Elite Agent Issue 22 Apr-May 2018 FULL by Elite Agent

N ES DITIO AG E 0P 13

BACK TO BASICS REAPS REWARDS PAGE 56

R NI VE OU LS IA EC SP

LESSONS FROM LA LA LAND PAGE 22

WHAT DOES IT REALLY TAKE TO CHANGE PAGE 70

LEARN FROM THE BEST #22 APR-MAY 2018

SALES

MARKETING

TIME TO GET SERIOUS ABOUT DIGITAL

TECHNOLOGY

2018: THE YEAR OF THE SMART HOME

8 PAGE SPECIAL

AUCTIONS IN EVERY MARKET

THE NUMBERS GAME

Megan

Jaffe

THE HUMAN CONNECTION

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Issue 22 Apr | May 2018

eliteagent.com | eliteagent.academy SAMANTHA MCLEAN Managing Editor samantha@eliteagent.com.au MARK EDWARDS Publisher | Commercial Partnerships mark@eliteagent.com.au

FEATURED WRITERS Hannah Blackiston hannah@eliteagent.com.au Cassandra Charlesworth blogshop@bigpond.com

JILL BONIFACE Sub-Editor jill@eliteagent.com.au

Kylie Dulhunty kylie@connectedmedia.com.au

SHANTELLE ISAAKS Marketing Assistant | Producer shantelle@eliteagent.com.au

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(a subsidiary of A Bit of This Publishing Pty Ltd) ACN 169 805 921 Postal Address: Suite 904, 121 Walker Street North Sydney NSW 2060 Telephone +61 2 8854 6123 Registered by Australia Post/Print Post 100020180 EDITORIAL SUBMISSIONS The publisher welcomes editorial submissions from individuals and organisations within the real estate profession. The publisher reserves the right to edit, modify, reject or contribute to the content of the material provided. EDITORIAL DISCLAIMER: Some opinions expressed in Elite Agent are not necessarily those of its staff or contributing editors. Those opinions are reproduced with no guarantee of accuracy although Elite Agent endeavours to ensure those opinions and comments are factual. Our subscriber list may sometimes be made available to relevant brands who might be of interest to our readers and from time to time we may be in touch to inform you of new Elite Agent products and services. Please visit eliteagent.com.au/privacy for details on how we collect and use your personal information. Please email subscriptions@eliteagent.com.au if you would rather not receive these communications. © Elite Agent 2018. All rights reserved.

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DESIGN Mirko Nestorović

Contents Regulars 006 EDITORâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S LETTER Samantha McLean 010 READER PROFILE Oliver Koltovski 012 WATERCOOLER Catch up on what you may have missed 016 CHAMPIONS REIA Awards 018 DATA INSIGHTS Eddie Cetin 020 MINDSET CORNER Jet Xavier 022 PEOPLE PARTNER Alison McGavin

024 BUSINESS DEPOT John Knight 026 ASK THE COACH Claudio Encina 072 THE HOME STRAIGHT Mark McLeod

First Person 017 PAY FOR LEADS, OR LEADS THAT PAY? Josh Phegan

Cover Story 028 THE HUMAN CONNECTION Megan Jaffe

Features 032 NATIONAL AUCTION SPECIAL: Sold Above Market 042 2018: THE YEAR OF THE SMART HOME Cassandra Charlesworth 048 THE NUMBERS GAME: Ash Weston 052 AUGMENTED REALITY & THE PERSONAL TOUCH Diana Dugan 054 STYLE AND SUBSTANCE CoreLogic revamps Signature Reports 056 BACK TO BASICS REAPS REWARDS Barry Plant Manningham 060 GAINING THE EDGE Evan Broadbent 062 CAREER BY DESIGN Dee Mangion 064 DIGITAL: TIME TO GET SERIOUS Stefan Williams 068 THE TOP 7 REASONS OUTSOURCED TEAMS FAIL Mark Engelmann 070 WHAT DOES IT REALLY TAKE TO CHANGE? Pancho Mehrotra

M EDITOR’S LETTER MASTERCHEF and being in real

estate. Kind of the same. I’ve said it before, but in case you missed it, I’m going to compare life in the industry to those fun mystery box challenges you usually see at the beginning of each week of competition. Those where George, Matt and Gary dream up this list of weird ingredients, put them in a wooden box and challenge the contestants to create a delicious dish or risk elimination. Some contestants survive and do the job well, others fall to pieces. Why? Well, you need to make good decisions, under pressure, about what’s important and what’s not. Do you go minimal, or use as much as you can? Either way, if you dive straight in without planning, the final dish might taste OK; but your lack of preparation ends in a plating rush job that resembles the

you’ve just looked sideways and noticed one of your fellow competitors has remembered a childhood summer in France and they are smashing out a ‘mille feuille’, like a professional pastry chef, while you can’t get your simple shortcrust to look like anything other than crumble. The other is that sense of ‘YOLO’ when you spot an ugly sea urchin in the box. It’s something you’ve never eaten let alone cooked with before, but the opportunity to be a hero in innovation usurps all common sense. A gooey mess on the plate at the end forces you to ask yourself why you you wanted to go all out at the very point you probably should have played safe. As an agent, your ‘mystery box’ today is large and can be confusing. The ingredients are all the different learnings and opinions around you

If the brief is to create something savoury there is no point in baking a cake, no matter how beautiful, to present to the judges and still expect to win. classic ‘dog’s dinner’. Or maybe you forgot to have a ‘hero’ in the dish because there was too much to choose from and in the end nobody really knew what they were supposed to be tasting. If, as a contestant, these are the only issues you have, you might sneak ‘under the radar’ for a few episodes, but mediocre performance will eventually catch up. What might speed up your elimination are a couple of different scenarios. One is

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from coaches, speakers, commentators, participants, other agents, and all those shiny new tech tools and services that seem to come at you thick and fast. There are so many ingredients to choose from, many of them free, that one could be forgiven for thinking there are no excuses for not being a great agent. But what it comes down to is how you use what you’ve been given, and how you are going to impress your judges (in other

words, your customers). The real difference between winning and losing, I believe, comes down to listening, remembering the basics under pressure, and playing to your strengths. Listening The quickest way to be eliminated from Masterchef is creating a dish that’s not on brief. Never mind that the guy or girl at the bench next to you has created something that smelled so bad even Fido left the building; if the brief is to create something savoury there is no point in baking a cake, no matter how beautiful, to present to the judges and still expect to win. Likewise, if you can’t follow simple instructions from a customer you’re going to be eliminated. Even if you don’t get the opportunity to show off all your skills; you actually might not need to. Listen, clarify and do what’s asked. And, I’m not going to give you some wellworn statement about two ears and one mouth; it’s more than that. You have to listen with your ears, your eyes and when it comes to matters of shelter, as Roxette said, “Listen with your heart”. Trust me, it’s also a great productivity hack to get things right the first time. Remember the basics They give Masterchef contestants pantry ‘staples’ (salt, pepper, flour, milk, eggs) because it’s hard to create a good dish without them. In real estate that’s talking to people (call it prospecting if you want). Everyone says pick up the phone, but I’m going to argue you need to communicate to customers the way they want,

not the way you want. They will tell you if you ask, you just have to act on it. Play to your strengths Just because you have it all in front of you doesn’t mean you have to use it all. Adding potatoes to a Japanese-inspired dish to show you are versatile is not going to make you the hero. In fact, it is more likely to go wrong than win you the listing (or the immunity pin for that matter). One way to seek clarity is by simply asking the question, ‘What is your decision-making process in choosing an agent?’ This one question should speak volumes – what’s really important to them, how price sensitive that person is, and what you might be up against.

From there you can make a better call on what ingredients you need to use from that mystery box. If it happens to be a new piece of technology or technique, learn about it and practise with it before you head into the kitchen! And last but not least, when you find the mystery box of real estate overwhelming and you can’t think what to cook, don’t ever forget this one thing: The customer should always be the hero of your dish. See you at AREC 2018.

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STEFAN WILLIAMS CEO, CAMPAIGNTRACK

Where are you from originally and where do you call home now? I was born in Canberra, but soon Sydney became my home. I love travelling the world, but each time I return I realise just how lucky we Australians truly are.

42 CASSANDRA CHARLESWORTH

FEATURES WRITER, ELITE AGENT Where are you from originally and where do you call home now? I’m originally a Sydney girl and it’s a city I still love with a passion. These days I’m fortunate enough to call Noosa home. It’s every bit as good as it feels on holidays. And yes, there really are days spent writing by the pool, filing stories at the beach and sipping flat-whites (or crisp whites), while overlooking the ocean. Who or what inspires you at the moment? Those who manage to shoot for the stars without compromising their beliefs and generosity. There’s nothing more inspiring than a down-to-earth person who happily shares their vision and takes people on the adventure with them. What’s the most important project you are working on right now? With three young children, that ‘project’ definitely takes precedence at the moment! There’s no manual, no peer reviews and no bonus for a job well done, yet it leaves you yearning for more even at the end of a long, hard day. I’m also lucky enough to write about fascinating people and their amazing endeavours as a freelance journalist. Everyone has an important story to tell. It continues to be a privilege to share it. Trend to watch in the industry? Blockchain. Far beyond cryptocurrency, it will revolutionise almost every transaction and digital interaction we make in real estate, finance and so much more. Favourite quote or words to live by? “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” – Arthur Ashe.

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Who or what inspires you at the moment? Firstly my wife, Janelle, the co-founder of our business. She was also the one who pushed hard to start our digital pivot; not easy because at the time I wasn’t a Facebook user so hadn’t seen the light. Secondly, Elon Musk, transforming and inspiring the world and with a sense of humour too. What’s the most important project you are working on right now? Without a doubt, our Advanced Internet Marketing with Google and Facebook. At a time of declining print, the industry is being gradually de-branded and headed down a pay-for-lead road that it shouldn’t. Working with the biggest marketing platforms on the planet has been an honour, and I think we’ve built something truly world-class. It’s the most exciting time ever for our company,

64 Trend to watch in the industry? The change to a diverse digital strategy where agents have many interconnected sources of digital marketing and buyer/ seller lead generation. The realisation that growing and owning data, including remarketing audiences on Google and Facebook, will help them not only sell but find the next listing too. Favourite quote or words to live by? “Move fast and break things.” Dangerous when you consider I drive a Tesla!

CONTRIBUTORS MARK ENGELMANN CHIEF OF CONTENT, BEEPO

Where are you from originally and where do you call home now? I went to school and university and completed much of my working life to date in Brisbane. A few years ago we made a seachange and moved to Casuarina, Northern NSW. Who or what inspires you at the moment? I’m a strong advocate of Mark Manson’s book, The Subtle Art Of Not Giving A F*ck. So I do what I want, when I want.

CLAUDIO ENCINA

COACH, SPEAKER AND TRAINER Where are you from originally and where do you call home now? Many people think I’m Italian, but I was born in Chile and arrived in Oz when I was nine months old, so I’m an Aussie through and through. Home for me now is Bilgola Beach for its lifestyle and beautiful coastline. Who or what inspires you at the moment? My clients inspire me each day; they are the true heroes. My father inspires me, having arrived here nearly 50 years ago with $20 and no English. He taught me to work hard – sometimes you have to sacrifice what you want for something more important. What’s the most important project you are working on right now? Developing Project 500 to assist sales associates become future leading agents by understanding the skill, mindset, modelling and teamwork needed to write $500K GCI in their first year after completing the program. Trend to watch in the industry? Understanding the consumer experience, and how to plug in and connect with your clients to remain relevant in an ever-changing marketplace. Favourite quote or words to live by? “If you are willing to do the things today that others won’t do, you will have things tomorrow that others won’t have.” – Les Brown.

My schedule can look pretty random: one minute I’ll be at my computer writing, the next I’ll be on my rowing machine smashing out 10ks – and that could be at 11am on Monday morning! What’s the most important project you are working on right now? As the Chief of Content at Beepo, I’m developing practical content for real estate and mortgage brokers on how to integrate a Philippines-based outsourced team into their businesses with great results. Trend to watch in the industry?

We’ve only seen the start of digital content marketing; it’s going to get bigger and bigger. Everyone needs to be doing this! Favourite quote or words to live by? I have two: Help not hype, and Healthy body, healthy mind.

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READER PROFILE

LIFE OF A SALESMAN Oliver Koltovski started out in sales aged just 16 and discovered for himself the value of great customer service. Later switching to real estate after the birth of his first son and now Sales Manager with First National Dapto, Oliver says the secret of success is loving what you do. Tell us a bit about yourself and your role at First National Dapto. I’ve been in sales since I was 16, when I started in retail and telecommunications. I gained a lot of experience providing a high level of customer service; it was a great foundation. I then went on to to a management role for a national pool and spa franchise, then effectively began running my own franchise. I’ve been able to see product and service delivery at all levels in a franchise system. I’m now the sales manager at First National Real Estate Dapto, where I oversee residential and commercial sales. Our market is expanding and includes a lot of off-the-plan marketing as well. I often find myself not only being someone’s agent but also their friend.

I also enjoy investing in real estate and my experience definitely helps me grow my own portfolio, watching what others do to create equity. I like to share my experience with my clients and help them on their journey. I think you can tell the difference between a passionate agent and an agent who is after a quick commission.

What motivated you to get into real estate? My father encouraged me to invest in real estate; growing up in the northern suburbs of the Illawarra he knew the value of investing in property in key locations. After the birth of my first son I decided to take that step into real estate and make it my career; being able to do this close to home was ideal for me.

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“Always look at the bigger picture and don’t let the small things in life get you down.”

What is the market like in your area right now? As the tenth most populous metropolitan and urban area in Australia and the third largest city in NSW, people are opting for the city-to-sea change and are choosing the coastal life of the Illawarra to call home. As the market stabilises and more house and land options are made available, firsttime homeowners are taking advantage. The marketplace in my area has always done well due to the price medium and locality, with beaches, major shopping centres, schools and the coastal lifestyle. The current has shifted slightly in the last six months in line with the Sydney clearance rates; days on market have increased and we are conditioning our vendors again. We are lucky, though; we have a high percentage of first-home buyers and investors, with the average sales price for a residential house around 550k. Who or what inspires you? Whether it’s a Sunday drive with the family or taking my two boys to school, hearing

them say, “There’s Daddy!”, when passing my signboards inspires me and puts a smile on my face! In your ‘briefcase’ right now is… My Mac, planner, power pack, lots of business cards and wipes – probably the best thing ever invented, always handy for last-minute open house preparation! Mints, for the clients of course, and my Bluetooth speaker; music adds to any occasion, and gives ambience to a vacant home. The most powerful tool I have is my iPhone, averaging over 150 calls, texts and emails per day; I can be anywhere in the world and still be able to close a deal. Something you couldn’t live without? My family. Without them I wouldn’t be where I am today; my parents, wife and children have always supported, encouraged and allowed me to strive and achieve my goals in life and in real estate. But the first car I ever owned still sits in our garage – I can’t sell it! My wife says it’s like we have three children. What apps do you use most at the moment on your iPhone or iPad? realestate.com.au, CoreLogic and social media apps are key to giving my clients real-time facts and data as well as immediate exposure for us. The social media apps have progressively become a listing tool, not just a ‘check how many likes we got’. WhatsApp for international or travelling clients and the Nike app for anyone who doesn’t think agents aren’t constantly on their feet. We do stuff! Any words to live by? Firstly, always look at the bigger picture and don’t let the small things in life get you down. Negativity and regrets will always hold you back; push forward and move on. Secondly, the secret of success is loving what you do. 

