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The Secret Shopper Files Podcast
Experience the JOURNEY through the eyes of your Prospective Owner.
When you KNOW what they WANT…you’ll know how to DOMINATE with new business.
Welcome to the ‘Secret Shopper Files’ Podcast show.
In each episode we ‘secret shop’ up to TEN agencies in Australia, New Zealand, the USA or in the UK, and reveal the results.
What points of difference did they use to differentiate themselves and compete?- How good (or bad) was our customer service experience and what key mistakes were made?
- What holes did we find in their property management fees- could they have successfully charged more?
- Did these agencies have any real hitting power in their marketplace with their online presence and social media marketing?
We then reveal in each episode a plan how any agency can quickly win the trust of the prospective owner and DOMINATE, from the lessons learned in that marketplace.
Together with Darren Hunter and Deniz Yusuf, Michael Sanz reveals the GOOD, the BAD and the UGLY (without revealing the agencies involved) and have some fun along the way to encourage all agencies everywhere to get GREAT at competing on service and value, instead of competing on fees and a ‘race to the bottom’.
Subscribe on Podbean or iTunes Podcast and listen in the car between appointments.
For more details of how we can secret shop your competitors go to secretshopperfiles.com
Episode #10 – When the Phone RINGS…Ten WINNING Keys for the NEW Business Enquiry!
When we call secret shop agents, we are exposed regularly to everything that is done wrong. In this teaching episode of the Secret Shopper Files, we share the TEN THINGS to do that will win you the business, when the phone first rings. LEARN and IMPLEMENT these ten things Deniz Yusuf and Michael Sanz teach you and you will win the business when a prospective client makes contact with your agency..and must learn episode for anyone involved with new PM business!
Episode #9 – TEN Worst Mistakes when taking the New Business Enquiry
Our secret shopper has made literally thousands of Secret Shopper Calls over Australia, New Zealand, the USA, and also in the UK, and we have come across a lot of what NOT TO DO when agencies take a new business enquiry. In this special VALUE episode, Michael Sanz and Deniz Yusuf reveal the TEN WORST MISTAKES Agencies make when taking new business enquiry with a prospective client! KNOW what the MISTAKES are so you don’t go and make them too!
Episode #8- The Hawaiian Files – When URGENCY goes on vacation
When you have a sense of URGENCY in your manner and tone, you SHOW your prospect that you’re keen and interested in them and their business. WITHOUT THIS, you turn-off your prospect away. NEVER have we experienced this MISSING with so many agents when we conducted a Secret Shopper report with ten agencies in Hawaii. If you want to know what NOT do…listen to this episode of the Secret Shopper Files.
Episode #7- The Sunshine Coast Files- When New Business Inquiry Conversation Counts!
Ten agencies were ‘Secrets Shopped’ on the beautiful Sunshine Coast which is home to Australia Zoo and is based about 1-hour drive north of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. Aside from a level of a ‘relaxed’ culture in dealing with a new business inquiry, our calls were very much a ‘conversation-based’ experience. Their points of difference were regretfully ineffective along with some of the lowest fees we have seen in Australia. Listen to Episode #7- The Sunshine Coast Files for hints, tips, and teaching for you to go to the next level in winning your new business inquiries at your FULL FEES! Enjoy!
Episode #6- The Phoenix Files “Sorry…that’s not my job!”
Calling ten agencies in Phoenix Arizona (USA) we were confronted not only with poor and ineffective points of difference, but also the person taking the inquiry not taking responsibility for providing the information we needed. Furthermore, with so many fees not being charged and a packet of money left on the table, our Secret Shopper Files episode in Phoenix is quite an eye-opener on how to be more effective (and how ‘not to be’) when taking new business inquiries. If you want to really grow- watch/listen to this episode.
Plus we reveal the PM fees we encountered (and the lack of), and what particular fee they could be easily charging more for.
Episode #5- The Wellington Files- ‘Please just take a look at the website!’
When we were commissioned to ‘secret shop’ TEN competitor agencies in Wellington NZ we were not prepared for what we experienced. In this podcast you will find out what happened when ALL of the agencies we contacted really didn’t have any ‘care factor’ whatsoever when dealing with our new business enquiry! Most of them simply told us to ‘read our website’.
Plus we reveal the PM fees we encountered (and the lack of), and what particular fee they could be easily charging more for.
Episode #4- The Sydney Files- The STRUGGLE is real
In this episode we called TEN agencies in Sydney where we found nearly all PM companies STRUGGLING to give any real and meaningful point of difference, and instead gave common ‘points’ that were of no real value at all!
BUT through all the ‘BLAND and sameness’ a phone call with ONE agency stood head and shoulders over the rest to win our Secret Shopper Hall of Fame award (if we had one!). PLUS, we come across the HIGHEST leasing fee we’ve seen charged, plus one agency charging a HIGH routine inspection fee (when everyone else was charging nothing).
Episode #3- The Orlando USA Files… 'Please ANSWER the phone!'
In our third episode, we go to the home of Disneyworld in Orlando Florida USA where we ‘secret shopped’ ten agencies there, some quite prominent.
If you want to learn HOW to stand out from the crowd be sure to listen to this podcast as we EXPOSE the BIG MISTAKES, the fees they’re LEAVING ON THE TABLE too, so you too can KNOW how to impress your prospective client the first time, and HOW to be more profitable per door!
Episode #2- ‘The Auckland Files’…Staff Disconnect, ‘Too busy’ to GROW
In our second episode of The Secret Shopper Files, this time we deliver a Strategic Market Report in Auckland, New Zealand. We were surprised that not only were vital points of difference missing, but also something even more important- the ability to connect with the prospective client on a person to person level.
In this episode, we spend quality time on how you can improve with your prospective client service experience, but also discuss what type of content you could be teaching and educating with your prospective clients so that you can dominate and lead the market. Plus we reveal a sample fee analysis based on what agents should be charging in the Auckland area and how additional fees could be earning an agency of 300 doors/managements another $127,000 per year.
Episode #1- 14 Agencies- THE BIG Holes, The ‘Low-Balling’ and The Surprises
In our first ‘pilot’ episode of ‘The Secret Shopper Files’ Michael Sanz discusses how his team secret shopped 14 agencies in Adelaide (South Australia). With the selected offices spread across half of the metro area, the ‘rack-rate normal’ management and leasing fees have been discounted by FOUR PM focussed agencies (that you’d think would be at the ‘higher end’ of the fee-charging).
We also reveal some surprises with their ‘points of difference’ and have a revealing chat about the overall ‘prospective owner’ service experience.
