Richard White and his partner Claire discuss their experiences as Meyers Estate Agents franchisees.

Q) What did you do before joining Meyers Estate Agents as franchisees?

Both myself and my partner Claire, joined Meyers Estate Agents as franchisees in 2016. In the past, Claire worked as a hairdresser and I’ve worked as a firefighter, so we are living proof that a complete career change is possible!

Q) How did you find out about Meyers?

I had known the founder of Meyers Estate Agents, Mark Meyer, for many years. I was fascinated when he set up what is now the leading 24/7, award winning, home based estate agency from his garage, a decade or so ago! In the early days, I never thought a friendly gesture of support to deliver a few leaflets from time to time would lead us to become franchisees, but it did!

Q) What Makes Meyers Different?

Unlike other estate agents, Meyers’ franchisees don’t have high street offices. This means unnecessary overheads are kept low and as a result, we can invest more into marketing the properties, which leads to more sales and happier clients. We can often sell properties where other agents have failed because we use great marketing techniques such as highbett quality photography, created by our Meyers’ ‘in-house’ photographer and his team, plus we access all the latest digital channels available to ensure the right audience sees the properties we have for sale. We also focus on providing a top-quality service for those involved in buying and selling their property. The transaction can be a stressful time and so we aim to support our clients through that process as much as possible.

Q) How has the franchise grown?

We set up as franchisees for Wareham and Purbeck in Dorset five years ago and haven’t looked back! We originally started as pilot franchisees and have since worked on £100 million in property value for instructions. Meyers now has nine franchisees and is recruiting for more.

Q) How do you work as a team?

My partner Claire and I are lucky as we complement each other’s strengths. I tend to do the valuations and appraisals and present the properties while Claire manages the sales process through to completion. It’s important we can be flexible as we have a young family. We have been able to achieve a greater work-life balance working from home and it has improved our lives as a family.

Q) Who would suit a Meyers franchise?

There’s no hiding from the fact it’s hard work to run a successful business. However, people who care and those who want to work with their local community to develop a good reputation could be well suited to becoming Meyers’ franchisees. They must be people, people and want it for the right reasons and in return, the franchise will offer both personal and financial reward.

Q) The past year has been particularly difficult for many franchisees. How have you faired?

The property market is a particularly stable sector. However, the Government brought in measures during the pandemic to support the housing market – such as the stamp duty holiday. This resulted in a huge boom. We have sold more properties in the past year than ever before and that was compressed into nine months as everything was on hold during the first lockdown. It’s been an extraordinarily busy time. We anticipate the market will settle as we come into the winter but demand is likely to remain high so there is certainly a positive outlook for the future.

Q) What advice would you give to someone considering a Meyers franchise?

There are no shortcuts to success. The role can be rewarding and demanding at the same time, particularly when it comes to managing the weight of expectations of vendors. You must also be prepared to work hard to grow your reputation within your local community. You will need to be able to make great connections with people, as so much business comes from recommendation. For the most part, this is a people business and being able to listen, communicate, and understand each client’s individual journey and to achieve their best outcome is what the job entails. Most people genuinely appreciate the above and beyond effort we go to, having created a trusted reputation for a caring and professional service.

For those ‘people people’ with the right attributes, the franchise would be incredibly rewarding.

Q) What does the future hold for your franchise?

Our success means at some point soon we will look at growing the franchise through taking on self-employed agents. However, this will be carefully managed to ensure we can continue to provide the very best service to our clients within our territory.