Greene & Co. collect a further 5 estate agency awards!
4th December 2008
Greene & Co. scooped five top awards at the 2008 Estate Agency of the Year Awards last week, including Gold awards for Best Medium London Agency and Best Customer Service for the second consecutive year. To add to the trophy cabinet the company also took home the Cecil Jackson-Cole Award for Corporate Social Responsibility, as well as a silver award for Best Marketing and a bronze award for Best Medium Agency across the UK.
Medium London, Gold – presented by Melissa Porter with Greene & Co. Marketing Manager Jacqui Daley, Sales Director Stephen Brown and Andy Knee, MD, LMS
Supported by the National Association of Estate Agents, the awards are a benchmark for exceptional standards of service and achievement within the industry. Now in its fifth year, the event is widely recognised as the most important in the industry calendar and, even in the midst of the toughest times faced by estate agents for many years, attracted an audience of over 450 to the QEII Centre in central London.
Greene & Co. were thrilled to receive the awards, which follow on from their recent success at The Negotiator Awards where they took home four awards. Managing Director, David Pollock, said: “Winning so many awards is a fantastic achievement and recognition for the great work carried out by every member of our team. The awards are evidence that we have continued to deliver a gold standard across our business and I am delighted that our achievements have been recognised by such an eminent panel of judges.”
Success at the Estate Agency of the Year Awards is not easily come by. As the only awards judged by an independent panel of leading industry experts, each entrant is required to go through a two-step process; submission of a written questionnaire is then followed by a telephone interview with a judge. The whole process is overseen by the Ombudsman for the industry Christopher Hamer, as well as being endorsed by industry bodies the National Association of Estate Agents and the Association of Residential Lettings Agents.
Peter Knight, Chairman of the event organisers Estate Agency Events was delighted with the industry’s response to the awards, “It is not easy in today’s marketplace to retain an absolute commitment to excellence but that is what our winners have done and for that the industry should be proud. Delivering the quality of service shown by our winners is vital for the industry to survive now and thrive in the future. I cannot commend the example set by the winners highly enough.
Finally it is good to be able to say that I look forward with a little less trepidation to the months ahead knowing that there are so many examples of excellent, committed and dedicated Estate Agencies out there. The award winners and the participants in the accompanying Leadership Summit and Future Estate Agency Seminar are shining examples whom I would urge all others to aspire to.”
What the Judges Reports said about Greene & Co.
Best Customer Service: GOLD AWARD: Greene & Co
Greene & Co has a diverse training structure which keeps customer service at the heart of their culture, both embedded in the business through a "buddy system" and driven from the top. Twelve non-negotiable standards at the heart of the organisation set the minimum benchmark, but the company always aspires to do better. They have excellent initiatives in place to measure successful customer service, which take into account the individuals who are delivering results as well as the big picture. Best practice is shared regularly, with many examples of improvement in the business the result of customer feedback or staff suggestions. Greene & Co is a fresh thinking company, and one of the Times Top 100. Above all, their culture is to "treat every customer like gold". So the first prize is just a reward.
Best London Agency (Medium): GOLD AWARD: Greene & Co
Introducing a "goodwill charter" to counter gazumping and gazundering has generated an additional 30% of business for Greene & Co. Customer satisfaction is at a high, perfectly illustrated by very exuberant testimonials. The company is very visible in the community, with regular charity involvement and appearances on national television. Staff are enjoying training trips, receive motivational meetings and intensive training and development, and are given the tools to really get the job done. And the company turnover and profit is rising year on year. It seems that believing in Kaizen - the philosophy of continuous improvement - is really working for Greene & Co., whatever the market conditions.
Best Marketing: SILVER AWARD: Greene & Co
Greene & Co present a well-planned, consistent marketing campaign. From the launch of the landlord and vendor information packs to the production of area guides for their Crouch End office, they remain internally and externally true to their brand values. A unique idea was to distribute the promotional "Go Greene" bags, which not only demonstrates social and environmental concern but also strengthens brand awareness and perception in the locality where 30,000 branded bags were distributed. Community focus is also very apparent in the sponsorship of various local clubs, school support and fundraising for charities, again whilst maintaining brand values. Greene & Co is also strong on the measurement of campaign effectiveness, proving the value of all their marketing. This is illustrated by them having moved into a Top 5 agency position in Crouch End by the middle of 2008.
Best Medium Agency: BRONZE AWARD: Greene & Co
Operating in the heart of London, Greene & Co is a small company with an extremely high profile. They project a strong corporate identity and their customer care and complaints procedure is second to none; indeed, their dedication to customer care forms the main message of their mission statement. With enthusiasm from the MD down, Greene& Co engenders a sense of loyalty and shared working practices in order that the team and therefore the clients are happy. They also have a fantastic marketing ethos, performing objective analysis of their campaigns to see exactly where they get the best response from and adjusting their marketing spend accordingly.
2008 Cecil Jackson-Cole Award for Corporate Social Responsibility: Greene & Co.
This award was set up to recognise and reward those agents who excel in their commitment to business, community and environmental issues. It will be presented to the estate agency that demonstrates a dedication to Corporate Responsibility that is understood and embraced by the whole company. The judges will look for proof of a clear, well communicated CSR approach that is fully integrated into the agents everyday business approaches as well as examples of projects and strategies that have a positive impact on the agent’s local community for example, environmental consideration, charity work or donations or local employment and education.