Peter Rolling's Five Killer Questions That Built Foxtons

In the late 90s and early 2000s, Peter Rolling was the managing director of Foxtons, a real estate company based in the UK. During his time at Foxtons, Rolling implemented a set of five questions that helped to drive the company's rapid growth. These questions were designed to help Foxtons' agents better understand their clients' needs and preferences, and to provide a more personalized service.

The five questions are as follows:

1. How long have you been looking?
2. How many properties have you seen?
3. What's the best property you've seen so far?
4. Why didn't you make an offer on the best property you saw?
5. What won't you compromise on in your search for a new home?

According to Rolling, these questions were instrumental in helping Foxtons' agents build strong relationships with their clients, and in turning leads into sales. In addition to asking these questions, Rolling also encouraged Foxtons' agents to show clients properties that met their requirements rather than just properties within their price range. The idea was to tempt buyers with properties that they might not have initially considered, but which could ultimately be the perfect fit for their needs.

After leaving Foxtons, Rolling went on to purchase Marsh & Parsons, another real estate company, with the backing of The Sherry FitzGerald Group. He ran the company until 2011, when it was sold to LSL PLC for £53m. Rolling exited the company in 2016 and has since taken on a number of non-executive director and consultancy roles in businesses with a focus on technology, sales, and people.