VISIT ELITEAGENT.COM/CATCHUP FOR FULL VERSIONS OF THESE WATERCOOLER STORIES

THE WATER COOLER

Our daily newsletter #THEBRIEF brings you the latest real estate news, tech and marketing tips straight up every day. In case you’ve missed anything, here are some of this month’s trending stories. Subscribe to #THEBRIEF eliteagent.com/subscribe.

PHILIPPINES REAL ESTATE STUDY TOUR

REALESTATE.COM.AU GIVES AGENTS THE EDGE

There’s no better way to understand how outsourcing works than seeing for yourself! Learn all the ins and outs before implementing in your own business. On 12 and 13 June this year, Beepo will be hosting a real estate-focused study tour in the Philippines. See best practice outsourcing in the real estate sector in sales, marketing, property management, administration and finance, as well as how other industries are leveraging offshore staff – all in a whirlwind two-day tour. You’ll learn: • How outsourcing can immediately add to your agency’s bottom line • How businesses from other industries are utilising offshore staff • How today’s technology makes it easy and what tech you need to get started • How to train your team to ensure optimum output, productivity and quality • All you need to know about Filipino culture • How to introduce outsourcing to your local Aussie team. Leave the trip with a specific plan suited to your business on how you can implement an outsourced team and reap the benefits immediately upon your return to Australia. Visit beepo.com.au/tour or see us at AREC for your chance to win one spot on the tour for your office.

realestate.com.au this month announced Agent Edge, a new family of personal branding products to give agents a personal edge in their market. Agent Edge products, are designed for individual agents to increase their presence on realestate.com.au and connect with a large pool of potential buyers and sellers. The Agent Edge family consists of three products: Agent Elevate: Get noticed and grab the attention of buyers and sellers searching in specific suburbs Agent Reach: Get found by targeting the right audience wherever they are online Agent Match: Get in the room with qualified sellers who are ready to choose an agent. Andrew Rechtman, REA Group Executive General Manager – Residential said, “Branding for agencies and agents is increasingly important. “The combination of a strong agency brand, with a highly visible agent presence in your local

market, creates awareness and drives new leads. “With Agent Edge, we worked closely with agents and principals to better understand how to get ahead of the selling curve in the digital age, and we’re excited to be rolling these products out to agents over the coming months.” For more information on the Agent Edge family, visit the Agent Marketing Centre – agent.realestate.com.au /agent-edge.

XYNERGY REALTY CELEBRATES 10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY Xynergy Realty was started out of Ivan Tandyo’s two-bed apartment in 2008, but from these humble beginnings Tandyo and partner Bruce Oliver have taken the company to soaring heights. Over their 10-year career the duo have handled $1.3 billion worth of assets, managed 2,000 properties and hired over 50 staff. “Over the past decade we’ve

grown our team from two of us to 50 employees spread across eight offices, both in Australia and overseas,” said Mr Tandyo. “At the end of the day, our success comes down to understanding the client and what’s best for them. This means regularly putting yourself in your client’s shoes.” Mr Tandyo said highlights

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from the past decade include being granted exclusive overseas sales rights to big Melbourne projects, including Setia’s Fulton Lane and Sapphire developments. Not slowing down any time soon, Xynergy plans on growing even further and has its eyes on new office locations both in Melbourne and Indonesia.

THE WATER COOLER VISIT ELITEAGENT.COM/CATCHUP FOR FULL VERSIONS OF THESE WATERCOOLER STORIES

LOCAL DUO OPEN RAY WHITE SOUTH HURSTVILLE The South Hurstville team of Steve Beattie and Maurice Maroon have opened their doors under the Ray White brand and are certain to build on their stellar reputation in their community. Both local to the area, they have been working together for seven years. Mr Beattie believes the key to their success is leading a team with strong local knowledge and consistent results. “We’re two 30-something principals who have spent our entire careers in Hurstville. We’ve been here a long time, and people associate our names with real estate,” Mr Beattie said. Ray White NSW Metro Markets CEO, Andrew Crauford, welcomed Mr Beattie and Mr Maroon into the family. “It’s so good to have talented people like Steven and Maurice join Ray White. They have a genuine passion for their clients and bring with them a local reputation for excellence.” Mr Crauford said.

@REALTY NETS $2M IN SALES PER DAY WITH INNOVATIVE BUSINESS MODEL National real estate network @realty reported $2 million in sales per day in 2017 using a new business model, which has been awarded the Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) Innovation award. @realty operates from a single office in Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast and boasts more than 500 agents nationwide. @realty director JJ Taylor said the driving force behind the company’s unique model – and its success – is the desire to provide real estate agents with more freedom and flexibility. “The essence of innovation is identifying and removing roadblocks which prevent best practice or performance in any area. @realty was started four years ago because the traditional model for selling real estate was proving too rigid and restrictive,” said Mr Taylor. For more information visit atrealty.com.au/careers.

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SPINIFY BRINGS ENGAGEMENT AND FUN TO THE GAME OF SALES The days of the whiteboard and sales ‘pump-up’ may soon be a thing of the past, courtesy of a tech tool that brings gaming and engagement to team motivation. Spinify is leaderboard software that integrates with CRMs to combine tasks, targets and achievements with a game-based ethos. Its aim is to bring fun, engagement and motivation to the heady world of sales, and already it’s rolling out in real estate offices with noticeable effect. Spinify is the creation of entrepreneur Matt Bullock, who successfully launched and sold global payment gateway eWAY. Spinify uses virtual leaderboards that can be customised to suit an individual business’ goals and targets. These ‘gamified’ leaderboards are then broadcast to office TVs, mobile phones and computers. The boards allow teams to celebrate success and notch up milestones with fun features like audible gongs, songs, winner’s podiums and graphics. Tasks and targets can be updated to reflect different challenges that occur in real time. “Fun is a serious word for us,” Mr Bullock said. “This is about pulling together offices. You can have personalised messages, countdown metrics…all the stuff that leads to a positive culture in the workplace. And in any office, positive culture is one of the hardest things to understand and build.” Mr Bullock said the creation of Spinify commenced in 2016, involving significant trials, and users immediately loved the results. The software is now

available in eight countries with revenue doubling every six months. Ray White Canberra was one of the first agencies to trial Spinify, and Director Scott Jackson said its adoption had a positive effect on morale, results and the customer experience across its three offices. Mr Jackson uses Spinify to chart a whole range of different achievements, including listing numbers and appraisals. “I love it. The team loves it. It’s had a really positive impact. Everybody can see what’s going on. It’s engaging, it’s fun and it’s way better than a whiteboard.” If you want to find out more about Spinify or see their tech in action, you can catch them exhibiting at AREC 2018. Spinify offers free trials of the software, with further information and demonstrations available at spinify.com.

EXCLUSIVE EXCLUSIVE CORPORATE BENEFITS CORPORATE BENEFITS THAT PUT YOU IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT THAT PUT YOU IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT

LEXUS CORPORATE PROGRAMME Lexus represents an incomparable driving experience, and the Lexus Corporate Programme builds upon this by providing a service uniquely tailored to our corporate customers, with the highest level of benefits reserved for Real Estate agents registered in Australia. So whether your style is a luxury hatch, sedan, coupe or SUV, discover luxury automotive with revolutionary design when you drive away in your brand new Lexus. LEXUS CORPORATE PROGRAMME BENEFITS: • • • • •

Preferential Corporate Pricing 3 year / 60,000kms complimentary servicing* Reduced delivery fee of $995 (ex GST) Priority ordering and allocation Encore Privileges Programme, including: − Service loan cars or complimentary pick-up/drop-off during servicing − Lexus DriveCare, providing 24-hour roadside assistance − Lexus Exclusive events

*Complimentary scheduled servicing expires at 3 years or 60,000kms from the date of first registration, whichever occurs first.

LEXUS OF PARRAMATTA CORPORATE SALES MANAGER JAKOB KELSEY 02 9204 6520 0410 429 666 jkelsey@lexusofparramatta.com.au lexusofparramatta.com.au

CHAMPIONS REIA Awards for Excellence THE REAL ESTATE industry is continually shaped by hardworking, high-achieving professionals who are passionate about their careers and their businesses. Elite Agent would like to congratulate this year’s REIA Awards for Excellence winners with a small selection of photos from the event. Peter Blackshaw Woden and Weston Creek, ACT Medium Residential Agency of the Year

David Airey President’s Award

Dade Edwards with Laura Levisohn, M Residential Residential Property Manager of the Year

Toop & Toop Real Estate, Chairman Anthony Toop Large Residential Agency of the Year

Emily Antill, Peter Blackshaw Woden & Weston Creek and Jenna Sammut, JLT Corporate Support Person of the Year

Dade Edwards with Tameka Smith, Ananda Cairns and Kate Woods, Key2 Property Tasmania Community Service Award

Chadwick Real Estate, NSW Communications Award

Peter Clements, Mint Real Estate Claremont Residential Salesperson of the Year, Small Residential Agency of the Year

Joe Walton with Simon Winter, Raine & Horne Business Sale Business Broker of the Year

Malcom Tyson, Colliers International Victoria Commercial Agency of the Year

Chantel Jones, Independent Property Group Achievement Award

Lewis Tong, CBRE Commercial Salesperson of the Year

Malcolm Gunning, REIA President with Kent Cliffe, Momentum Hall of Fame, Buyer’s Agent of the Year

Andrew Larter with Jim Playsted collecting award on behalf of Liam Coyle - Knight Frank Commercial Property Manager of the Year Amanda Gould, HighSpec Properties Buyer’s Agent of the Year

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first person

JOSH PHEGAN

Josh Phegan is a high performance real estate speaker, trainer and coach to some of the best agents and agencies around the world. For more information visit joshphegan.com.au.

Pay for leads, or leads that pay?

The number one thing that determines the success of any business is how it acquires its customers. Our industry is usually hooked on the now, hoping for an instant lead payoff. But this is a short-term view, says coach Josh Phegan, and there needs to be more focus on the leads you already have. LEAD GENERATION WEBSITES aren’t new, but they do cut into your margins and breed lazy agents. Even worse, a number of the leads are already in your existing database. On the flip side, we have agents who are still building relationships yet fail to convert any of those relationships to real live listings. So where’s the balance? You need to get clear about what you do and what you don’t do. Where does the customer hang out before they need you? They hang out at open homes and online enquiries. They also hang out with existing customers of the firm, better known as landlords, tenants and past clients. So what are the best lead sources? OPEN HOMES. You meet more people more often who are already out looking for a solution, from neighbours to genuine purchasers who have to buy today. Today’s buyer is tomorrow’s seller. They choose the property, not you, so it’s the beginning of the relationship. BUYER ENQUIRY. Buyers are establishing price points

and value when they enquire; how you handle those enquiries determines whether they see you as valuable, or just another agent sending another automated reply which didn’t answer their questions. It’s always my preference to call the client over emailing them; it gives you a real chance to find out exactly where they’re at in the purchasing cycle so you can provide the very best advice. MARKET APPRAISALS. The owner just wants a price, after all; it’s probably the bait and hook that you used to get the customer to call: ‘Find out what your place is worth’. The big banks are using the same tagline, so it’s time to change. The role of the agent at the

market appraisal is to find out the client’s dissatisfaction (the problem they are trying to solve), their vision (solution and what it looks like) and preparedness to make the first steps (attend opens, private appointments, make offers or bid at auction). LANDLORDS. They have a principal place of residence, but is your agency a full-service firm? If you are think about to arranging a time to see their principal place of residence, provide an equity update and advise whether to sell and upgrade; or alternately use that equity to buy another investment property. PERSONAL NETWORK. You’ve got thousands of friends on

social networks, but where do they live? If they live in an area you service, then you must cross the bridge of awkwardness and be their agent. The easiest way to introduce work-related conversations in a non-work environment is just to say something like, ‘You wouldn’t believe what happened at work yesterday’ – particularly around just listed or just sold activity. The secrets of word of mouth marketing matter more than ever; therefore customer experience is everything. You need to be able to define it to deliver it. Map out where the customer’s highs and lows are, then place a high next to the low. If you get a price reduction it’s a low for the client, so make sure you get a buyer inspection within 24 hours, a high, so they make the connection: price reduction equals buyer activity. The best in the business focus on appointments only. Get me to three appointments a day, buyer, market appraisal or listings, and watch your business fly. I’m not trapped in industry dogma around doorknocking, cold calling or vanity marketing. The best form of marketing is always an auction or For Sale board up and a Sold sticker applied. You must know what makes your business work, so you can amplify your efforts and steer clear of the activities that suck resources. For all the effort, energy and talk around social, I just wish people would spend more on serving the customers they’ve already got. They are hunting for new, when the reality is a great business has repeat and return customers. How much does your business spend on marketing? And how much of that budget is spent on retention and renewal of existing customers? Why pay for a lead that you’ve already got? 

eliteagent.com 17

Data Insights Eddie Cetin

Eddie Cetin is the founder of Agentbox. For more information visit agentbox.com.au.

