Research shows clearly that if the last experience in a stressful or painful process is the maximum pain point, the memory of the overall experience will be the maximum pain.

This is known as the peak-end rule and is a well-established psychological heuristic. For property sellers and buyers, the end of the experience is the point of sale or purchase. Buyers feel pain by being hurried or pressured into making a big decision, while sellers often feel blindsided when new information forces them to adjust their expectations at the last moment.

As a result, the customers of real estate agents often walk away from their experience with a bad taste in their mouths. And good work the agent has done is lost because of what happens at the end of the sale. Of course, even if the transaction point goes smoothly but the overall process is still difficult, with pain points along the way, the memory of the process is still unlikely to be positive.

This could be a major reason agents have consistently low trust ratings with sellers and buyers.

Trust Ratings - Low

But this also means there’s a massive opportunity for agents who can reduce the risk of that maximum pain point kicking in at the end of the sale process. And for agents who can make the “trip” smoother for both sellers and buyers.

Another factor that affects customer memories is expectation or anchoring. If the seller is expecting a certain price range but then the property doesn’t reach that target, this “loss” has more impact on their memories than an above reserve price would. Clearly a good price will improve the peak-end memory but we all know agents can’t guarantee that outcome.

The same applies to buyers who initially think they might be able to buy at $X and then find out it’s $X plus 20%. They also feel a loss that negatively impacts their memory of the experience. This is commonly known as “loss aversion” and is another powerful heuristic in behavioural economics.

Agents can create some of these problems during their sales pitch to vendors.

To get the listing, the agent might create expectations at the optimistic end of the scale and that can make delivering a good experience more difficult. This transactional approach – “What do I need to do to get this listing? How do I get this buyer across the line?” – contributes to the maximum pain experience.

So the opportunity to improve experiences is greatest in how you approach the listing pitch and the pointy end of the sale.

To do this you need to reduce some of the most painful elements that can be burned into the memories of your customers. Many of the most successful agents seem to understand this because they tend to communicate more closely with the customers and do better at managing expectations. And they provide better information to their clients making the process feel more transparent – even if it’s a difficult and potentially painful process – and they try to avoid potholes at crucial points in the journey.

By improving experiences, you open up a huge income generating opportunity because you will be more successful in demonstrating your point of difference from your competitors, which should translate into better listing conversion rates and smoother sales processes.

Trust Ratings - Improved

How we can help.

Our service is structured to reduce risk for buyers without reducing the independent support that buyers need when checking out a property. For sellers, it allows them to be better informed and where appropriate to even fix some issues before marketing starts. This definitely reduces stress for sellers and improves their confidence.

By providing both the seller and buyers with good information and quality service you give yourself the best chance to avoid the maximum pain point.

Without you needing to do much at all you can:

  • Improve the selling experience and buying experience for customers by having better information delivered in a professional, reliable and consistent manner.
  • Avoid potholes for sellers by having any property issues on the table early on so you can have a fact based discussion about them.
  • Reduce the time and the risk for buyers to check out a property and to improve the trust associated with the information available because they get high quality, third-party support. This increases the chance of extra serious buyers being attracted to your listing.
  • Improve transparency and quality of the information flow to reduce the risk of rushed decisions and unexpected issues. Therefore, there’s a lower risk of a high pain point at the end of the customer experience.
  • Provide better experience in the areas not covered by your service, lowering the chance of negative reviews and therefore more positive referrals.

We do not offer just an inspection report.

We offer you an end-to-end service that is focused on providing the best possible outcomes for our customers – property buyers and sellers. No other “inspection” business can offer what we do. The value of our service is almost universally acknowledged by the thousands of sellers and buyers who’ve experienced it.

There also might be some other changes you could make to your service delivery that will also reduce the impact of this issue on your business.

We know there are other “inspection models” out there, including free reports distributed by agents. Please think about how that information is perceived by buyers and note that they will not get decent follow up – why would they? Buyers will take the information but they won’t value it much. And that type of service is shown to lead to low quality reports and poor customer service.

That isn’t the path to reducing customer pain.

Best Regards,
Michael Ferrier

At EYEON Property Inspections, we help you buy and sell with more confidence.