Name:
Simon Gates
Job Title:
Head Of Training & Development
Company:
Homesearch
Email address:
simon@homesearch.co.uk
Social media handles:
Click here to be taken to Simon's LinkedIn profile
What is your career background?:
I started as an estate agent doing work experience in the summer of 2007 and worked my way up through the ranks to branch manager and remained with the same multi-branch independent until the start of 2020.
I ran an award-winning and profitable office for 5 of those years and gained over 150 5* Google reviews in that time as well.
At the start of 2020, I made the jump into the proptech sector having been an avid user of the Homesearch platform throughout 2019.
I now train estate agents on how to use Homesearch and purposefully prospect to win new business in a time and cost-efficient way.
How did you come to work for Homesearch?
I used Homesearch a huge amount in 2019 and saw the profit of the office I was running increase considerably.
On 31st January 2020, the COO Sam Hunter rang me up and said 'G'Day mate, do you want a job' and the rest is history.
What's your proudest achievement?:
The office I was running for half a dozen years made a profit every single year I ran it and was the most profitable in the company the first year I took over.
What are the top 3 challenges you believe your business solves for agents?
1. How to find more stock and manufacture their own pipeline by identifying properties that match client's needs that are not yet on the market with our explorer tool.
2. Help to prospect in a more time and cost-efficient way by being able to send direct mail within a couple of clicks without having to leave their desk.
3. Nurturing their database with our bespoke and trackable white-labeled reports that can be created in a couple of minutes.
Which industry suppliers do you admire most?:
Stephen Brown
Estate Apps
Agency Content Club
Agent Response
Which estate agencies do you admire most?:
James Kendall Estate Agents
Charles David Casson
Taylor Walsh
Deakin White
Coast & Country Real Estate
Country Living Group
Harrisons Homes
What is the most valuable lesson you have learnt from working with estate agents so far?:
Prospecting works best when it feels like service
About Homesearch
Homesearch is the entire property market on your screen and in your pocket.
Estate Agents use Homesearch's property data to target and win new instructions; whether they're on the market with their competition or off-market waiting to move.
Our unique off-market prospecting engine allows agents to search, filter and target the specific homes they know they can sell fast, meaning you can show a potential buyer (or seller) the entire universe of what fits their needs to better serve them (and convert more valuations into instructions).
Agents who use Homesearch say it gives them an edge. With the most comprehensive information on every home in England and Wales, and all the prospecting and reporting tools an estate agent needs to stay ahead, there’s no need to go anywhere else.
