Utterly Indispensable Podcast for Estate Agents

You Can’t Buy Trust.

You can buy leads.
You can buy clicks.
You can buy attention.

But when a homeowner Googles your name, none of that matters.

In this episode, I sit down with Daniel “Danno” Vivarelli, CEO of Starloop, to explore the one thing that actually decides who gets the call first in today’s market: trust.

Not the fluffy kind.
The visible, measurable, public kind.

We talk about:

Why Google quietly created the infrastructure for the trust economy
• The psychology behind asking for “feedback” instead of a “review”
• Why bribing clients with gift cards didn’t work, but planting trees did
• How top-performing agents are turning reviews into a long-term asset that pays dividends
• And why reputation isn’t a marketing tactic. It’s strategy.

Trust has always mattered in estate agency.

What’s changed is this:
It’s now public. It’s searchable. And it’s influencing decisions before you even walk through the door.

If you think reviews are just a vanity metric, this conversation might make you rethink that.

Because you can’t buy trust.
But you can build it.

To connect with Daniel, visit starloop.com or email [email protected].

For years, estate agents have shouted about sales agreed, new instructions and record prices.

Ben Madden says that’s the problem.

In this episode, I sit down with the founder of Digital Sparks, Fine & Country operator, and serial business builder to unpack a simple truth:

Attention is the currency of modern business.
And most agents are broke.

Ben shares the unfiltered story of building and exiting Thorgills, surviving the 2008 crash, navigating Brexit, scaling to 30%+ market share in West London, and why resilience beats perfect timing every time

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We dive into:

Why valuations are the only number that really matters

The KPI trap that overwhelms teams

Why most agents sound identical

The power of “old school” prospecting done properly

How lockdown Disney songs accidentally exploded brand awareness

Why showing the messy stuff builds more trust than shouting about wins

And why your roast potatoes might win you more instructions than your awards

Ben doesn’t believe in buzzwords. He believes in stories. Real ones. The fall-through. The mistake. The lesson. The bit that actually proves your value.

If AI is levelling the playing field, personal brand is how you rise above it.

This one’s about visibility, consistency, and having the courage to put your face to your business before someone else does.

Because in a world where everyone claims to be “honest and trustworthy,” the only thing left is being unmistakably you.

Enjoy.

In this episode, I sit down with Chris Scantlebury, founder of ProConvey — and a man on a mission to fix one of the biggest bottlenecks in our industry.

Chris spent a decade inside conveyancing. He’s seen the chaos. The delays. The endless back-and-forth. The duplicated AML checks. The paper forms. The “we’re waiting on the other side” syndrome.

So he did something about it.

ProConvey’s Digital Sales Ready Packs are designed to get everything sorted on day one — ID checks, Source of Funds, Material Information A–C, TA forms, title documents, EPC data, even searches and contract packs. The result?

⏱️ Completions shaved by 20+ days
📉 Fall-through rates reduced dramatically
📈 A faster, cleaner, more professional pipeline

We get into the uncomfortable truths too.

Why do some agents resist upfront information?
Is the industry addicted to slow?
Are panel conveyancers creating a race to the bottom?
And could AI finally help us hit 28-day transactions?

This isn’t theory. It’s a proper look under the bonnet of how deals actually get done — and why speed, structure, and systems matter more than ever.

If you’re serious about improving pipeline velocity, client experience, and profitability, this one’s for you.

You can find Chris and book a demo at www.proconvey.co.uk or connect with him directly on LinkedIn.

Because 19 weeks might be normal.

But it doesn’t have to be.

Opening your first estate agency is brave.

Opening your second is something else entirely.

In this episode, I sit down with Pete Courtis, owner of The Mather Partnership in Helston and Hayle, to talk about what really happens when you decide to expand.

We cover the part no one talks about.

The empty office.
The six month wait for income.
The recruitment mistakes.
The second guessing.
The cost of Rightmove before you’ve banked a single pound.

Pete bought his original business at 27 on a seller finance deal. He ran sales and lettings. He sold the lettings department, calling it both his worst financial decision and his best lifestyle decision. He rebuilt after losing key team members to a competitor.

But this episode centres on the difficult second office.

What it takes emotionally.
What it costs financially.
Why it rarely performs in year one.
And how to structure it so it doesn’t quietly damage your main branch.

We also dig into culture, recruitment, AI, and why average estate agents might struggle in the years ahead.

If you are thinking about opening another branch, this conversation might save you a lot of stress.

Growth sounds glamorous.

The second office is where it gets real.

This is not a glossy highlight reel.
It’s a proper, boots-on-the-ground conversation with Tony Ruby, one of the most consistently high-performing agents in the UK and one of eXp’s global standouts.

Tony didn’t start with a grand plan, a war chest, or a safety net. He started after redundancy, with responsibility on his shoulders, a fear of failing, and a decision that he was done building someone else’s business.

In this episode, Tony walks through the real journey, the good, the brutal, and the bits most people leave out:

How being made redundant became the turning point, not the end
• Why most agents misunderstand fees, profit, and what “busy” really means
• What it actually feels like to go self-employed with no guarantees
• Building a personal brand before it became fashionable, and why that mattered
• Why higher fees didn’t lose him clients, but didgive him his life back
• The mistakes, the burnout warning signs, and the decisions he’d change
• What eXp got right, and what people still get wrong about it
• Why success looks different for different agents, and that’s the point

This is a conversation about independence, responsibility, values, and building a business that works for you, not one that slowly eats you alive.

If you’re an estate agent who’s ever thought:
“I could do this better on my own”
or
“There must be a smarter way than this”

You’ll see yourself all over this episode.

No hype. No scripts. Just experience, perspective, and straight talking from someone who’s actually done it.

🎧 Guest: Tony Ruby
Helping and mentoring agents on their journey
eXp UK No.1 volume agent | No.2 worldwide
Quadruple ICON | 5x Capping Agent
eXp Agent of the Year 2022

📲 Connect with Tony
Instagram: @tony_ruby_estate_agent
Email: [email protected]
YouTube: Tony Ruby
Mobile: 07900 010 507

This one’s for agents who want ownership, not just another target.