Game on! There’s nothing quite like a bit of healthy competition to lift results in your real estate agency. Humans are natural game-players and successful agents are often fabulously competitive. Eddie Cetin explains how gamification can take your team’s performance to the next level.

ech companies – and clever principals – are exploiting agents’ natural inclinations towards play and competition by gamifying their team’s digital experiences, enhancing bottomline results in the real world. So, whether riding high on the victory of a hard-won listing or slumping over their laptops, discouraged by losing business to their opposition, how can your team play along? Odds on, you’re already doing so in other areas of your digital life; from Candy Crush to Fitbit, Trello to Slack, we’re regularly entering our stats and results into apps to ‘unlock’ achievements and #levelup. Whether we’re comparing steps done with our mates or prospecting calls made with our colleagues, monitoring our daily activities has become the norm – especially for super-agents. At Agentbox, our unique insight into the digital behaviors of Australia’s highestperforming agents shows us that gamification is at the heart of ‘prospecting culture’. Database gamification helps principals and agents see how they are tracking in real time, 24-7. Having total transparency in a results leaderboard or app helps bring teams together – regardless of your colleagues’ ages or interests, seeing who’s doing what is undeniably motivating. Rather than reflecting on your

18 ELITE AGENT • APR – MAY 2018

Total transparency in a results leaderboard or app helps bring teams together. team’s results on a weekly or monthly basis, having key stats available on your desktop and via apps whilst on the go keeps everyone on-task. A healthy agency is the result of an accurate database, rich with agents enjoying strong pipelines and ease of communication with clients. The key metrics we observe super-agents monitor daily include: l Number of calls made l Value of appraisals l Value of listings l Value of sales l Gross commission When you pair regular interaction with your core numbers and the opportunity to update your ‘status’, you’re

pairing play and competition in synchrony – helping you focus on what you need to do today to achieve the results you’re after. Knowing that your deskmate has hit her KPIs for the month is also a good motivator! Leading agents Di Jones have embraced gamification across their practice, with live dashboards linked to their CRM being made available on TV screens around the office and their phones. “We wanted to utilise Spinify’s existing platform to gamify the process of prospecting, listing and selling, and Agentbox came to the party to help translate it into an interface that was specific to real estate,” says Rob Ward, CEO of Di Jones.

“Agentbox’s team made the integration seamless, so agentspecific data feeds through in real time and now everyone has their eyes on the screen to keep up to date with the leaderboards. The ability for the two to work together so easily is definitely a valuable addition to the Di Jones suite of tools for our growth and innovation.” Ready to play for keeps in your estate agency? Here’s how:

LEADERBOARDS Leaderboard apps such as Spinify pull in property data from the Agentbox CRM and present it in a handy graphic, featuring accurate appraisals, listings, exchanged and settled property results. Leaderboards provide immediate performance feedback, empowering agents to see if they’re hitting KPIs and competing well against colleagues. Such a powerful tool encourages individuals to meet targets, complete activities and unlock achievements! CRM DASHBOARDS Great CRMs have interactive dashboards that provide a snapshot of how each agent and office is tracking against targets for all the key stages of the sales process. By having this information (knowledge that until recently was the privilege of the principal alone) readily available and presented in an appealing, engaging way, sales teams know how they are performing. They can then tweak their daily prospecting diary in response to their results, honing in on what activities garner the best outcomes. It is important that your CRM allows for mobile access to this information, as having a constant reminder of daily tasks to hit performance goals is all part of ‘playing the game’! •

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Mindset Corner

Jet Xavier is one of Australia’s leading mindset coaches for real estate sales professionals. For more information visit jetxavier.com.

Jet Xavier

7 Steps to greater wellness and wellbeing Jet Xavier unpacks the seven most important things the industry needs to embrace to provide real estate professionals with better work-life outcomes.

he recent wellness and wellbeing industry white paper came up with some disturbing findings. Sixty-five per cent of the industry is often stressed, 47 per cent often deal with physical symptoms of anxiety and 46 per cent find work often impacts on relationships. It’s time to act.

THRIVE The industry is all about striving, not thriving, and there is a stigma around issues of wellness and wellbeing. The stereotype says it’s weak to put up your hand and ask for help. As Leanne Pilkington, CEO Laing+Simmons and President of REINSW, said, “People don’t have conversations around burnout, around anxiety, around depression because [they], particularly men, don’t like to share that. They think it makes them weak for other people to know that they’ve got those problems.” Take action: Encourage people to be open, honest and transparent about how they are really feeling and coping in the workplace.

ACT There is no collective industry responsibility or response to industry wellness and wellbeing issues. There needs to be input and

discussion with the stakeholders in wellness and wellbeing from industry peak bodies, organisations, employers and individuals, plus government. As Darren Hutchins, Cofounder O’Brien Real Estate, said, “It has to start with the organisation…as an individual, absolutely – you are responsible for your own health and wellbeing – but the business also has a certain amount of responsibility. As principals we probably need to be stepping up to the plate and saying, ‘OK, we need to look at how we deal with these situations as they come through’ and become more accommodating.” Take action: Get involved in the conversation about wellness and wellbeing in the workplace and become a contributor to the solution.

ADAPT The real estate industry is behind when it comes to global best practice for wellbeing and wellness. Phil Harris, Harris Real Estate, says, “The small business and franchise model is the one we have, largely, in the industry, but greater corporatisation would be needed to gather the resources to invest in people at a level that would make a big impact.” Take action: Seek out global best practice models for workplace wellness and wellbeing, and apply them.

20 ELITE AGENT • APR – MAY 2018

Valerie Timms, Timms Real Estate, SA, said, “The industry only seems to recognise the top 10 per cent and the spotlight is always on those people. So there isn’t a reward for those doing consistent good business.” Take action: Say no to the one-dimensional definitions of success in the industry and start encouraging new, healthier metrics for success.

6 4

LEAD Leaders need to be supported to activate change within real estate organisations. There is a strong business case for wellness initiatives, and organisations who lead in this space have an opportunity to present an attractive employer-brand to attract talented people. Psychologist Marianne Dyer said, “In terms of changing the culture around wellness, it is about leaders being the leaders in wellness.” Take action: Be a wellness and wellbeing leader who leads from the front and sets the example.

INCLUDE The definition of ‘success’ in real estate needs to include alternative measures of success such as health, balance, community and relationships. Purely financial metrics for success are not adequate.

EDUCATE Change needs to start with the attraction, recruitment and onboarding of people into the industry. John Cunningham, Cunninghams, NSW, said, “There is a huge onboarding issue that is not even being talked about. We talk about how tough it is… we are really not understanding who we are taking on, who they are and how to actually get the best out of them; for them to be their best.” Take action: Onboard new people with a holistic approach to success that breeds sustainability.

NURTURE Wellness and wellbeing must be supported by culture, at a team, organisational and industry level. Cultures that practise wellbeing and wellness are more sustainable and productive. “As leaders we need to lead by example and start showing some vulnerability, and showing that back to them [employees],” said Nathan Casserly, Director Ouwens Casserly, SA. The wellness and wellbeing of the industry rest with its people taking the initiative. Take action: Create a culture that proactively supports employees around wellness and wellbeing practices. 

People Partner

Alison McGavin is a Senior Recruitment Consultant with Real+. For more information visit realplus.com.au.

Alison McGavin

Lessons from La La Land Our brands are no longer based on the stories we tell people, or the image that we’ve painted on the outside of our offices. In this world of instant information, our brand is now our corporate culture. Alison McGavin explains.

2017

was a big year and one that confirmed that there is nothing more certain than death and taxes… and change. And change has well and truly arrived. Bear with me while I skirt around a few big-ticket items in order to set the scene. Hollywood. I’m sure 100 per cent of us can say that our opinions of Hollywood as a business have drastically changed over the past 12 months. Why? Because it’s no longer the world of glitz and glamour that it has been painted to be. We’ve had real insight into what goes on, what stories are told, and what complaints have been laid. One of the biggest changes that directly affects us and how we now need to operate is the fact that, these days, our business is a glass box; whatever happens inside, the world can see. And there is an ever-present public expectation that they deserve to know what’s happening on the inside. In a survey of over 10,000 consumers from around the world, 78 per cent said it is “somewhat or very important for a company to be transparent”. And 70 per cent said that “these days I make it a point to know more about the companies I buy from” (Havas, February 2016). In addition to those stats, Cone Communications

22 ELITE AGENT • APR – MAY 2018

Culture is both your biggest marketing tool and the most powerful brand liability. conducted a study in which 70 per cent of millennials stated they’re willing to spend more with brands that support causes close to their hearts. We know now that, because contemporary internal culture is customer-facing, this must

form an integral part of your brand. Think: Hollywood (#metoo), Google (we all want to work there, right? Why? Because of the amazing office space). Think: Uber (rising sexism claims), TOMS (buy one, give one shoe brand) and

Chobani (paid parental leave for all employees). The good, the bad and the ugly – it all counts and it’s right out there for all to see. Culture is both your biggest marketing tool and the most powerful brand liability. Complaints or attacks on company culture are bound to happen; it’s not this that will ruin culture, but rather the way that these complaints are dealt with. Make sure that your response is so good that, even when consumers see damaging or unpleasant aspects of your culture, they will stand by you. According to the Australian Human Rights Commission, characteristics of a good internal complaints process are: 1. Fair – both sides get to tell their story and are given the same air-time. The person investigating needs to remain impartial. 2. Confidential – need-to-know basis. 3. Transparent – outline the complaints process to all parties involved and let them know what they can expect. Keep all parties up to date and involved. 4. Accessible – all parties should be able to access the information and understand the information. Different language will be required for different recipients. 5. Efficient – resolve complaints quickly. Do not procrastinate. Any unresolved complaints will leave a negative and ongoing impact on your workplace. Take some time to review your internal policies and processes. Does the real-life scenario match the picture you’re painting, and what will you do if you receive a complaint? 

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Business Depot John Knight

John Knight is the Managing Director of businessDEPOT, a team of energetic accountants and advisors. For more information visit businessdepot.com.au.

Future leaders It isn’t every single agent that is cut out to be a principal. John Knight investigates how to cultivate leadership behaviours which will one day enable a smooth transition from salesperson to business leader.

see businesses start. I see businesses stop. What makes one succeed where another has failed? Through our experience of working with agents and real estate businesses of all shapes and sizes, we have been able to identify the traits of those agents able to make the transition to the ultimate role – principal.

EVERYONE IS A BUSINESS I love the philosophy of ‘everyone is a business’ – this is a great philosophical base for how every future principal should start thinking now. Those who successfully transition from agent to principal have been thinking about themselves like a business well before they start or buy their own agency, and once they are in that position they mentor their team on the same basis. THINK BIG & HAIRY With their eyes wide open, they are able to take a long-term view of where they are going. Usually they have a work and/ or personal BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) that really drives and motivates them to reach forward. Those who don’t have this passion and drive simply run out of energy when they come across the various hurdles along the way. STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD I’ve always loved the book Purple Cow by Seth Godin.

Essentially, it encourages you to know why people do business with you and make sure that this reason is different to what everyone else is saying. Great future principals are always striving to be different and remarkable at something, because if you do this, you will be remembered.

LEVERAGE IS VALUE In real estate, whether you are an agent or a principal, your machine is the systems, processes and procedures you build around your people. As a successful agent, one of your biggest barriers to growth is your own capacity. Build leverage by employing others to do the things you are not great at and wrap around them great systems and processes. YOU PUT CASH ASIDE FOR A RAINY DAY Spending money to make money is often required in business, but the successful agents are still able to put money aside for a rainy day. This industry is constantly experiencing highs and lows (either within or outside your control); successful agents and successful principals leave themselves with room to move. CULTURE IS KING As a principal, your team can often get more focus than you give yourself. The culture you create is essential to the

24 ELITE AGENT • APR – MAY 2018

Learn how to be the leader you want to be before becoming a principal – there will be enough other things to learn once you get there. success of your business; I know from experience that those businesses with an engaged, aligned and cooperative team enjoy the best financial results. Invest in your culture.

YOU DON’T TOLERATE WASTE As a successful agent, wasted time and money infuriates you;

even more than that, you don’t tolerate it. One of the biggest wastes I see is unfunded vendor advertising – knowing how to recover VPA upfront can have a massive impact on the financial success of you and your business.

EGO IS NOT A DIRTY WORD The competitive spirit of the real estate industry is one of the reasons it is great. With so many principals coming through the ranks as a salespeople, we should not be surprised that this competitive spirit can sometimes come across as ego. Great future principals are able to find that balance between just the right amount of ego and enough common sense to not believe their own bull too much. YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW Knowing what you are good at and what you are not means you can focus on the gaps to ensure your energy is utilised in the most efficient way possible. Successful future principals surround themselves now with those they feel comfortable enough with to ask the silly questions. LEARN TO LEAD Whether you have a team underneath you or not, if you are already successful as an agent you will be seen as a leader. Learn how to be the leader you want to be before becoming a principal – there will be enough other things to learn once you get there. Thinking you want to be a principal? Start working on the traits that will make you successful as an agent now and in the future as the business owner. 

Q&A ASK THE COACH – Claudio Encina Top coach Claudio Encina answers your questions on obtaining listings in a tightening market, and as well as how to get more consistent with your prospecting.

Any tips with more listings and fewer buyers around? Alan Fettes, Ballard Property Group Double Bay In changing markets, we often see that we need to adapt to certain conditions to ensure we can get sales across the line for our vendors and keep the days on market below industry average. It will require a new set of skills, mindset and strategies. Firstly, some thoughts to consider. Do I have a buyer management system? If the answer is no, now is the time to level-up the buyer experience! Remember, ‘rapport opens doors’. We generally focus on the next sale, so we tend to ask questions about where buyers are moving from to identify if they have a property to sell. Instead, our focus should be to understand their needs, to create a foundation that adds rapport, connection, and trust. The most effective way to service buyers is to come from a place of ‘Help’ rather than ‘Sell’. How can you stand out and make the experience memorable and personal? There is one commodity we can’t replace and people have a lack of: time. Use technology to your advantage by doing a walkthrough with a client to view the property before it comes live on the market by using FaceTime. Do private appointments to build more rapport with buyers, rather than just sending them through the open home time. Take a video on your smartphone of the property with the features and benefits that match their criteria, and personally email or text the video with some commentary to

26 ELITE AGENT • APR – MAY 2018

The most effective way to service buyers is to come from a place of ‘help’ rather than ‘sell’. invite them as a VIP buyer. High tech and high touch will help you work closely with buyers to create more interest in your properties, leading not only to sales but also degrees of separation in your marketplace.

