Seriously... time to burn the suits

Any shareholders in Moss Bros may well be after my blood upon reading this. But after rounding on my consultancy's 1000th UK move and an average of 6-8 viewings a day for six years from Doncaster to Belgravia, ranging from bedsit moves at ￡600 pcm through to purchases over ￡10,000,000. Our perspective on the property industry as a whole, is all encompassing and unique as both a professional and as a customer.

These previous six years have taught me a great deal, but no more than the perspective on outward appearances and how customers perceive real estate professionals as people. I'm not ashamed to say that as a trainee agent around a decade ago, I was all about the suits, proudly turning up on my first day in a freshly tailored, dark navy, Hugo Boss piece. It was a thing of beauty, but I quickly learned that beauty is not designed to last. Less than two months in and it was shredded, barely withstanding even light visits to development sites or even regular tube travel. So, like many agents, I became a high street, off the rack suit wearer, complying with middle management rules about hanging jackets on hangers in the back, rules about having to wear a tie, regardless of the summer heat and laughing at a Swiss-French colleague who dared to turn up one day in a daring pair of chinos and summer blazer being summoned by the office manager for a disciplinary.

Our customers on the other-hand, find this style hilariously outdated, along with the pristine image presented on social media. Which has inspired a change in my personal style, I have not worn a suit in two years, the last time being for a wedding. My social media steering well clear of the pitfalls and stereotypes of designer clothes slickly produced videos, instead focusing on real experiences of London and embracing my love of classic rock, punk and heavy metal. I wear t-shirts and Converses to every single viewing, including multi-million pound luxury homes, something I was initially nervous about doing due to the perceptions that were drilled into me by previous middle-managers.

But what happened after I made this change?

My offer numbers went up, my reviews improved, previous clients started remembering me more frequently and returning later with referrals and further business. Quite simply, showing my customers my own personality and presenting myself as a person, not as an interchangeable negotiator in the same "off the rack" suit as three other guys in the same or competition's office, made customers feel more comfortable. They seemed happier to ask me questions about the industry, about the city and neighbourhood and felt that I was on their side while placing an offer on a home.

I see this more and more in the regular negotiators that we see the most. The best and most successful negotiators I deal with break away from this outdated stereotype. One of the best negotiators I know, I don't think I've ever seen wear a tie. He'll turn up in a different car each time I see him and will never spam me with irrelevant properties just because he has instructions. But he'll arrive on time, keys in hand, with a personal relationship built with each landlord and we have done more deals with him in his neighbourhood than any other office locally.

The same in luxury neighbourhoods is true, I've had clients question negatively why a negotiator had a handbag worth more than the rent on the flat. But on the same hand, nothing but praise and appreciation for the next agent who brought along her puppy as she heard the client was sad to have had to leave her dogs behind in Texas.

It's time, across the whole industry to be brave enough to break away from highly conservative rules that no longer feel relevant among our clientele. Office mangers need to be brave enough to allow their staff to (within the limits of professionalism) express their personality. The rest of the world's industries have moved on from the culture of uniformity, blandness and presenteeism, and it's time the real estate industry broke out if it's shell and joined them.

The difference you will see, is that clients begin to remember negotiators as people, not as the brand they work for, if they do a great job, customers will always return to them if they remember them. The only danger to middle management being, that if talented and memorable negotiators leave to the competition or to start up as self-employed agents under brokerages, those clients will follow with them. In turn meaning that if you want repeat clientele, the onus is on management to retain these negotiators over the long term, rather than view them as interchangeable and infinitely replaceable.