Phillips and Still: Customer Satisfaction

There’s no sitting still for Phillips & Still

Walk along any street in any town or city and look in the windows of estate agents, one unifying factor will soon become apparent. Estate agents are proud of what they do, proud of what they achieve and proud to tell us so. And why would they not, we are all proud of our achievements and accolades. This is why agents are keen on their industry awards and who can blame them.

Right now Brighton agents Phillips and Still are very proud to have received no less than five new awards. These awards have come from the website allagents.co.uk, so we went along to ask Chris Still and business partner Richard Phillips why they are so delighted. Chris explained “There are many many awards out there and they are all very important indicators of a company’s standing within the business. Why we are so pleased with these particular awards is that they are voted for online by customers, both buyers and vendors who feed back their personal experiences to the website. To be given these accolades by the public feel very special and we see it as an indicator that we are doing things right.”

In the 2016 awards Phillips and Still were given five. Chris Still won the allagents.co.uk Gold People’s Award for customer experience in BN1 and Richard won the silver award again for BN1. They also won Best Estate Agent in Brighton, Best Estate Agent gold for customer experience and a Silver award for Best Estate Agent in East Sussex.

No less than five new awards

Both Richard and Chris are very pleased to have gained this recognition and share in that achievement with their team Jason Bolze, Alice King and Sanaz Baheran. It’s an independent and happy team and there is a definite sense of teamwork and a relaxed but professional atmosphere in their central Western Road office close to Norfolk Square on the border of Brighton and Hove.

The awards are of course great news but how do they feel about the current property market? “Things are in fact better right now than we might have expected’ says Richard. “The market is certainly different but that is not necessarily a bad thing. We are finding that people are being very realistic about pricing. If anything we have to manage people’s expectations of what their property is likely to achieve. And of course if prices are not rising fast for vendors, it also means that when they come to buy the price that they will have to pay is equally un-inflated. We are very honest with vendors and give them our reasoned and reasonable valuation of what they should achieve, at the end of the day it is their choice. Last year sales moved very fast, we were seeing properties come to market and sell in two weeks whereas now it might take one to two months.”

“Yes” adds Chris “But we should also say that whilst a vendor may not see massive numbers of buyers at viewings, those buyers that are out there are on the whole serious buyers who really are in the market to busy and have the finances in place. Fewer buyers, if those buyers are serious, leads to fewer disappointments.”

It’s great to talk quite so frankly with two property pros who are being so honest about how things are right now. And it’s not based on disappointing performances over the last few months but on a good continuing record of successes. “We have a good number of properties on our books right now and a good number of enquiries to view them.”

They are hard working too and at least one of the two directors will always be on hand

So what does make Phillips & Still stand out? We liked the smart but informal approach that they use, friendly and fair. They are hard working too and at least one of the two directors will always be on hand, even at weekends.

They have also just launched their brand new website, www.phillipsandstill.co.uk. “We have invested in making it easier to use, user friendly, and we offer free online valuations to give vendors a ball park price – with no commitment!

“We are also exclusively sales, we believe in that focus and giving our full attention to the sales market and our customers. We like to see ourselves as business-like but informal, less corporate than some of the larger chain national agencies. Staying focused and retaining our independence means that we can be friendly and informal. And we are the decision makers. We never have to refer to people in offices nationally who may not even understand the local market.”

So do they have plans to expand? “We’re driven and ambitious yes, right now we are happy with where we are, what we are doing and how we do it – but watch this space!”

01273 771111
westernrd@phillipsandstill.co.uk

A five star review

Chris & Richard are truly excellent at what they do. They’re both consummate professionals and are always on-hand to offer help, support and advice.

Throughout our purchase they’ve been a pleasure to liaise with, and go above & beyond what one would normally expect from an estate agency. I’ve already recommended them to friends & will continue to do so.

Thanks again guys!
Ed Isaacs