Commercial leadership for property and PropTech businesses. More revenue from the sales, marketing and technology you already have.
[email protected]I find the problem. I prove it. Then we fix it.
I work with PropTech founders and with the owners and MDs of estate agencies who know the business could be doing better and want to know why.
I get into the detail, the numbers, the process, the people, what the customer actually experiences and come back with what it's costing you and what to do about it.
When I sit down with a business, I usually find the same thing. The enquiry team is tracking applicants, registrations and appointments. The sales director is tracking valuations, instructions and sales agreed.
Nobody is joining the two together, and nobody has put a revenue number against the gap between them.
That gap is normally where the money is.
I look across the whole commercial journey — sales, pricing, people, process, technology, and what happens after the sale — work out where performance is being lost, and put a figure on it.
Then we decide what to change first.
I need to prove the point.
I've never been interested in opinions without evidence.
If I think something isn't working, I want to see the numbers, understand the process, speak to the people doing the job and look at what the customer is actually getting.
At Rightmove I ran mystery shopping work nobody asked me to do, because I wanted to prove the point properly rather than assume it. What came out of it changed how the business trained and onboarded new people.
I also don't accept that something has to be done the way it has always been done. Sometimes the answer is obvious. Sometimes it takes a different question, or following the numbers somewhere nobody expected.
If there's another way, I'll find it.
“I was a Sales Director at Rightmove when Zoe was part of the team and she was one of those people I could always rely on. She had a rare ability to provide honest, detailed and commercially useful feedback, while also understanding how to present a product to customers in a way that genuinely worked for their business.”Jon Brierley · Founder · Lennon James
I spent eight years at Rightmove. The part that matters most is how it ended: New Business, Labs — reporting to the Strategy Director, pathfinding new revenue streams and propositions for the business.
I've taken propositions into the market, tested them, sold them, changed the ones that weren't working, built the process around the ones that were, and hired the team to run them without me. One went from nothing to a seven-figure run rate in twelve months. Another signed up 300 startup agencies in the same year.
Before that I spent years in front of agents — thousands of conversations about renewals, price increases and new products, and three awards in twelve months for how that went. It's why I know how property businesses think, buy and make decisions, and why I can tell the difference between a product problem and a selling problem.
I started in estate agency in 2000, straight from school. Since then I've worked in media agency, website sales and, most recently, in SaaS. I've sold to agents, worked alongside them, and sat on the supplier side building the things they get sold — which is usually why I can see where the disconnect is.
The point isn't that it works while I'm there. It's that it keeps working when I'm not.
Nothing was handed to me. I lost my mum young, lived on my own from 16, and have been working ever since. When something's difficult I deal with what's in front of me, work out what I can control and find a way through. That hasn't changed.
I'm direct. People who have worked with me know that comes with fairness and a real intent to make things better. I spent too long toning it down because I thought I was supposed to sound like something else. Being direct is what got me here, and it's part of what you're paying for.
It also means I won't take every piece of work. If I don't think I can make a difference, or the business isn't ready to act on what we find, I'd rather say so at the start. You have to win for me to win.
And if we agree something needs to change, I expect us both to do our part. I'll challenge, investigate, build the plan and get involved in delivering it. I also expect the leadership team to make the decisions only they can make.
“What sets Zoe apart is the combination. She’s genuinely warm m, the kind of person clients trust quickly and colleagues actively want in the room but underneath that is a sharp, analytical brain that cuts through noise and gets to what actually matters. ”
“Zoe has a deep and profound understanding of modern estate agency and how best to help agents create and exploit opportunity. She has the ability to cut through agency ‘noise’ and simply and effectively disseminate information to add real value to our business.”
“She's sharp with numbers, but she also takes the time to understand why people work the way they do before asking them to change. That's why teams follow her. Ambitious, straight-talking and relentless in the best way. Zoe would be an asset to any business. Strong recommendation from me.”
“Zoe is one of the most supportive, motivational and inspiring managers I have had the opportunity to work with. She took time to understand my goals and put strategies in place to help me achieve these.”
“If you’re struggling to add value, add Zoe. I’ve had the pleasure of witnessing Zoe’s professional abilities as a salesperson, quasi-business coach and marketeer. Suffice it to say she impresses on all counts.”
“From day one, Zoe went above and beyond to ensure I was set up for success. One of the standout contributions Zoe made was creating a comprehensive action plan for my first month, which made the transition seamless.”
“She is ambitious, driven, passionate and always cares hugely about the products she created and the businesses she worked for. Whether it was registering the publication, helping coordinate editorial requests or even directing photoshoots, Zoe gave her all to anything she worked on and the results clearly showed it.”
I'm based in Devon and work with businesses across the UK. Most engagements run remotely with regular time on site, so where you are is rarely the deciding factor. I also work with international PropTech businesses coming into the UK, where the job is working out how British agents actually buy rather than assuming what worked at home will work here.
Yes, deliberately. Twenty-five years in estate agency and property technology is the reason I can tell the difference between a product problem and a selling problem quickly. The method would work in other sectors. The market knowledge is what you're actually paying for, and I'd rather be useful in one market than average in five.
With your knowledge and your numbers. Before anything else I want to see what's actually happening — leads, conversion, pipeline, what customers do after they buy — and put a revenue figure against the gaps. Most businesses can't answer all of those questions, which is normally the first finding rather than a problem. From there we agree what's worth changing first, and whether that's a one-off piece of work or something ongoing.
Both, and the mix depends on the job. Diagnosis usually needs me in the business — sitting with the team, listening to calls, watching what actually happens rather than what the process document says. Delivery is mostly remote with set days on site. The split gets agreed at the start, so you know exactly what you're getting.
It should keep working without me. I document what we've built, train the people who will run it and make ownership clear, so you're left with a process rather than a dependency. If I've done it properly you shouldn't need to call me again — though most people do, because by then the next opportunity is a better one.
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