I’m struggling to find consistency with my prospecting. Any advice? Yenson Mui, The Agency Wollongong Firstly, understand that we are currently going through some interesting times in real

estate, especially that ‘D’ word – disruption. The market will punish any agents who are C or D players, so lowering your standards in a changing market is not an option. Focus on what matters; everything else is a distraction. The number one appointment in your calendar is ‘Prospecting’ or what I call your ‘profit zone’. Without setting appointments or market appraisals you won’t have listings, meaning you won’t have a business. We all have potential and ability, but the truly successful

agents are able to tap into their full potential and ability every day. They know the number that will guarantee their success and business by knowing how many conversations they need to have each day. Work out what your number is and ‘just do it’ consistently, daily, and you will guarantee the success you deserve to have a thriving business. Secondly, crush the micromoments in your life, when one half of your mind says, ‘Don’t worry about the calls today; make them up tomorrow’. Has that ever worked out for you? You’re not alone. Next time you have a hesitation habit creep in, try saying to yourself, ‘I’m the type of person who will have 30 conversations today and book one market appraisal and feel good about it.’ Keep repeating it until you eventually pick up the phone and start making the calls. Another way that has helped me was to have a photo of my family on our last holiday, a trip to Disneyland. That photo sat next to my phone with a speech bubble saying, ‘C’mon, Daddy, book one appointment today so we can have another amazing holiday’. That really fired me up as it was important for me to create memorable moments as a family with holidays. What fires you up? I know a client who had a picture of an agent in his core market who held market share. He believed he was a better agent, so he was fired up to outlist him – and it worked! A year later he became number one in his core market. •

To have your question answered email askthecoach@eliteagent. com.au. To connect with Claudio visit claudioencina.com.

cover story

The Human Connection

EGAN JAFFE learnt an

invaluable lesson early in her working life: Be true to yourself. It was a message that came to her time and again in the final words of the patients she nursed as a young health professional, and it’s a philosophy she continues as she leads Australasia’s most successful real estate agency, Ray White Remuera. The industries may be vastly different, but the care and compassion she offers and the trust she has engendered in both are testament to Megan being true to what she believes. Her ethos sees her ‘walk with’ rather than manage her highly successful real estate teams, and draws agents from across the globe who seek to understand, replicate and learn from her skill. The result is an agency that has gone from strength to strength, and is now consistently ranked at the top of Ray White’s prestigious pile.

A COMMITMENT TO CARE Megan’s career began in an industry far different to the heady world of real estate sales and it started at a young age. “I left school at about 16 and became a registered nurse,” she explains. “Both my sisters were registered nurses, as was my mum. So I just followed the natural pathway.” It was a career she felt honoured to be part of and that set the tone for how she interacts with people. “It taught me the privilege of working with people at a very private level… I also learnt extremely good communication skills… but the real learning was in what they wanted to share in the final moments or days of their lives.

28 ELITE AGENT • APR – MAY 2018

ON THE LEAFY FRINGE of Auckland’s CBD, Ray White

Remuera Principal Megan Jaffe has established herself as one of the most successful operators in the business. Her company has been crowned the Ray White International Office of the Year consistently since 2015, and comprises a team of over 50 salespeople and 22 administration staff, selling over $800 million worth of property a year. Ahead of her keynote at AREC 2018, Megan tells Elite Agent why success comes down to genuine human connectedness and always having the client’s interests at heart. “Most people wished they had been more true to themselves; they wished they’d lived a life which was the life they chose as opposed to a life of pleasing others or fulfilling others’ desires for them. That was a very big message that I came away with from that experience, and it has stayed with me throughout my entire life.” Her first foray into business came after a brief stint as a drug rep and was in the form of a partnership with her cardiologist husband, Warwick Jaffe. With few jobs available for full-time heart specialists in the public sector, the pair teamed up with other

“I did an MBA, because I was absolutely rapt that people thought I was intelligent enough to do one.”

doctors to start their own practice. “I worked with him as his business manager for 15 years, building that business to be the biggest private sector cardiology practice in New Zealand. It was a business of customer service wrapped around healthcare, so it was really lovely.” But Megan soon felt the call to pursue her own dreams, and real estate was a natural fit. “I felt it was time to be known as Megan Jaffe, as opposed to Dr Jaffe’s wife. I had been selling properties throughout our time in business… our residential properties. I was always interested in, fascinated actually, by property and the whole process around it.” Megan went back to school, studying for a Diploma of Management amidst a personal concern she didn’t have the acumen it would take. Her fear gave her a fierce commitment to learning that resulted in straight A’s, and saw her invited to pursue a Master of Business Administration. “So I went on and did an MBA; not

eliteagent.com 29

cover story

because I wanted to, but because I was absolutely rapt that people thought I was intelligent enough to do one,” she laughs. “And I’m terribly grateful that I did.” Megan has used much of that learning in Ray White Remuera, including a big-picture approach to business and a commitment to customer service. But she also incorporates her own personal experience on the customer side of real estate. “I had an experience as a vendor which wasn’t necessarily good. I came into real estate because I could see there was an opportunity to help people, to give them a better level of service. “[As an agent] you have the most wonderful ability to be a part of people’s lives as they’re transitioning from one chapter to the next.”

sales average around $1.2 billion a year. Each member of the team is equally valued for the expertise they bring. Questions are encouraged, help is readily sought and collaboration is at the heart of what they do. That sharing has enabled Ray White Remuera to expand over the last few years into the current 600m2, purpose-designed office space sitting behind a heritage facade in the heart of the bustling suburb. It’s a far

BRINGING EVERYBODY HOME

cry from the five older offices the business had grown to encompass. “So basically we outgrew everything we had,” says Megan, “But the nice thing is that in those offices, which were not particularly appealing, the people worked so beautifully that it just grew and grew. “Once we’d gathered all the people who fitted who we are today, I felt so good about it that I decided to make the investment to build the physical building that would house us and bring everybody home.” The result is a beautifully appointed, state-

Megan’s experience and philosophies on collaboration have naturally flowed through to their stately office in Remuera’s main street, where there’s always a lively ambience and energetic buzz. Here Megan’s 11 sales teams share ideas, while collaborating and offering each other support. They work together to recognise trends in what is New Zealand’s most competitive market and highest revenue-earning suburb, where there are 9,000 homes and

30 ELITE AGENT • APR – MAY 2018

“The culture is created by the people inside this business. It isn’t me, it’s us; if I’m not here, it’s still the same.”

of-the-art building that serves the needs of clients and caters to her teams. When areas of the building are not in use, they’re shared with community groups in need of a meeting space. “That means the building is alive all the time, and it’s for the benefit of the community as well,” Megan says.

THE CLIENT’S INTERESTS AT HEART Beyond the physical beauty and functionality of the workspace, Megan is acutely aware of her role in supporting and maintaining team morale. Each morning, long before the workday starts, she takes time to meditate, reflect on the day before and exercise, in the knowledge that her state of mind will impact the entire team. “My headspace is absolutely critical, because everyone inside the company gets their lead from me. I also teach every person inside the company to get themselves in a good headspace, because everyone’s taking the vibe from them as well.” This reflection and shared responsibility allows her to instil a carefully considered vision and culture into the business she leads. “I have an extremely clear vision for the company: To be the agency of choice, working with like-minded salespeople to deliver service excellence to our customers to the best of our ability. Our company values are so simple: to have the client’s interests at heart, first and foremost, and to deliver

service excellence to every person who comes into our realm.” The result is a warm and inclusive atmosphere that draws other real estate professionals from across the globe to visit and observe what occurs. “I’m really grateful when people approach us and say ‘We’ve heard about your office. We’ve heard about some things. We’d love to come and take a look’. Because the people that come here are like-minded, they’re swapping ideas, and we’ve made these neat friends which is becoming a global community where we’re sharing ideas.” This ethos sees Ray White Remuera universally recognised and acclaimed within the industry, as Ray White Group Chairman Brian White notes. “Ray White Remuera is an absolutely unique business – a one-of-a-kind. Over the past decade, the business has grown from a handful of agents to a high-functioning team of 75. A then-small business accounting for three sales in every hundred in the local areas has transformed into a market-leading agency that now sells one in three homes.”

BUILDING A BUSINESS THAT ENDURES It’s not just the business model but Megan’s leadership that attracts ready praise. Brian White goes on to say how Megan Jaffe is

“I completely understand that we need to make a profit. But when a person joins my company, I’m there for their growth.” celebrated as one of the very best leaders in the Ray White Group. While Megan welcomes the accolade, she’s quick to share the acclaim. “The reason why this company’s so wonderful is it’s got a great culture and the culture is created by the people who are inside this business. It isn’t me, it’s us, and the neat thing is if I’m not here, it’s still the same. “I’m very focused on service excellence but it’s also about endurance. It’s about building a company that endures way past the business owner.” And when it comes to leadership, Megan is renowned for her strong views, noting many hold a position of authority or ownership rather than true leadership beliefs. “Within our industry I see a lot of people focused on profit, I see a lot of people focused on self-interest, I see a lot of people focused on matters related to ego, but not necessarily focused on doing what’s right for their

people over a long period of time. “I completely understand that we need to make a profit. I totally understand our responsibilities as business owners. But when a person joins my company, I’m there for their growth – their growth within the company’s growth, and the by-product that comes is the profit piece.” It is this passion and insight into her agents’ growth and success that Megan will share when she takes to the stage at the Australasian Real Estate Conference in May. “I’m very lucky that I sit in this spot where I’m seeing lots of people transitioning from being half-a-million dollar writers. I’m going to talk about the commonalities I see… what they do inside their business and also as people, not only to achieve success, but how to build consistency so that’s enduring for them over time. And in addition to that, how they keep balance in their lives.” •

Megan Jaffe will discuss ‘Creating milliondollar agents that endure’ at AREC 2018 on Sunday, May 27. To book, visit arecconference. com. For an extended interview with Megan Jaffe on the Elite Agent podcast Elevate, visit eliteagent.com/elevate. WORDS: CASSANDRA CHARLESWORTH INTERVIEW: SAMANTHA MCLEAN

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AUCTIONS IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Panel Facilitator: Steve Carroll

They’re the conductors of the neighbourhood and the maestros of the gavel. As a nation obsessed with property, when an auctioneer starts calling people can’t help but tune in. In partnership with realestate.com.au, Elite Agent gathered a panel of experienced auctioneers to both unpack current auction markets across Australia and to help agents develop a knowledge of auctions, what’s really needed for a successful campaign, and what the best in the business are doing right now. Panel Facilitator: Steve Carroll, Director of Industry Relations, realestate.com.au Story: Hannah Blackiston, Sarah Bell For video coverage of the event and more visit eliteagent.com/auctions2018

eliteagent.com 33

STATE BY STATE SNAPSHOT

Auction market performance data provided by CoreLogic. Data reflects auction activity across the 2017 calendar year in each capital city. Due to a lack of data available, CoreLogic do not report on auctions in the Northern Territory.

lthough it’s often referred to as the ‘Australian market’, there are marked differences in the property markets across states and territories, and the world of auctions is no different. Some of the states have been flying the auction flag for years while others are still very new to a world that exists under the hammer. 2018 is set to be a tough year for some states, with Northern Territory and Western Australia feeling the pressure of life at the bottom of the cycle. A slowing market was a similar topic of concern for other states; our auctioneers from New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland had all felt the pinch. Other states remain optimistic, with rising prices in Hobart and a steady outlook in the ACT and South Australia buoying the lacklustre results from other regions. •

WESTERN AUSTRALIA The market in Western Australia isn’t for the faint of heart, as the property prices will tell you. Although many experts are saying the region has hit the bottom of the cycle, it may be a while before prices recover. “Western Australia has experienced a tough few years. We have seen increases in the number of properties on the market and decreases in population levels,” said Freeman. “This year we have felt a slight shift in the market sentiment; however, it is still proving to be a market for only the toughest of agents.” WA allows 10 vendor bids (the only state with this number) and doesn’t require bidders to register before they place a bid.

CLEARANCE RATES

1,990 39.3%

SENTIMENT

COOL

VOLUME OF AUCTIONS

SOUTH AUSTRALIA There has been modest price growth in Adelaide, but South Australia is still marked for investor action and it’s a market with a more positive outlook than some states. Although a low percentage of properties on the market in Adelaide do go to auction, the rates in the state are higher than others with bigger volumes. This means that for auctioneers in Adelaide the outlook is pretty optimistic. “We’re having very good feedback and good participation,” says Colman. Buyers need to be registered before bidding at auction in SA and vendors are allowed three vendor bids on the day. Auctioneers must be registered in the state to conduct an auction. One idiosyncrasy of the SA market is that agents can opt to give no price guide before the auction day and instead provide a list of recent sales. The reserve price set on the day cannot exceed 10 per cent of any price guide given – whether written or verbal.

The 2018 National Auction Round Table is brought to you by Elite Agent in partnership with realestate.com.au Agent Advantage. For more information, tips and videos visit eliteagent.com/auctions2018

TASMANIA Tasmania is the market on everyone’s lips, with ABS data from the end of 2017 showing Hobart to be the fastest-rising capital city for residential prices. Despite it being a small auction market currently, there’s some exciting growth on the horizon, says Hart. Only 1.6 per cent of properties went to auction last year in Tasmania, but Hart remains convinced that number will rise. “We’ve got some challenges from the auction places down there, but certainly from a real estate market point of view we’ll be one of the best in Australia,” he added. Pre-registration is a must in Tasmania, but there are no limits on how many vendor bids can be placed.

NORTHERN TERRITORY Things aren’t so sunny in the Northern Territory, where property values have fallen significantly and vendors are facing selling at a loss. “We’re actually having a massive shake-up; in my 23 years I’ve never seen it so difficult,” says Secondis. Auctioneers in the state are required to hold a specific licence and vendors must establish a reserve price prior to auction, which cannot be revealed by the auctioneer. There is no limit to the number of vendor bids that can be placed.

QUEENSLAND Although vendors in the Sunshine State are becoming more comfortable with the auction culture, the region is battling the realities of a cooling market, says Nickerson. “It’s been a real year of change. We’ve had a lot of ‘sold priors’ and when that increases in a market, it is usually a sign that something’s happening with that market. It’s either strengthening or weakening. I think the Brisbane market is weakening a little bit at the moment,” he says. Queensland’s clearance rates aren’t as healthy as other states, sitting regularly below 50 per cent, but Bell said that some regions are doing better than others; good auctioneer and agent teams can still get properties over the line, particularly in Brisbane. While Queensland also requires buyers to be registered to bid on the day, they have a unique system for price guides. In this market it’s illegal for a price guide to be provided, and in the event that a prospective buyer wants one the process is followed in writing. Queensland also allows limitless vendor bids and requires auctioneers to have a specific licence.

NEW SOUTH WALES

VOLUME OF AUCTIONS

VOLUME OF AUCTIONS CLEARANCE RATES

5,040 63.5%

SENTIMENT

HOT

CLEARANCE RATES

6,937 47.9%

SENTIMENT

WARM

The market is cooling in New South Wales, but vendors aren’t getting the memo. As a result of the red-hot Sydney market in the past few years, vendor education is a ‘hot’ topic with our auctioneers. “The auction process itself is still working, it’s still a great way to sell property, but it is taking a little bit longer given the vendor expectation of the price point,” says Benson. It’s the agents who make the difference in the Sydney market, according to Keenan. He says the great agents he works with, like Gavin Rubinstein, put in the hard yards which is what gets their properties over the line. There’s been a severe crackdown on underquoting in the past few years in NSW, resulting in $22,000 for agents with vague price guides. Bidders are required to pre-register to bid at a Sydney auction, and the vendor is awarded one bid per auction.

