Ewemove Managing Director Nick Neill says the hybrid estate agency has significantly improved its conversion rate and has been getting 70% of its listings over the line to completion during the past six months.

The extraordinary claim, which has been made to The Negotiator by Neil following parent group TPFG’s half-year results last week, puts the business up to 30% ahead of the industry conversion average and, Neil claims, is one of the reasons why its turnover jumped by 11% during the first half of the year.

He also says that although the number of ‘seller opportunities’ have reduced by 20% over the past year as the market has become increasingly tough, Ewemove has increased its number of listings by 5%, pointing to a 25% increase in the number of conversions.

“We haven’t significantly grown our franchise estate and we’re operating at around 120 to 125 this year so it’s not franchisee growth driving the performance,” says Neill.

Hybrid estate agency

“I prefer not to look at it as a ‘new model’ versus ‘old model challenge – just take away the model bit and look at who’s struggling and who isn’t. What you’re left with is a fundamental approach to customer service which is where Ewemove comes in,” he says.

“It’s blindingly simple to me, so I can’t understand why other people haven’t cottoned on to this yet.

“You can talk about all the technology and unique selling points and all that sort of stuff, but fundamentally it boils down to… do you have a group of people who are bothered about the outcomes and are bothered about customer service.”