Wealth & Finance International - March 2017

Wealth & Finance International 22 Bring it Home ellMyHome .co.uk is an online estate agent which aims to make selling a property simple. “We’re not your typical estate agent,” enthuses Will Clark, Managing Director of the company. “For starters, we charge as little as £695 (inclusive of VAT) to sell your home, regardless of the value of the property. As an Online Estate Agent we can offer every service an Estate Agent can at a fraction of the price whilst improving on customer service too.” SellMyHome’s main objective is to be the absolute best in customer service, as Will embellishes on the firm and its strategy for success. “Customer service is key to everything we do as selling or buying a home can be one of the most stressful things you can do in life. We do this with a strict hiring regime as it’s not just being polite and efficient that makes great customer service. We train all our staff and make them take NAEA and ARLA exams so that whatever issues arise for the ven- dor, any staff member will be able to help. It would be easy as an online agent to direct customers and potential buyers back to the website and many of our competitors do, this only makes the customer’s life harder and is exactly what we are trying to avoid.” The Estate Agency industry is considered one the most archaic around and, Will tells us, for good reason. “For agencies to be charging the same % fees as they were before everyone started searching online for their new home shows the industry hasn’t evolved,” he states. “At Sell- MyHome we have embraced the internet and just simplified the buying and selling process making life easier for the consumer. We are in a modern age of digital convenience. You don’t need to rely on a travel agent anymore to book a place to stay, you can just log onto Airbnb. If you want a taxi, you can do it from the click of a button on your phone, so why shouldn’t selling your home be as easy as that? Rightmove and Zoopla get 100 million and 50 million views a month respectively, and 98% of house hunters start their search on the internet, so why and how can the incumbents continue to justify charging on a percent- age fee basis. Does the service really differ between a property worth £500,000 and a property worth £750,000? At 2% there is apparently £5,000 difference!” Will’s dedication to providing customers with excellent service and a simplified buying and selling process is clearly paying off as he and his team were recently awarded the prestigious title of Estate Agent of the Year 2017, an accolade of which he is extremely proud. “The truth is that we only have happy customers if we sell their home and we wouldn’t be winning awards like this if that wasn’t the case. “As a young company we know that every employee we have has had to buy into our company culture. This award is testament to the fact the entire team here genuinely believe what we are doing is the future and is having a positive impact the way properties are sold and let. Every staff member works long hours to achieve the very best results and although it’s nice to tell them that we know what they’re doing makes a difference, this award is the external proof that it does.” However Will is also quick to sing the praises of his dedicated team of hardworking employees, without whom he wouldn’t be the success he is today. “I’d have to say that the team I have built around me has to be my greatest attribute. The trick as a start-up, I have found, is keeping the team around you motivated and happy. I guess they rely on me to maintain a positive outlook, believe in them, the business and myself. I am an ultra-competitive individual who will go to great lengths to find solutions or to succeed. There is no doubt you need an abundance of energy, drive and a will to build a successful business. “You don’t work for a start-up unless you really believe in what you’re doing. SellMyHome was founded in 2013 and back then it was one per- son and a computer. Although a much larger company now, the truth is the ethos is still the same. We’re not going to change the world, but we are going to change Estate Agency for the better. To come in every day knowing you’re doing something that will genuinely change an industry and that we are at the forefront of it is all the motivation we need.” Humbly, Will doesn’t consider himself a ‘successful’ CEO just yet (despite his award-winning reputation!) and he tells us some of the challenges he faces as a market leader. “The beauty of what I do is that no day is ever the same. I’m thrown curve balls on a daily if not hourly basis so I guess the biggest challenge I have and will no doubt continue to have is to keep the various plates spinning whilst ensuring that I’m always pushing myself and my team to better our productivity. The greatest challenge is to be a market leader in a sector that is growing as rapidly as ours is so receiving awards such as this really helps emphasise our credibility.” So, what does Will foresee with regards to the future, both for the indus- try and for SellMyHome? “The truth is, from where we started our business to where it is today (in less than five years) we couldn’t even comprehend the changes we have made to evolve with the industry. For example, did you know we did the first ever Virtual Open House on Facebook using our Virtual Will Clark, the brains behind the UK’s number one online estate agent, SellMyHome, talks to us about the flaws within the industry and why they make him even more determined for success following the firm’s success in achieving the Estate Agent of the Year 2017 UK award. S 1703WF30