ACT VOLUME OF AUCTIONS CLEARANCE RATES

40,360 67.9%

SENTIMENT

HOT

CLEARANCE RATES

380 56.7%

SENTIMENT

COOL

3,731 69.4%

CLEARANCE Brown tells of a more RATES positive market outlook than many states in the ACT, SENTIMENT HOT adding that auctioneering is an industry on the rise. “We’re an emerging market in the sense that, while auction has been around for quite a while, it’s now being engaged as one of the, if not the, choice initiative sales,” he says. “On the whole I think we’re in a very positive market. We remain wary of what’s happening around us in the other states, but at this stage the forecast looks pretty bright,” he adds. The ACT also requires all bidders to be registered at an auction and only allows one vendor bid.

VICTORIA VOLUME OF AUCTIONS

VOLUME OF AUCTIONS

3,731 69.4%

Despite good results in January, another dip in the CLEARANCE RATES market in Victoria means agents are having some tough conversations with vendors. SENTIMENT HOT “Vendors are sort of stuck in that honeymoon period; I think they’re about to get a bit of a hangover, unfortunately,” says Reid, adding that vendor expectations are currently sitting around six months behind the market outlook. Victoria does not require buyers to register before an auction, and auctioneers do not need to hold a specific licence, unlike other states. They also allow limitless vendor bids.

NATIONAL AUCTION SPECIAL

THE AUCTION THEATRE

Shakespeare said that ‘All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players’. In the theatre of an auction there are many players, each with important roles. We asked the auctioneers what it takes to achieve good reviews after the show is over.

SETTING THE SCENE The result on auction day is not just about price. The auction event, the strategy deployed, the appetite for bidding and the controlled call of the auctioneer all combine on the day to produce a result for the vendor and to showcase the craft of the professionals representing the process. Stu Benson describes the ‘show’ as only part of a much bigger process. “The general public, the punter who comes out from number 17, number 11, and number 10 down the street who are all considering selling in the next 12 months come to watch the tip of the iceberg. They don’t know how much work you’ve done in the background.” The extent to which those property owners perceive a good ‘show’ reflects on how they feel about the auction method and the credibility of the agent responsible. “This [show] is what they see. This is what they go back to their house with at 12:30 after the gavel’s fallen and the property has been passed in,” adds Benson. “When it’s their decision to call an agent, is the auction process a consideration after what they’ve seen?”

me, there’s one word that I throw in an auction campaign that I believe rings true with buyer and seller and agent; it’s the word ‘responsibility’. And it’s allocating it,” says Croft. AUCTIONEER In the centre of the action, auctioneers must direct the performance and call on each player to perform on cue. “You can

have the best agent in the world, but can be let down by a poorly executed auction call itself,” says Brown. Freeman agrees. “A good auctioneer can make or break the auction. They must be able to read the crowd, know what everyone’s thinking and know what the next best move will be. Third-party negotiation is the key driver to adding value. As an auctioneer I can come in with no emotional

THE PLAYERS A successful casting in the arena has the ability to make or break an auction. “For

36 ELITE AGENT • APR – MAY

The 2018 National Auction Round Table is brought to you by Elite Agent in partnership with realestate.com.au Agent Advantage.

BECOMING AN AUCTIONEER It may well be a coincidence that the leading agents in Australia all have high-level auction practice. Some sage advice for those aspiring to auction: • “Those that ...want to be at that level, they need to go out and see what the best of the best are doing, shadow them, see how they’re running their auctions, see how they’re running their agencies. Look at the marketing that they’re doing and quickly catch up, because if you don’t you’re going to get left behind.” WILL HAMPSON

attachment whatsoever and speak very frankly to both the buyer and the seller.” AGENT The agent’s job is to present the market to vendors and add a level of professional insight so that they can make an informed decision. That insight comes from buyer work, asking effective questions and holding crucial conversations so that all parties are ready for any scenario on auction day. “Having a good working relationship between the agent and the auctioneer is vital to see [a sale] through,” says Brown. “The agent needs to be positive about the process, positive that they’ve ticked all the boxes. That flows through and the buyers are feeling more comfortable. When they’re feeling comfortable they will bid and buy,” adds Colman. Positivity alone won’t get agents past the reality that if the property campaign, the vendor and the buyers are not aligned on auction day, it is very unlikely to result in a successful outcome. Agents are ultimately responsible for that alignment.

to put themselves in a position to bid on auction day. The pool of buyers also forms an important function during the campaign in deriving the level at which the market sees value in the property. Croft says agents need to always ask, ‘What’s the context behind the behaviour of the buyer in support of the feedback?’ Building a deeper relationship with buyers will allow agents to make sense of the price feedback they receive. Scafidi adds that you need to understand the journey the buyer has been on to understand their value feedback. “You have to have a relationship with that buyer, to begin with,” he says. “You are going to be able to say this person’s looked at x, y, z with us, and this is the feedback they’ve given.”

• “In my earlier years of auctioneering, being in a remote location like Darwin, the only way you learn is to invest in yourself by travelling and, for me, shadowing people and immersing yourself in the space.” KARL SECONDIS • “The number one mistake that I think auctioneers make, and this is a holistic thing, is that it’s pretty easy to get to a mediocre level… and stop.” JUSTIN NICKERSON

VENDOR For new agents, walking that line between representing a vendor and pushing back can be difficult to balance. Croft gives a masterclass with this script. “Mr and Mrs Vendor, if you’ve only had three buyers through, you can change that, but that’s up to you...If you’d like to change it, whether that’s an adjustment in the price guide or an adjustment to marketing, now we can address this and we can change it.

But it’s your decision.” Selling a property can be an incredibly emotional experience for some vendors and the value of an agent comes from their objectivity. While empathy is important, it can be equally important to maintain some distance and drive the process forward, says Bell. “If you stick to [the process], I think the result is a lot more consistent than trying to coddle them for a week,” he adds. •

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eliteagent.com 37

BUYER Ultimately, buyers have the responsibility

NATIONAL AUCTION SPECIAL

CALLING THE SHOTS Having the crucial conversations and building trust with your vendors empowers them to head into the auction process with the tools to make a clear well-informed decisions. CLARITY OF EXPECTATIONS Setting initial expectations in a listing presentation then re-calibrating those expectations at a later date can be a difficult thing for an agent, and it’s better to ‘go ugly’ early. “I think the agents are very able to talk up a story to a vendor, and we can kind of over-promise and under-deliver... then you end up deflating expectations,” says Hart. Throughout a campaign, if the market hasn’t delivered feedback to support previous assumptions agents need to be brave enough to have the tough conversations to avoid disappointment on auction day. “If the lead-up work hasn’t been done prior to that point, we [auctioneers] are powerless on the day,” says Nickerson. James Keenan agrees that you shouldn’t be afraid to have the hard conversation, because ultimately the vendor will appreciate it. “Quite often the vendor will feel really good after you’ve had a hard conversation with them, because they

actually feel they know what’s going on. Agents think they’re doing the right thing by not having honest conversations with [vendors] because they’re protecting them, but actually in the long run they’re doing a lot more harm.”

Karl Secondis is a man who knows a lot about crucial conversations. Working in a market where negative equity means that clients may need personal loans to pay agent commission requires a brutal honesty. “It’s tough love straight up,” he says. “My

glass is always half full, but I sound like it’s still half empty on that phone call. “It’s like, ‘I don’t make money telling you not to sell your property, but if you are [going to sell] you’re going to have to grab the bull by the horns, pull the band-aid off quick, because there’s no point fluffing around about it’.” Sometimes the conversation you need for a result is just asking a question. Peter Gourdouros describes a scenario with one of his past clients where bidding had stalled at $975,000, just shy of the $1million dollar reserve. Instead of leading

should be an opportunity to be able to be prepared.” he says. An alternative view, subscribed to by James Keenan, AJ Colman and Rebecca Freeman, is that the auctioneer can be introduced earlier so that the crucial

conversations for auction day are preframed by the auctioneer. “Run through all scenarios that could happen on the day and ensure that everyone is ready for whatever could happen... and gearing them up to make quick decisions on the day when there may be a fair bit of pressure on them,” says Freeman. Whether the pre-game is driven by auctioneer or agent will come down to the preferred practice and the relationship between the two, but the strategy is consistent: pre-game conversations are critical.

MAXIMISING RESULTS

PRE-GAME STRATEGY Auctioneers vary in how much involvement they have in the campaign prior to auction day. Some auctioneers, such as Justin Nickerson, Gavin Croft and James Bell, believe that the agent should take responsibility for the lead-in work where their vendor and buyer meet in the market on auction day. This allows the auctioneer to remain independent. As an agent, Matthew Scafidi describes how this works in practice. “We always have a pre-campaign meeting, a midway meeting and a pre-auction meeting…it

38 ELITE AGENT • APR – MAY 2018

The 2018 National Auction Round Table is brought to you by Elite Agent in partnership with realestate.com.au Agent Advantage.

MAKING THE RIGHT CALL Discussing the method of sale can be a true sweaty-palms moment for an agent, as they attempt to predict a vendor’s opinion for public or private negotiations. There are also variables to consider in relation to the property and its position in the marketplace. “I think it’s broken into two parts – the two ingredients you always need to get the best price are an emotional buy-in and a competitive environment. Auction allows you to do both,” says Nickerson. “I don’t think every property should go to auction,” says Panos. “Certain variables in an area, such as how much stock is available (supply) and how many buyers are actively looking for property (demand), will impact upon the level of competition that a market can provide. “If you know that it’s going to be a property that’s going to have a lot of strong competitive bidding, I’d say it’s more predisposed to be at auction. A property that is dissimilar to a lot of other properties in the area, even if it’s not a market that’s got lots of competitive bidding, it’s probably predisposed to go to auction.”

the buyer to their next bid at $1million, he invited the buyer to put their best foot forward as their next bid. Their next bid was $1.1million and the gavel fell. The strategy had a $100,000 impact on the result. “This is a fundamental mistake that agents make ... They ask the wrong questions at the wrong time,” he says.

BRINGING A MARKET As markets cool, buyers should no longer be considered a guarantee. Agents have to educate and nurture the buyers to be able to present a market to the vendors on the day. “Now that we’re seeing a great degree of disparity between supply and demand, agents really do need to focus on making sure they keep the buyers warm on those properties. Keeping them in communication on a regular basis... it shows enough endeavour that you actually care about them wanting to be at the auction, as opposed to just treating them as another number,” says Hampson. •

WITHOUT A PADDLE The greatest fear of agent and consumer is that come auction day there will be no bidders, or just one bidder. If vendors aren’t prepared for those scenarios, the idea of a hot auction disappears and is replaced with an atmosphere of awkwardness. TABLE FOR ONE “I think one bidder is better than none and in the case of a hot bidder – it’s fantastic,” says Keenan. “I’ve worked with an agent in the west who’s an absolute gun at putting a deal together with one buyer. And there is one fundamental reason for that: he’s got a fantastic relationship with that buyer. He’s got to know that buyer so, when you get into the auction situation, he’s pre-framed it.”

FACING THE MUSIC Faced with the scenario of an empty room or no one in a position to bid, the auctioneer has an awkward situation to deal with. “I get turned off with the [agents] that say to me, ‘Tom, hang tight, I’ve got two or three people that are just running late’. And then they’re getting on the phone and the people aren’t answering, and I have to hit them with the realization that they’re not coming,” says Panos. What can be done to find a positive outcome in this case? “It’s important to take stock of who is there. If there are buyers who are unable to bid under auction conditions, I will publicly make the point not to confuse no bids for no competition. It’s important to cue private buyers to engage in the post-auction negotiations,” Bell says. “I would make a point of announcing that the market is sending a message that the buyers for that property have a preference for a private competition rather than a public one, and reiterate that buyers should be seeking to place their most aggressive conditional offer immediately after the auction.” “If you’ve got someone there that’s ready to negotiate, you will always be keeping the price to yourself letting them step first,” says Nickerson.

CRICKETS Croft tackles the hardest case. “If there is no

For more information, tips and videos visit eliteagent.com/auctions2018

crowd, no bidders, no buyers, then I think it can be more damaging to make any public statements. I would normally, by then, have worked out each person’s stake in being there and can individually thank them for their time and use it as an opportunity to educate everyone about how markets behave.” “‘Face’ is important in this scenario so as not to damage the agent and vendor relationship. And while you would much rather avoid it, sometimes a vendor needs to stare at an empty front yard in order to accept a situation and make the decisions that they need to in order to achieve a sale,” says Bell. •

eliteagent.com 39

NATIONAL AUCTION SPECIAL “Have buyer meetings – get your buyers in a week before the auction, sit them down, explain the process. The results are fantastic.” JAMES BELL

“The market will no longer put the deal together. You’ve got to be the deal-maker. Speak to your buyers; ask them what they think the reserve should be, take that information and then tell your vendors exactly that: ‘This is what the buyers said the reserve should be.’ Auction day is the reward for you doing incredible work for 25 days prior to the auction.” TOM PANOS

“When you’re sitting down talking to vendors, it’s all about the vendors. Don’t just sit down and talk private treaty because that’s what you know; you need to talk about all the options that are available for the vendor.” AJ COLMAN

BEYOND THE CLEARANCE RATE Lastly, we asked our auctioneers for their best tips for agents who are considering the auction process. “Find out if the buyer’s there with the intention to come along on Saturday to bid, whether it sits in their price range, whether they’ve organised a deposit, and whether they’re clear on how the auction is going to work.” MATTHEW SCAFIDI

“What makes a great auction campaign is great marketing, presentation of the property; a lot of agents are styling properties and presenting the property really well for sale. Having excellent vendor communication and good buyer communication will culminate in a good auction on auction day.” WILL HAMPSON

40 ELITE AGENT • APR – MAY 2018

“The one thing I wish agents knew about auctions was how much influence they have over buyer behaviour. A lot of focus gets put into informing the seller and working with the seller throughout the campaign, but agents have a lot of focus over buyer behaviour, particularly in the last 72 hours leading up to the auction.” JUSTIN NICKERSON

“My advice is to embrace the auction process, because it is a fantastic platform to build your real estate career... [It allows you to] sell properties in less time, the days on market are reduced, you’re typically selling on an unconditional contract, and it’s an excellent way to build your profile.” KARL SECONDIS

The 2018 National Auction Round Table is brought to you by Elite Agent in partnership with realestate.com.au Agent Advantage.

