Traditional estate agents weren't client-focused and were riddled with inefficiencies, says the founder of London's Madley Property, so he decided to start one of his own and try a different way of doing things.
Madley Property does things a little differently, according to the estate and lettings agency’s founder and Managing Director. Jaimie Beers had already been working in the industry for five years when he founded Madley just over a decade ago. “I felt that there was a better way to do things,” he says. “It wasn’t very client-focused and there were a lot of inefficiencies in the way traditional estate agencies were run, simply because it had always been done that way.”
Improved efficiencies through a team-based approach to clients
In traditional agencies, says Beers, the client ends up depending on one negotiator who agrees the deal, which can prove problematic if they’re unavailable, for example, and the rest of the business isn’t familiar with the client’s needs. These negotiators are often driven by commissions, which can sometimes lead to decisions that don’t serve the best interests of their landlords.
Madley takes a completely different approach. “We view clients as being the whole team's clients, rather than being ‘sold’ to any one individual,” says Beers, which is reflected in their pooled team commission. “We work in a much more ‘joined up’ way, where everyone interlinks, rather than people working as independent operators. We can do a lot more by working as a team.”
A different approach to landlords and fees
When it comes to fees, Beers believes “it’s not always right to just charge a percentage of the property's value, so in many cases we charge landlords a flat set fee. We also strip back the service and do away with set monthly charges like management charges for newer properties where no maintenance is likely to take place."
Beers thinks it’s important that everyone at Madley understands what it’s like to be a landlord. “A lot of obligations are placed on landlords and it's not an easy role to have sometimes. So is certainly important that people who work within the company understands where they're coming from and what their priorities are.”
Cloud-based technology allows for quick pivots
Madley also works differently when it comes to technology - the agency is completely cloud-based. “When you have servers, you end up with legacy issues, you need to rely on people to come out and update your systems, you have to back things up all the time. I never wanted to get into that,“ says Beers. “Being cloud-based allows us to always have the most up-to-date version of the software that we use and we can integrate new software very quickly - we can decide we want to start using new software and then roll it out within weeks.”
What’s ahead for Madley? “We want to keep doing what we’re doing right,” says Beers. “We want to continue making sure that we're doing things in the best way possible and making sure that we're offering our clients a service that they can't get from just anywhere.”
