Posted: Thursday 12 July 2012
Old versus New
The Home Nation Rugby tours of the southern hemisphere and the European Football Championships demonstrate time and time again the need to combine youth, energy and dynamism with the old experienced war horse.
The desire to replace the old with the young (or even the new) will always be there, however, the danger is that the wisdom of the past gets lost. Equally, the fear of the new can hinder and prevent development. Change is often good and is required in order to survive in an ever-changing world.
In the property world this is regularly seen with new trends in design and technology which, in many instances, take the construction world forward in a positive and dynamic fashion. However, equally, on many occasions they ignore the many painful lessons that have been learnt through the decades.
A simple example is the attractive remote coastal cottage built with a solid gable facing the sea view. The young “townie” purchasers cannot understand why there is no picture window with sea views. That is because they have never been in the property in the height of a winter storm. It is a balancing act of respecting the old, looking to the new and, in many cases, the two can combine to dramatic effect.
I see this in my day-to-day work and have fascinating debates with my colleagues in the Marketing department in relation to this matter; definitely a case of old vs new minds!
I have to agree that yes, Facebook and LinkedIn provide fantastic opportunities for world-wide communication and networking. Yes, Twitter allows quick, snappy comments along with the provision of information and expertise at a click of a few buttons. Yes, email allows quick and easy responses to the concerns of family, friends and clients / colleagues. And yes, even computers and word-processing has decimated the once thriving correction fluid industry…
But all this new technology and different communication channels don’t necessarily mean the end of the good old personal touch. Personal contact whether meeting clients and colleagues within the office, café or restaurant environment, or in their own home, are an essential part of our day to day life.
Many may find it strange that I still use my mobile phone to actually phone people!
At Morton Fraser we have embraced all these new forms of communication and technology, and have been able to balance the introduction of these tools with the understanding that, for many, trust and understanding can only be created by being able to look someone in the eye and shake their hand.
Perhaps surprisingly, one of the most obvious coming-together of the old and new is within our Estate Agency department. Here it is essential that we build trust with our clients through these more traditional methods; we visit their property, taking notes in order to provide a marketing report, yet we are still moving with the times and use modern technology to provide a quality professional service to the tech savvy Generation Y.
Our property information is now available at the click of a button, at any time of the day; website listings, Twitter, Facebook and even Pinterest are the new forms of online tools that we’ve deployed to make the property search easier and more convenient for our clients.
Although having embraced all these changes I can’t help but feel that nothing beats the simple, straightforward For Sale board that you’ll see on your daily commute…
So can the young and old work together? Can new and old systems combine to create a winning team? I believe the answer is “Yes” and here at Morton Fraser we are working hard to combine the two.