“The one thing I’d say is for agents to look at it purely as a negotiation method. A lot of people talk about running the process and the reality is, it’s very similar, almost identical, to a private treaty. The only difference is you’re making a decision to negotiate on a set date. It’s still a negotiation, as you do with private treaty, but there’s a lot more speed, it’s more dynamic, and a lot of people prefer to negotiate that way.” GAVIN CROFT

“My advice is very much like the advice we give to a prospective vendor: not all agents are the same and not all auctioneers are the same. Be wary of who’s representing you on auction day, make sure you’ve got their best support and they’ve got your best intentions in mind, and that the objective on the day is to make your brand look great as well as selling the property.” STU BENSON

“There is only one Saturday at 10am and, believe it or not, that’s not the only auction time during the week. In fact, I’d argue that some of our best are midweek, are after hours when there isn’t the distraction of sport or the weekend isn’t getting in the way. Think Sunday, think Friday night, think Thursday night. Really try it and see the engagement from the neighbourhood and your buyers.” ALEC BROWN

“The one thing I wish agents knew about this process is it’s a completely different skill set from being a great listing agent to being a great auctioneer. On auction day there’s so many hats you need to wear in order to make it a successful outing, so dissect the day, dissect each role and realise that you can’t be everywhere at once.” ANDY REID

“The age-old saying ‘Structure sets you free’ is perfect for auctions, both from a vendor side but also an agent side. Regarding your campaigns, you want to have method and structure, and auctions are able to put that into your whole day and... working week.” JOSH HART

“Communication is the key; you’ve got to communicate with your vendor at all times. Work hard with your buyers, but your vendor is the most important person when dealing with an auction.” PETER GOURDOUROS

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eliteagent.com 41

technology

2018: The year of the

SMART HOME ACCORDING TO THIS YEAR’S CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW IN LAS VEGAS, 2018 is set to be a watershed year. With smart speakers, smart TVs and smart fridges flooding the Australian market, Cassandra Charlesworth logs in to investigate the real estate value of the smart home.

t’s been billed as the year we’ll all get connected and smart products will simplify our lives. In some ways that prediction is proving correct, and the internet infrastructure that drives smart tech is becoming a requirement, not just a desire. But what does the smart home mean for real estate? Is there appeal and value in savvy tech and the hyper-connected home? And is the smart home soon to be an essential feature for buyers?

A SMART CONNECTED LIFESTYLE Renowned as the mecca of all things bright, shiny, technical and new, this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas was bigger and

42 ELITE AGENT • APR – MAY 2018

bolder than ever before. Over 3,900 exhibitors set up shop, taking up 240,000 square metres of floor space and attracting 184,279 visitors to peruse the latest wares. Smart home technology was a major focus, with everything from intelligent fridges that are capable of meal suggestions to connected bathroom fittings like toilets and mirrors that boast voice assistants, music playlists and the ability to read you the news. So prevalent was smart home technology that LG Electronics US

Adoption of smart home devices has climbed by 11 per cent between 2016 and 2017.

marketing vice-president David VanderWaal told those assembled 2018 would be “the tipping point for the smart home and, more importantly, for the smart connected lifestyle”. In the weeks that followed, Mr VanderWaal’s prediction appeared to be proving correct. After years watching on enviously as the US embraced a selection of smart speakers, Australia finally had access to Amazon Echo, and it came complete with an Australianaccented Alexa. If that wasn’t enough to get the smart juices flowing, Apple HomePod soon launched, with the tech giant electing a simultaneous release in Australia, the UK and the US.

The year of the smart home is upon us, and the connected lifestyle awaits.

AUSTRALIA EMBRACING THE INTERNET OF THINGS In May last year technology analyst firm Telsyte released a report encompassing Australia’s adoption of smart home devices and our national embrace of the Internet of Things. They noted Australian households were in the middle of an Internet of Things (IoT) at home “revolution”, with adoption of smart home devices climbing by 11 per cent between 2016 and 2017. But that’s just a drop in the ocean of what they predict will occur. Telsyte tips that by 2021 the smart home market will be worth $4.7bn, up from $377M in 2016. This rise will

see 311 million connected devices furiously relaying information within Australian homes, meaning on average each house will have 30.7 connected devices, up from 13.7 in 2017. Telsyte Managing Director Foad Fadaghi notes that all these devices mean connectivity, and fast internet access is now a requirement rather than an optional extra – and not just in premium homes. “It’s all about fast broadband, fitout, wiring and speed,” he explains. “And the trend is moving

Fast internet access is now a requirement rather than an optional extra - and not just in premium homes.

Buyers will expect their property to be capable of smart home connectivity in the future.

away from just premium houses.” Mr Fadaghi says a current focus is on retrofitting older homes with smart home infrastructure in the knowledge that buyers will expect their property to be capable of smart home connectivity in the future. But he also explains Australia is about 12 months behind the US in terms of smart tech adoption. “We are seeing an uptake of certain technology because of the new availability of smart hubs and virtual assistants. But we expect when smart home adoption really takes off it will be an avalanche that happens very quickly.”

AN INCREASING DEMAND For national smart home installation company Electronic Living, that

eliteagent.com 43

technology avalanche of interest has already commenced. What used to be a premium market now extends right down to the mid-level and beyond, Managing Director Damian Cavanagh explains. “It used to be high-end residences, but in the last few years that technology has begun to filter down. Smart homes are increasing at an exponential rate. A lot of this used to be considered an optional extra, but now it’s considered essential.” Mr Cavanagh adds that smart home adoption is particularly prevalent in the construction of new properties, with around 80 per cent of the company’s business coming courtesy of new builds. “In the construction industry and architecture, smart homes are considered an integral component.” As to whether it increases value, Mr Cavanagh offers a unique insight spanning his previous experience as a real estate agent and as a 10-year veteran in the smart home field. “I have no doubt that smart home technology adds value. With smart home connectivity, smart devices can control everything in the home, and that’s a definite point of difference. We have real estate agents who host open homes in the evening so they can demonstrate the lighting control, scenes and moods afforded by smart home technology.” Meanwhile, he predicts this adoption of smart home technology as the normal rather than the luxury will only increase in the coming years. “It’s a bit like the cars we drive,” he explains, noting how not so long ago keyless entry and connectivity were luxury features of the automotive market. “Now keyless entry, full climate control and connectivity are entrylevel features. And just as they did in the car market, these things will soon become standard in our homes.”

“We get a lot of buyers asking if a house is wired for NBN. That connectivity is becoming vital,” he says. And, yes there’s been an increase in smart technology and automation over recent years. “Most homes in the top end of the market, the $8-$10 million range, have some sort of smart automation,” he adds. Smart features in the upper echelon of housing include full automation of lighting, security, entertainment, climate control and even elements like heated floors, along with keyless entry to the garage and front door. “It’s certainly an added feature,” Mr Srot notes.

By 2021, on average each house will have 30.7 connected devices.

THE REAL ESTATE EXPERIENCE Within the prestigious housing market of Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs, Jerome Srot of Ray White Double Bay says smart home technology is emerging as a potential selling point. But he also echoes the sentiments that the connectivity behind it is front and foremost in people’s minds.

4 4 ELITE AGENT • APR – MAY 2018

“We have agents who host open homes in the evening to demonstrate the lighting control, scenes and moods.”

Meanwhile, smart tech is slowly but steadily also creeping down the line. Ray White Double Bay recently marketed a $2 million unit in Bondi fully decked out in smart home tech, and also sold a smart townhouse in Double Bay to a buyer seeking out the specific features of automated security and monitoring. “The gentleman who bought it was an expat working in Hong Kong. The home automation offered great piece of mind. He can lock up and go, irrigation is automated, and he can monitor it from afar. In that case smart technology was a big selling point.” As to whether it’s a worthwhile investment for sellers, Mr Srot notes that it depends on the value of the property and the price of automation. Meanwhile, Mr Cavanagh of Electronic Living explains that the price of entry for the average consumer is dropping quickly and there is greater ability to wirelessly retrofit existing homes. As a result, the attributes of the smart home are proving more attractive. “When we set up this business 10 years ago, we were definitely considered ahead of the times. We were banging on doors trying to explain the relevance of smart home automation. Now people are coming to us. “People want to know about smart homes and they want the technology that drives them.” CASSANDRA CHARLESWORTH

Meet our winners Ouwens Casserly Real Estate in Willunga, South Australia was the lucky recipient of a shopfront makeover worth $10,000 after emerging as winners in Elite Agent’s ‘Pimp My Shopfront’ competition. BEFORE

AFTER

ntering the contest in November 2017, Ouwens Casserly co-director Alex Ouwens said, “Ouwens Casserly are opening our third office in McLaren Vale. McLaren Vale is considered one of the best wine producing regions in the world. The wines are distinguished by elegance, power and brightness, much like VitrineMedia’s Mike Toweel!” Ouwens Casserly Real Estate in Willunga was selected among the final six finalists for Elite Agent and VitrineMedia’s second Pimp My Shopfront contest. Then it was down to an industry vote. Garnering support from fellow Ouwens Casserly offices along with the local area residents, the Willunga office raced ahead in the voting and came out on top. Early in March 2018, the VitrineMedia crew, led by Managing Director Mike Toweel, entered the building and got to work. Here is the result. 

BEFORE

AFTER

With thanks to

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profile

“All it takes is two years of incredible effort and then you are off and running.”

THE NUMBERS GAME: ASH WESTON Ash Weston fell into real estate by accident after dropping out of high school and cutting his teeth on a variety of manual jobs. Now he’s one of Ray White’s top agents, winner of several awards and last year earned fees of over $1,500,000. But he has never forgotten the lessons he learned on the factory floor. 48 ELITE AGENT • APR – MAY 2018

How did you get into real estate? What did you do before, and how has that helped you in your property career? I got kicked out of school in year 10 for lack of attendance and not doing any homework for six months. I went straight out into the workforce as a factory hand at a barbecue manufacturer and worked my way up to becoming a welder. I was only there for 18 months; however, this was when I realised that I didn’t want to work for an hourly rate. The clock-on clock-off style really didn’t appeal to me and the minutes felt like hours when I was working there. I would look up at the clock expecting the time to have moved on an hour, only to realise it had been just 10 minutes. I always had this desire to be great and whilst working at the barbecue manufacturer I decided to pursue my dream, which was to do animation. I enrolled in a course and took the plunge. I really enjoyed it but sitting in a computer chair for 12 hours a day made me start to lose interest towards the end of the course. I began working parttime in real estate at this stage to earn some money while studying. Real estate seemed like a glamorous job: nice cars, nice homes, professional work. I started on reception for a few months, then moved into admin and marketing for around 12 months and then worked as a personal assistant for two years. I was really enjoying it, but I lost interest in selling after two years and felt I was too young to list, so I quit to go back to doing trade work. I spent the next 18 months welding at a vacuum manufacturer. It was an amazing place to work, but I fell straight back into the same mindset and wanted something more. After six months I had learnt everything there was to learn and started to get the itch to get back into real estate. Working in a factory helped to teach me discipline. You have to start and finish at set times, whether you like it or not. If the boss gave you a job to do for three hours, then you had to do it for three hours whether you felt like doing that or not. The problem with most agents is they aren’t disciplined; if they don’t feel like prospecting for three hours they will hide behind other work and not do it. It also gave me perspective. Whenever I have tough moments or stressful moments, I look back and think about welding or animation and this helps remind me of why I came back to real estate. For me, there really is no plan B. I think a lot of agents have an alternative in the back of their minds if it doesn’t work in real estate, so they never fully commit. Working in a factory also helped me

understand how important systems and procedures are; how they can increase productivity and help a team produce an outcome. I have a team of four and I believe our systems and procedures increase productivity and bring us together.

Tell us about the area you work in. What is special about it? I work in the city of Frankston across three main markets: Frankston, Frankston North and Frankston South. It is a bayside city with an amazing beach and is very diverse in terms of type of homes and price ranges. I’ve lived here since I was 19 but consider myself a native as I grew up in nearby Mornington, only about 15 minutes’ away!

“For me, there really is no plan B. I think a lot of agents have an alternative in the back of their minds if it doesn’t work in real estate, so they never fully commit.”

We are located just 45 minutes from Melbourne CBD and also on the fringe of the Mornington Peninsula, with Sorrento and Portsea about a 45-minute drive. We have major shopping areas, many beautiful parks, entertainment, restaurants and excellent freeway access. It is a fast-growing suburb and an amazing place to live. There are homes starting from as little as $400,000 right up to beachfront homes and clifftop properties over the $2,000,000 mark. There is also acreage nearby and homes on two- to three-acre blocks. During 2017, I achieved 122 transactions with fees of approximately $1,550,000 excluding GST.

What sort of team do you work with? There are four people in my team, including myself. I have a personal assistant who handles all new properties listed. Her role is to assist me day to day and to set up all my new listings. This includes photo shoots, building all marketing, arrange section 32s... basically every new listing task so that I can simply show up to the first open for inspection. She also prepares all documents and research for my appraisals and communicates with sellers leading up to settlement.

eliteagent.com 49

profile “We’re always looking for ways to support the community.” - Ash Weston

I then have two sales assistants who handle buyer enquiries and open home follow-up, assist with offers, follow up special conditions on sales, and then every task from sold to settlement. My sales assistants also have time dedicated to prospecting.

You do a lot of work in the community; what are your favourite projects? We’re always looking for ways to support the community. I’m a member of the Rotary Club of Frankston Sunrise and have been involved in many different projects. One project has been our bathing box charity auctions which we commenced in 2013; there were three

record on Frankston beach. In total we have raised $384,500 for projects within the local community. It is a real honour to be able to contribute and give back.

Apart from the boatsheds are there any other memorable properties that come to mind? When I was working as a personal assistant, I sold a clifftop property on Olivers Hill that had previously been on the market with three agents who had all been unsuccessful. I sold it for $1,840,000 – still my highest sale to this day. However, on the very same day I sold a two bedroom cabin for $60,000 – my lowest sale to this day! It sums up how diverse my marketplace is.

