"Customer for life" with Sherry FitzGerald

As part of my house-hunting saga I was invited to a Sherry FitzGerald talk in Clontarf Castle the other night. We were given a brief overview about the Irish economy and the past, present and future of the property market by Marian Finnegan, followed up by a bit of a sales pitch from Sherry FitzGerald Mortgages.

The overriding message that came through was that Sherry FitzGerald is a seriously professional organisation. Looking and listening to their well-turned out employees, one is given the impression that no matter which Sherry FitzGerald agent you’re dealing with, you’ll get the same straight talk, the same grounded opinions, and the same honest answers. Of course, this is exactly what buyers are hoping for in the agent they’re buying from.

The talk offered one everything one needed to know about the property market in 20 minutes. At the end the room was still hushed; everyone was waiting for an answer to the big question: are prices going to drop much more?

Being the cynic that I am, I expected a closing message about how now was a great time to buy but refreshingly it never came. Instead we were informed that 10 years ago was a great time to buy and in 10 years time, 2008 will have been a great time to buy, but as regards this year compared to next - it’s all down to consumer sentiment and that, we were told, is down to us. (Sorry, Marian but that’s far too much responsibility!)

And that was it; either a small increase or a small decrease and no-one knows which. You could sense the disappointment in those who thought that she would provide a definite answer or tell them that a 20% drop was on the way. But I think that a lot of people were satisfied with having been given an informative clear rundown on the market (along with a free pen and key-ring).

Putting myself in the shoes of a fresh-faced first-time buyer who has little background information or understanding of the property market, I would have been very impressed with the evening and would have left confidant that Sherry FitzGerald are good people to do business with.

And that’s the real sell. Though many of these people will be considering all homes, and therefore dealing with whichever agent happens to be selling their home of choice, I’m pretty sure who they’ll go when they become vendors.
It’s all about the "customer for life" approach.