With no long contracts or minimum tie in periods we really do live by our customer service.....
Most estate agents have a minimum contract period built into their agreements, often 3 or 4 months in length with a notice period at the end. Once signed you can only sell your property through that estate agent for the duration of their contract without facing a financial penalty, often their entire fee. If you wanted to instruct another estate agent (or even sell to a friend) you will be liable to pay the inital agents fee even if you stopped marketing with them because you wasn't happy with their service.
A common complaint we hear is that people have signed a contract with another estate agent and then this very attentive agent suddenly forgets all about them and moves onto the next potential client and the service they have been promised stops. Unfortunately at this point they have entered into a contract and the seller is bound by the terms within the contract even if unhappy with the service they are recieving.