Working in a factory helped teach me discipline. If the boss gave you a job to do for three hours, then you had to do it for three hours whether you felt like it or not. available spots on the Frankston Foreshore and we managed to convince the Council to allow Rotary to build three bathing boxes and auction them off, with all proceeds to go back into the local community. We pulled together more than 15 sponsors and built the boxes from donations. The first one sold in 2013 for $114,500, the second one sold in 2015 for $115,000, and we auctioned the last one in September 2016 for $155,000 which set a

50 ELITE AGENT • APR – MAY 2018

What three pieces of advice would you give someone starting in real estate? Work hard early and be rewarded later. It takes serious effort to gain momentum; however, once you have it real estate becomes easier and so much more enjoyable. Unfortunately, most agents start in cruise control and remain there for their whole career. All it takes is two years of incredible effort and then you are off and running. Learn to love the phone and don’t be

distracted by the next gimmick. There are so many sales trainers around these days and they all come up with gimmicks to flog their next seminar. I’m not saying they don’t work, but nothing replaces picking up the phone and speaking to people. The more relationships you can maintain, the more business you will do. My team makes over 700 prospecting calls per week and over 100 buyers’ calls per week, which generate around 50-plus appraisals per month. I’m yet to see any sales trainer, product or marketing gimmick that can produce more leads than this for the same price. Real estate is purely a numbers game: Calls generate appraisals, appraisals generate listings, listings generate sales. It really is that simple. Be honest and genuinely look after people. If you want longevity in this industry you need honesty and integrity. If you are honest and genuinely care, people will come back to you. Also people can smell a fraud a mile away, so when you are in a listing presentation stand for something. Tell them what you really think is going to help them get a better price, not what’s going to help you. When a client asks for advice about whether to sell or not, tell them what you honestly believe is in their best interests – not what’s going to bring their property to the market faster so you can get a sale. •

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technology

AUGMENTED REALITY: THE PERSONAL TOUCH DIANA DUGAN’S VENDORS have dubbed her ‘Uber Diana’

after she launched what’s believed to be Australia’s first augmented reality real estate website. Kylie Dulhunty sat down with the Melbourne Bayside agent and founder of Diana Dugan Property to find out how she developed the idea – and where she sees technology in real estate heading next. How long have you been in real estate? I’ve been in real estate for 10 years. I initially joined local franchise agencies in the Bayside area before starting my own company in 2011. It seems like only yesterday I branched out on my own, with a lot of nerves but also a lot of ideas and determination. How did you get into real estate? Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on which way you look at it, I decided to take the leap into the real estate world after a bad personal buying experience of my own. In the early 2000s my husband, Leigh, and I tried for several years to buy into the Bayside area without success. We experienced the heartbreak of missing out at several auctions and we were continually shown houses we couldn’t make a personal connection with. The ultimate catalyst that made me decide to enter the industry was when I realised many of the offers we were placing with agents weren’t being presented to vendors. I knew I needed to make a difference, so I turned my back on a well-paying senior general manager’s job without a concrete real estate position to go to. Tell us about your new website, which

52 ELITE AGENT • APR – MAY 2018

features augmented reality and voice recognition. Technology has always been something that has fascinated me. I can remember getting my first cassette tape when I was younger and marvelling at how much simpler and faster it was than a record – not to mention how much easier it was to store. In my real estate business I wanted to use emerging technology, including augmented reality and voice recognition, to offer a personal approach to the agency. I don’t believe technology, while largely a collection of computer code, has to be cold and ‘untouchable’. I wanted our vendors and buyers to be able to meet me, the owner of the agency, as well as the team

24/7. I also wanted to create, where their computer browsers allowed, an interface that allowed them to interact with me in their native language. Clients can ask me to sell their home, request an appraisal, buy a property or seek information on the agency. As we have international clients, I wanted to offer this in not only English but Mandarin as well. The website took about two years from concept to completion and has a patent pending. The first year comprised the research phase and in the second year I designed the flow of the website and the dialogue. Then I handed my baby over to the developers to produce the coding, and a media company to do the filming. All up it took five months, and finally I extensively tested the site for four months. To make the website flow simply it has a vast amount of work going on behind the scenes, with layers upon layers of screens to give it the effect you see today.

How did you come up with the idea of using augmented reality and voice recognition technology? Believe it or not, the idea didn’t start with augmented reality and voice technology, but several years ago I began thinking

Diana’s augmented reality avatar greets guests when they land on her website.

We can use technology as a first step in building a relationship with someone. After all, real estate really is about people, not just properties.

What role do you think technology will play in real estate in the future? Technology is about making it more connected, transparent, enjoyable, fun, smarter and ultimately it should reduce costs and free up time for our vendors and buyers. It’s in our interests as agents to start working on future technological solutions, so we can be part of the future real estate selling and purchasing cycle. I envisage that there will be only a few players who will truly occupy this space one day, and if they are not working on it now they will be yesterday’s news.

about virtual offices. At that particular point in time visual digital display screens had just hit the real estate sector and were quickly gathering popularity. I felt that if I implemented the idea of doing away with real estate shopfronts completely in favour of virtual offices, people would think I was crazy. I started exploring other avenues to represent the agency and found a lot of inspiration in my nephews’ Xbox games. The developers of these games have been using augmented reality and voice recognition for a long time and they really show you how much can be achieved with such technology. In recent years Google and Amazon have ventured strongly into voice recognition and it cemented my belief that the technology would take off. Last month I received an email from Westpac announcing they had launched a Westpac Banking skill for Amazon Alexa. Now I can access my account balance, recent spending history and reward point status through Alexa. How exciting is that!

Are buyers and sellers ready for this type of technology? Buyers and sellers are more than ready for

“People love being able to ask questions and hear from the team online at midnight in the comfort of their own living room.” this technology and really the real estate industry as a whole is a bit behind in its uptake. We live in a time-poor society; people love being able to ask questions and hear from the team online at midnight in the comfort of their own living room. I’ve felt for a long time that there was a gap in the market when it comes to bridging the void between agents and clients. Agents spend a lot of time advertising properties online, often on multiple portals, and I don’t think consumers want to look through tens of local agencies to find a property when there are other platforms that offer them a single stop. I think what we need to do with technology is create a more personalised service and use it as an opportunity to introduce ourselves to prospective clients.

What kind of tech advances do you think we will see in real estate in years to come? An an inventor I could talk about this topic for hours as I find it eternally interesting. Just a couple of the directions I think technology will take us in is to replace shopfronts gradually with virtual offices, artificial intelligence will collect buyer behaviour and the property sale process will become more transparent for buyers and sellers. Bricks and mortar cost too much to run as a business, especially when you take into account franchise charges, leasing, utility and ongoing physical location business costs, such as a full-time receptionist to man the shop. Technology such as AR, VR and AI is here to help, and we need to embrace these so we can operate smarter and pass on savings to our vendors, who are currently spending significant amounts of money in commission and advertising costs. What do you love about what you do? Surprising people, whether it’s making them the highest sale in their street or suburb or sharing our inventions and patenting my ideas. What has been your biggest challenge? Competing against the current paradigm of the same old real estate model. It’s been the same model since I can remember as a small child. How did you overcome that challenge? The only way to overcome this is to go against the tide. The landscape needs to move forward and I want to be the person that really makes a difference in shaping real estate in the future. It is a tall order, but I’m going to give it my very best. • KYLIE DULHUNTY

eliteagent.com 53

Style AND SUBSTANCE REAL ESTATE AGENTS CAN NOW CREATE

personalised, professional comparable market analysis documents with just a few mouse clicks. Reports that once looked the same for every agent can now be targeted to help you stand out in the marketplace and tell your unique story in a way that aligns with your ethos and brand.

54 ELITE AGENT • APR – MAY 2018

ollowing the release of CoreLogic’s improved Signature Reports, the country’s largest property analytics and data provider now gives agents the power to add custom content to their Signature Comparable Market Analysis Report within their RP Data Professional account. CoreLogic product manager Mike Salway said that Signature Reports now give agents the opportunity to upload custom PDF files to their Signature CMA, which is then saved as a template for future use at appraisals, listing presentations and in pre-listing kits. “One of the problems we heard from agents was that they wanted to be able to stand out in the crowd,” he said. “Signature Reports is a new CMA we have developed over the past few months that gives agents the ability to customise a report by uploading their own PDFs to sit alongside the data the report itself generates. “Customised PDFs agents may choose to add to sit alongside comparable sales and current listings might be testimonials

from clients, information on their agency or team, or even marketing plans.” Other new features include being able to select alternative photos to use in the report for both the target and comparable properties. Agents can also upload their own photograph of the target property to use as the ‘hero image’. While the report already generates comparable property and currently listed lists, agents can now manually add properties not already featured. Similarly, if they wish to show a sale price in the report that has not been previously disclosed or is not yet available, they can enter the data manually when choosing comparable sales. Agents can also select what format they

“Agents may choose to add testimonials from clients, information on their agency or team, or even marketing plans.”

present or view the report in – list view or detailed view. List view contains basic information, while detailed view has property images, listing description, floor size, year built and the property’s first and last listed price. Properties are also linked to their full property detail page in RP Data Professional. Mr Salway said Signature Reports had launched earlier this year but had gained significant traction in March 2018, with clients loving the time saved. “We’ve gone from about five per cent adoption to almost 30 per cent adoption,” he said. “We’ve received great feedback on the amount of time it is saving agents as well as the look and feel of the report, which is more modern and stylish.” LJ Hooker Penrith sales consultant Richard Garay said the improved reports were more time-efficient, more detailed, and more personalised and targeted. But perhaps the best ‘feature’ was the confidence that having a solid, customised report gave the agents. He said the report also contained an automated valuation estimate and this helped agents confidently support their

Mike Salway

appraisals. “You still have to do your research and know your market, but it takes the slight guesswork out of it,” Mr Garay said. “I also like the fact that it is a condensed report, that you can select a photo of the vendor’s property and not have to settle for a generic bunch of pictures.

“One of the problems we heard from agents was that they wanted to be able to stand out in the crowd.”

“It’s specialised, customised and targeted. “With the comparable sales you can find the photos of the properties and put them together. It’s one thing to present lists of homes with the same or similar floor plan, area, land mass and number of bedrooms but, in essence, the photos become evidence of that. “It makes it more real for vendors; they respond easier and it makes more sense to them because it’s about them.” Mr Garay said the other benefit would be to help make the industry more transparent. He didn’t see an issue with entering comparable properties or sales prices, even those of other agents, as long as the data was accurate. “It only makes for a better industry,” he said. Mr Salway said the improvements to Signature Reports would not stop there; more functions are due mid-year. “We will continue with more customisable options, including new cover page options,” he said. “At the moment it is limited to the target property, but we will have options of lifestyle themes, such as a beach, or agency branding.” • KYLIE DULHUNTY

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eliteagent.com 55

feature interview

Barry Plant Manningham Managing Director Spiro Drossos. “We knew how hard we had worked to take our business to the next level.”

Back to basics reaps rewards PUTTING THE CUSTOMER at the forefront of the real estate equation seems like such a simple philosophy, but it’s one that has made the Barry Plant Manningham team an industry leader. Kylie Dulhunty spoke to Managing Director Spiro Drossos about the secrets behind the agency’s Gold AREA of the Year Award for Residential Agency of the Year and what’s next in 2018.

arry Plant Manningham’s recipe for success is straightforward: Keep things simple, go back to basics and put the customer first. You might expect real estate agencies to do this naturally, but it seems in recent years the KISS principle (keep it simple, stupid) hasn’t always been that easy. It’s something Barry Plant Manningham’s Managing Director Spiro Drossos was keen to change when he set out to shake up the way the agency did business two years ago. “Our industry is obsessed with

56 ELITE AGENT • APR – MAY 2018

competition and what the competition is doing, and what we needed to do was obsess about the customer,” he says. “It’s our job to sell to buyers, tenants and landlords, and to appeal to vendors. We had to start thinking like customers and not like real estate agents.” It’s a move that has paid dividends. The agency has doubled its number of appraisals, recording 100 more sales than the previous year and boosting its gross commission income by over 50 per cent. The team has also taken out the Gold AREA of the Year

Award for Residential Agency of the Year. “That was a great surprise,” Spiro says. “The other agencies that were finalists in the category were very good. But we knew how hard we had worked to take our business to the next level.” So what exactly did Barry Plant Manningham do that was so simple but so special? Spiro says the changes started with a new management and leadership team, followed by extensive training and development. Customer-oriented changes included establishing an international division to support overseas clients, a new automated response system to handle initial inquiries and community partnerships with organisations such as Make-A-Wish Australia. “Two years ago we created a new management team and that was one of the biggest parts of the change,” Spiro explains. “I had to get the team right, develop the clarity around our direction and then provide the

“Our industry is obsessed with competition; what we needed to do was obsess about the customer.” every week with a goal to increase [by] 20 per cent, and we ended up going from 150 appraisals a month to more than 300. “We examined our appraisal process and how we presented information to clients and did the same thing for our buyers, asking ourselves, ‘What steps do we need to put in place to really take care of our buyers?’ People were having a lot of fun, but boy were we focused.” training and resources for their development. “We also renovated the whole building to make it modern. If my team is happy and well resourced they will take that to the customer.” It may sound like a cliché, but Spiro says that defining the agency’s values and setting new standards to be met paved the path to success, with clear direction on what every stage of the buying and selling process would look like.

He says that creating a new work environment where staff knew each other better and had areas to work in ‘pods’, or even between departments, fostered a united approach and a vibrant team culture that spurred further growth. “We looked at our standards across the operation as a team, particularly the most important tasks of prospecting, appraisals, open homes and auctions,” Spiro says. “We made commitments to increase prospecting

The lynchpin in the agency’s fresh customerfocused narrative was the creation of an international division. Spiro explains that, at the time the division was formalised two years ago, up to 70 per cent of potential buyers in the agency’s market were from Asia. “We looked at what was happening in the marketplace

Continued on page 58

The AREAs are back in 2018! Featuring all-new awards, they promise to be bigger and better than ever.

For details visit theareas.com.au

eliteagent.com 57

feature interview

and paid attention at our auctions, and even at competitors’ auctions, to see how the Chinese market was interacted with,” he explains. “What we realised was we had a market that wanted to buy from us, but they were not being serviced and there was confusion.” Spiro says processes, such as the highest bidder having the first opportunity to negotiate with the vendor when a property is passed in at auction, were not easily understood, largely due to language barriers. As the son of Greek parents who purchased their first Australian home in the 1960s from a Greek agent, Spiro found the answer to the dilemma was right in front of him. “We hired people who could speak Mandarin and who came from a retail or hospitality background,” he says. “They provided weekend customer service and came to the auction just to help the buyers.” The agency also introduced information sessions for Asian buyers, where the international division would help explain auction rules and buying processes. Spiro says the agency’s auctioneers also had to learn to slow down. “You couldn’t rush the auctions,” he explains. “As an auctioneer, everyone has to have a fair opportunity to buy. That education process saw auction clearance rates increase, selling

58 ELITE AGENT • APR – MAY 2018

well into the 90 per cent bracket.” Barry Plant Manningham also introduced an automated response system to reply immediately to buyer inquiries. “In today’s buyer world people expect things to happen quickly,” Spiro points out. “Buyers excited to see a property that has just been listed email us, not knowing whether we are at an appraisal or in negotiations, and they just want a response.

