or liaising with our valuations team.

What’s your proudest achievement since being in the role of Business Development Manager?

My main responsibility as a Business Development Manager is to increase our partner agent numbers and I have increased our numbers in almost all parts of the country with some key corporate accounts helping boost the numbers.

What are the Top 3 challenges you believe your business solves for agents?

I sympathize with estate agents when they are put under pressure by sellers to sell their property and they are held responsible at times when it does not exchange / complete on the dates agreed. We can help fix any time sensitive sales with auction.

Auction is a completely transparent process, in which sellers and buyers know exactly where they stand. A buyer has access to a legal pack which they can review before making any offer or financial expense. Sellers have confidence of exchange/ completion because of the non-refundable reservation fee from the buyer.

We add value to estate agents with our fee offering up to 2.5% plus vat offering for every successful referral along with being able to offer their local market 0% sales commission which agents tell me increase market appraisals to instruction conversion.

The pandemic introduced many to a new way of working – as in more remote tech focused. Do you prefer in-person meetings with agents, or do you prefer to conduct online meetings/phone calls and emails?

I have wider coverage which can geographically not work for meetings at short notice, but I find that agents are more welcoming to a Teams/ Zoom call in the first instance. Beyond that, we would usually agree to meet face to face on the follow up meeting or training session.

This would have been more challenging only 3 years ago, but because of the successes Pattinson Auction has had in large parts of the country, agents are more receptive to the Modern Method of Auction, and due to their familiarity with us, they are happy to meet via a tech-based platform initially.

What, in your opinion, is the best way for agents to identify potential auction listings from their stock?

We don’t just think about the type of property, but the seller’s wants/needs as well. As I mentioned earlier, agents will always come up against sellers looking to complete quickly and private treaty just works to the dates of finding a buyer and for them to exchange and complete quick enough.

Yes, we take into consideration the type of property, and we do sell the stereotypical run-down properties needing work, as all marketing agents love these types of properties because the interest they bring. And with our transparency we ensure agents don’t tie up a deal too soon and we get the best possible price for the seller in today’s market. At the other end of the scale, I’ve been involved in mulit-million-pound sales being the ‘cheapest’ house on the best road in town and properties that are a little unique and agents need to think of another way to market.

So overall, anything that is going to have a lot of enquiries from buyers, sellers that need to exchange/ compete quickly or a property that could be a bit more challenging to get to exchange and completion is good for auction.

Given your experience, what is an estate agent's main misconception surrounding auction?

The main two reasons I come up against and I believed when I worked in agency for almost 17 years was that buyers will not pay the non-refundable reservation fee and working in an affluent area of Surrey that the properties were too good and too expensive to go to auction. And in both instances, Pattinson Auction has put an end to these misconceptions.

Ellen Herbert

How did you come to work for Pattinson Auction?

Throughout my experience of working in the property industry and having previously worked in auctions, I find auctions to be the most interesting area. It was when I had taken a break from auctions and working for an investment company, that I saw the position advertised for Pattinson Auction, and felt an overwhelming urge to apply.

Your role requires predominantly self-introductions, cold calling, and visits, while simultaneously maintaining existing relationships. So, how do you approach your day?

First thing in the morning, I action any of the outstanding emails that have come in overnight. I write a list of existing agents that require a call and call whilst driving or in between appointments. When I arrive at a meeting, I scout which agents are in the area stop off with some info, with the aim of booking an appointment or at the very least getting the business card of the decision maker to follow up. I have my area divided into 7 areas, on the days that I work from home, I go through RM looking for stock in those areas and calling the agent asking if the seller would consider auction, I have found this a successful way to onboard new agents and get repeat business from them.

My active partner agents know that they can call me anytime and I will always return their call if I am unavailable when they call. I try to write notes regarding each call when out and about so I don't forget the details.

I think the key is to be on hand and to be able to answer any questions they may have and always be the friendly and most trustworthy auction provider they have met.

What’s your proudest achievement since being in the role of Business Development Manager?

Signing up Shortland Horne EA and turning their auction experience, with a competitor from a very negative one, to a very positive one. Not a massive achievement but I can sincerely say that Pattinson Auction has the best people to work with. Richard is a great boss, and is always on hand to help, and answer questions. I am certain that all the other responses will also state that the team is happy and cohesive under Richard's leadership.

What are the Top 3 challenges you believe your business solves for agents?

1. Certainty of the sale concluding for the vendor combined with the increased fees being passed on to the agent.

2. Offering auction when vendors are looking for their sale to complete within a set timeframe.

3. Our service takes on the bulk of the estate agents' role, therefore reducing their workload. The agent provides the marketing and conducts the viewings, and we do the rest.

The pandemic introduced many to a new way of working – as in more remote tech focused. Do you prefer in-person meetings with agents, or do you prefer to conduct online meetings/phone calls and emails?

I am more than happy to conduct meetings online, if the client prefers, however, I would always choose in-person meetings if it was my choice, purely because it is much easier to build a relationship in person.

What, in your opinion, is the best way for agents to identify potential auction listings from their stock?

The type of property is irrelevant. Offering auction should be based on the motivation of the vendor. If the vendor would like the property to be sold swiftly and with the certainty of the sale completing, auction should be the go-to offering.

As an agent, I would offer auction at the point of valuation, to adhere to offering all options of sale. I would also offer auction; when a sale falls through, at the point of withdrawal, at down valuation and when survey negatives arise.

Given your experience, what is an estate agent's main misconception surrounding auction?

The biggest misconception is that the property will be sold significantly below market value.

Carol Clipston

How did you come to work for Pattinson Auction?

Historically I worked in Finance for auctions prior to working for a large corporate agent for many years. I enjoyed the pace of working within the auction sector and felt it was where my knowledge and experience could lend itself best.

Your role requires predominantly self-introductions, cold calling, and visits, while simultaneously maintaining existing relationships. So, how do you approach your day?

I choose to think of my role as my own business; cold calling is the most challenging part of the role but the most rewarding. I feel having a structured week with some days dedicated to prospecting and others to account management works best for me.

What’s your proudest achievement since being in the role of Business Development Manager?

Most definitely signing 2 large accounts at the beginning of this year. These were prospects I had been working on for around 18 months and the persistence paid off.

What are the Top 3 challenges you believe your business solves for agents?

Speed - In a time when an average sale takes 5 months to complete this is definitely a huge benefit.

Security of Sale- As we head into uncertain times and we slowly move into a buyer's market, agents are able to offer their clients a service that locks a sale in without fear of down valuations, re-negotiations or fall throughs.

Competitor advantage – Not all agents have this product therefore should an auction opportunity present itself they are able to give their client options.

The pandemic introduced many to a new way of working – as in more remote tech focused. Do you prefer in-person meetings with agents, or do you prefer to conduct online meetings/phone calls and emails?

Personally, I prefer face to face meetings as you can show your personality and tailor your meetings accordingly. Most agents are typically social creatures and enjoy being around people. It’s how they win business, and therefore, it’s often how they like to do business.

What, in your opinion, is the best way for agents to identify potential auction listings from their stock?

It’s rarely about the stock, it's always about identifying a motivated vendor. You can have a quintessential auction property, but if the vendor thinks it's the best property in town, they are unlikely to be realistic about pricing.

Given your experience, what is an estate agent's main misconception surrounding auction?

There are many, but probably the biggest misconception is that the stock needs to be run down or problematic. Traditionally all auction stock had something wrong with it and needed to be sold cheaply. Times have changed and auctions have become more mainstream. Many vendors consider auction because they don’t want to be subjected to lengthy sales progression, fall throughs or risk volatile markets.

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