There aren’t many letting agents in Bristol who have been established for 35 years.
Back in 1990, the industry was a very different place. There were no property portals, no smartphones and no emails. Property details were printed, telephone calls mattered and meetings were face to face.
A lot has changed since then but the things that matter most haven’t really changed at all.
Despite what people might think, lettings is not really a property business, it’s a people business. People want to be treated fairly. Landlords and tenants want someone they can trust. The best lettings businesses are built on relationships, reputation and, ultimately, doing the right thing.
35 years means relationships, thirty-five years is a long time. It’s long enough to meet people at completely different stages of their lives. A tenant from years ago can become a homeowner, an investor or a landlord. A landlord you’ve worked with for decades can recommend you to their children. Your children might go to school with their children. You might live on the same street. You might bump into them at the supermarket. Those things matter, they mean people aren’t just a name on a page or a record in a CRM. You actually know who they are.
When you’ve been around for 35 years, your reputation doesn’t just belong to your business. It becomes part of the community you work in.
Thirty-five years in lettings also gives you something that no training course, qualification or textbook can replicate: perspective.
The property market changes. New legislation is introduced. Rents rise and fall. Tenant and landlord expectations evolve.
We’ve seen difficult markets, including the financial crash of 2008, when properties could seem almost impossible to let.
We’ve seen periods of extraordinary demand, particularly after Covid, when rents could change almost overnight.
We’ve experienced interest rate rises, economic uncertainty, new legislation, unexpected maintenance problems and situations that, at first, seemed to have no obvious solution.
Experience doesn’t mean you stop encountering problems. It means you get better at putting them into perspective.
You learn not to panic. You learn that complicated situations can often become straightforward simply because someone picked up the phone and had a conversation. You also learn that small problems can become major issues when nobody communicates properly.
If something has gone wrong, be honest. If you don’t know the answer, say so and then find it.
That sounds simple, but it matters.
An agent focused entirely on winning instructions or filling properties as quickly as possible can sometimes lose sight of the bigger picture. Reputation isn’t built by one big gesture. It’s created by hundreds of small decisions. Do what you say you’re going to do. Treat people with respect. Pick up the phone. Be personable. Be professional. When something goes wrong, deal with it.
After 35 years, we’ve learned that people rarely remember every detail of a transaction. They remember whether they felt listened to. Whether they were treated fairly. Whether someone took the time to explain things. Whether someone picked up the phone when things went wrong.
Technology will continue to change. The property market will change. Legislation will change. The way we work will change, but people won’t change that much.
They will still want to be treated fairly.
They will still want someone they can trust.
They will still remember how you made them feel.
If you aren’t happy with your current agent and want to deal with a company who care about what they do and know the local market, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Call 0117 946 7171, email lettings@sarahkenny.co.uk, or pop into our Clifton Village office at 30 Regent Street.