“When you walk through a house it’s not just four walls; it’s 30 years’ of memories, heartbreak and joy.” “With our database we can automate the information sent to clients to tell them more about the house and the location, such as local schools. We then follow up by close of business with a phone call.” Spiro says other innovations that have helped improve customer satisfaction include the renaming of the reception desk as ‘Customer Service’ and introducing a concierge to meet and greet clients three days a week. “We’ve also really worked on taking ‘agent dialogue’ out of our business,” he says.

“There can be too much reliance on scripts and dialogues in our industry, and we want to have real conversations. “When you walk through a house it’s not just four walls; it’s 30 years’ of memories, heartbreak and joy.” Investing in the story behind the properties has also seen the agency give back to the community by supporting local schools and sports clubs, as well as taking part in Wishtober. In October every Barry Plant office donates a portion of commission on every property sold that month to Make-A-Wish Australia, an organisation that grants the wishes of children battling life-threatening medical conditions. Despite the agency’s stunning success, Spiro says there’s no time to rest on their laurels and there are plans afoot to make 2018 the best yet. “We’re looking at how we’re running open homes, as well as how we can use technological advancements,” he says. “This year we’re also focusing our energy on coaching, mentoring and providing value to the team to foster everyone’s growth. “It’s all about continuing to refine and perfect the basics. Small things can add up to great change.” • KYLIE DULHUNTY

sponsored feature

How efficiency can give you THE EDGE IN A HIGHLY COMPETITIVE INDUSTRY such as real estate, individual agents, agencies and franchise groups are constantly seeking ways to gain an edge on their competitors. A new automated process for managing listings could be the answer, says Evan Broadbent.

inding and implementing new processes can benefit agents significantly, not only through increased revenues or margins but often by providing their clients with a better level of service, cost savings or – even better – both. Currently most agencies use a CRM software that assists them in the listing and selling process. This type of software has come a long way in recent years and provides a great tool in the day-to-day operations of running a professional real estate agency and managing their valuable databases. Although agencies can differ in their property listing processes and procedures, broadly speaking most would go about it as follows: Property is listed. Sign, photos, floor plan and video booked. Styling and ad script done. Advertising space booked. Eventually we are ready to load it all into our software system to go to market. Although my brief description of the process makes it sound relatively straightforward, that is not always the case. It can consume hours of precious time, at considerable expense to your client and sometimes to yourself or your agency. So the property gets loaded into your CRM system and automatically uploads to the major portals, allowing you to email

60 ELITE AGENT • APR – MAY 2018

market the property to your relevant database. Then bingo! A buyer from your database receives the email, finds it matches their buying criteria, arranges an inspection and ultimately buys the property. The listing and sale process worked seamlessly as it should, and you sold the property as you were employed to do. Great result, right? Or was it? This was happening in my office and I would envisage it happens on a daily basis in real estate agencies across our nation. Although it seems logical to be happy about each sale, I wasn’t. We already had the buyer in our database when we listed the property. We spent hours getting the

I wanted an automated process for my business for better efficiency. property to market, at considerable expense to our client, and time-wise to us. The inefficiency of this method frustrated me immensely; I saw this as a major flaw in the process and a problem that needed fixing. Yes, you could argue that individual agents need to manage their database better and contact buyers regularly, updating them about newly listed properties that may interest them. This would still not be enough for me; I wanted an automated

process for my business for better efficiency, and the removal of human error caused by poor database management. An automated process would also provide an opportunity to better service our buyers, who yearn for early notifications of property listings to increase their chance of purchasing a property they want. Not to mention that better servicing your buyers is a successful long-term vendor prospecting strategy. Quickrealestate.com.au now solves this problem for us and has made our office far more efficient. It allows us to instantly upload properties to the site with the information available. This information is also the criteria buyers search with: Property type, address, number of bedrooms, bathrooms and car spaces, and price or method of sale. The system then automatically alerts matched buyers who have registered to receive alerts. Theresa May, the UK Prime Minister, recently said, “I will be ruthless in cutting out waste, streamlining structures and improving efficiency”. Theresa runs a country, not just a business. It’s a reasonable assumption, then, that she would approve. •

Evan Broadbent is Managing Director of Harcourts Warragul, and is the Founder and CEO of Quickrealestate.com.au.

profile

Career by Design

FORMER HORTICULTURALIST and interior designer Dee Mangion turned to real estate in 2009. After accepting the challenge of establishing a new RE/MAX office in Mackay, she’s found the freedom to personalise her approach to clients – and her creative skills are proving very useful when it comes to preparing homes for sale. Dee, tell us about yourself and your position at RE/MAX. My principal, Hayley Elliott, shared her vision of opening a RE/MAX office in Mackay and asked me if I was interested in being part of a new team establishing the brand. I saw it as an exciting new challenge and a big leap forward, and I couldn’t be happier. Most of my working life I have been self-employed. I established my own home and garden decor boutique and designed all my marketing, including designing products.

How did you get your start in real estate? I always had an interest in property, including investment property. I was constantly told by family and friends, ‘You should go into real estate’. In 2009 I moved from Central Victoria to Mackay, Qld, and took on part-time work in cafes and a restaurant while studying to get my real estate registration. As soon as my registration arrived I was approached

“DON’T MEASURE YOUR OWN ABILITY OR RESULTS BY SOMEONE ELSE’S; STAY FOCUSED ON YOU AND LET YOURSELF BE YOUR ONLY COMPETITOR.” My horticultural background allowed me to create plant collections; this made it easy for clients to get the right look in their garden. I now can share this knowledge with clients in helping them prepare their homes for sale. My sales position with RE/ MAX allows me freedom to use my creativity and personalise my service to clients, plus I have the support and resources of a global brand.

62 ELITE AGENT • APR – MAY 2018

by a principal who had a small, successful office. She had been told of my sales background and home decor boutique, so I basically hit the ground running. After almost a year in an office environment, I decided to get my full licence and spent five years as an

independent. I enjoyed developing my personal brand and constantly educated myself by attending seminars, mostly by Glenn Twiddle. For personal reasons I decided to go back to an office environment, and eventually took up Hayley’s offer to work with RE/MAX Results. How has your passion for interiors, architecture and landscape design helped you stand out from the crowd? Clients seem to recognise that I’m passionate about what I do from the moment I begin to discuss preparing their home for sale. I feel it gives them confidence to know I have hands-on experience in guiding them to achieve a premium result; I’m not just a salesperson! How do you overcome obstacles to providing a personalised and empowered sales experience? I believe in empowering my clients while still remaining in control. Honest communication is key, educating the seller about the sales process and possible outcomes. Positive energy is also important; sellers often say, ‘We like your approach; it’s so different to other agents we’ve spoken to.’ What was the most memorable property you ever listed or sold?

In my second year of real estate. I was appointed a listing that just needed the 22a to be signed. The seller agreed to meet me in town on a set time and day. Overnight I developed keratitis, an aggressive inflammation to the cornea. The next morning, in the eye specialist clinic, I was told, ‘We need to rush you to Brisbane on the next flight as you may lose your eye’. Waiting in Emergency, my seller called asking where I was. He offered to come into Emergency and I replied, ‘You’ll catch me here if you’re quick!’ I was in hospital for six weeks and told that I’d eventually need a graft. I wasn’t allowed to drive for six months, but a friend helped out. The happy ending is that I listed the buyer’s property, in spite of them saying it wasn’t ready to sell, then sold it the first week with multiple offers. And, best of all, I didn’t need a graft as my eye healed holistically by itself! Do you have a mentor or someone who inspires you? When starting a business back in 2005 I was truly inspired by Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop. I’m always inspired by the underdog’s success story. In real estate, if I had only one to choose, Mat Steinwede is top of my list. I love his stories of his early days. What’s the best advice you have been given? Treat your clients how you would like to be treated and never sound desperate for a listing. Don’t measure your own ability or results by someone else’s; stay focused on you and let yourself be your only competitor.

“I BELIEVE IN EMPOWERING MY CLIENTS WHILE STILL REMAINING IN CONTROL.” What other goals would you like to achieve in the future? I still would like to work towards building my own EBU. I enjoy encouraging and leading others, sharing knowledge and skills. I’m a Leo; I believe my own team within a brand will make

my work more enjoyable and take my business to a higher level with better life balance. Speaking of that, how do you achieve work/life balance and wellness in the industry? Having a strong, creative

personality profile, staying focused and having systems are not my best friends! A positive mindset is the first thing I work on each morning; some days it’s easy, some days it’s tough. I like to use the saying, ‘Get up, dress up, show up, never give up’. I continue to educate myself about foods that fuel the body and sharpen brain activity, and implement daily holistic rituals using essential oils, meditation, exercise and laughter. Then to recharge I travel, generally a yearly trip overseas and a couple of short trips locally or interstate. What advice would you give someone starting out in real estate? Never compare yourself to others, especially if they have been in the industry a long time. Focus on yourself, measure your results; you are your toughest competitor, so be yourself. Don’t let knock-backs get you down. •

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marketing

ENOUGH EXCUSES: TIME TO TAKE

DIGITAL SERIOUSLY 64 ELITE AGENT • APR – MAY 2018

REC 2018 will be highly informative, like all before it. A host of guest speakers will again speak of the evolving world of real estate sales; many will remind the audience just how critical their digital presence is to their growing success and long-term survival. Of course, everyone knows this already; but inspirational speakers have a way of reinforcing and inspiring their audiences with a will to change for the better. Unfortunately most of us will go back home and, frankly, change nothing. So my question to you is this: If you agree that it’s a digital world nowadays, why don’t you embrace it now? It’s time to take digital seriously, and fortunately this year there are some fabulous solutions that make digital as easy as any other form of marketing you do. If you’re ready to jump on the digital bandwagon, or if you’ve started experimenting but want to take it up a level or ten, there are solutions now that are virtually effortless for you and your agency, and that have proven highly effective. Unless you want to do it all yourself, none of this is much harder than making a decision to press the Go button. Whilst it’s very true that everyone has had a form of digital marketing for years via the listings portals, it is not true that this is a holistic digital strategy. We think that a true digital strategy is about leveraging the power of multiple digital channels to project your sales, your brand and, of course, snare buyers and sellers. Digital is evolving faster than drug-resistant bacteria, so rather than predict the future let’s talk about what we think is important now for digital marketing and real estate. Enter Facebook and Google, and yes, of course, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. The first two are arguably the most important, because they are the most pervasive. This is where people spend their

WITH DIGITAL HERE TO STAY it’s time to stop

playing around and start getting serious about your time and your investment. Stefan Williams from Campaigntrack explains how to take your digital marketing and branding strategy to the next level.

time nowadays, a staggering 20-plus hours per week per person in our region. Seems like there is no better place to connect with buyers and sellers; but how you do this, and to a great extent why, is going to help you choose the best approach. Notwithstanding the recent data breach issues at Facebook, it is certainly not going away and should be a key component of your digital strategy. Firstly, don’t confuse content posts with ads; they are very different beasts and we think you need both. Whilst it’s easy to do ‘amateur hour’ yourself on Facebook, some think there are far better things for you to do with your time, and of course it’s very hard to compete with tech-enabled professional solutions for effectiveness.

Firstly, don’t confuse content posts with ads; they are very different beasts. Google is the planet’s advertising powerhouse, a superbly effective channel to project your listings, brand and agents while people surf the net. Absolutely Google should be in your mix. A truly flexible solution that allows for both Google and Facebook should deliver results beyond any solution using just one channel.

WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM DIGITAL? To begin with, ask yourself what you want get get from digital. In truth, there are really two schools of thought here: 1. Box tickers, who just want to be able to tell vendors they will also show their listings on Facebook and/or Google. 2. Strategists, who will not only use these mediums for finding buyers and sellers, but also to strategically build data, intelligence and brand at-scale digitally. If you are the former, you have more choices of suppliers for solutions, from the portals to your local ad agencies. If you are the latter, the field narrows and it is worth considering the points below before making any decision on a provider.

HOW IMPORTANT IS YOUR BRAND IMAGE ONLINE? Brand being critical in the success of all top agencies, it makes sense to have a perfectly

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marketing or ineffectively targeted ads, so ask how they are being targeted. For example, if ads are likely to be shown to people 10km away from the property, they are much less likely to be buyers; solutions that understand suburb geography as well as demographics would be our pick.

CONTENT POSTS AND ADS WORKING TOGETHER Facebook ads definitely outperform posts for effectiveness in finding the right people. This is because the ad targeting is so much more specific than a broad post-boost. Notwithstanding, your Facebook page is your online CV for many, so consider a solution that will do companion posts on your pages or profiles that make you look like a Facebook superstar, but with zero effort. Content is a key pillar of your digital strategy, and although you may want to supplement your property-based posts with other content, people actually expect and want property content on agencies’ and agents’ pages!

REAL ESTATE-SPECIFIC OR GENERAL SOLUTIONS delivered and polished execution of your brand online. A great digital solution will allow brand-perfect templates for Google and Facebook ads, and won’t clutter up the limited ad space with other companies’ logos or links that are not yours. Given your ads may well be shown in their millions, it’s arguable that digital ads are even more visible than other marketing elements like signboards – so perhaps they should be 100 per cent your brand.

DO YOU WANT TO GROW YOUR OWN DATA? Many offerings will direct ad clicks to websites you don’t own, meaning they get the benefit of the retargeting data, audience building and clicks. What you get is an ad, but you don’t get any of the benefit of the data accumulated. In these instances clicks on your ads may even be used to trigger your competitors’ ads later. A few solutions direct ad clicks to your own websites, which builds your own traffic and, critically,

Many offerings will direct ad clicks to websites you don’t own, meaning they get the benefit of the retargeting data. 66 ELITE AGENT • APR – MAY 2018

builds your own exclusive retargeting and audience data. This data can be a powerful tool for subsequent listings, whilst also helping to close vendor sign-ups. Imagine telling your next vendor you already have an audience, in the thousands, that is a close match for interest on their listing – and that you can show those people ads on Google and/or Facebook if they sign up. Remember, an audience can be built on both Facebook and Google, together in some instances. Audience data is just as powerful as your email list, and the two even work together.

PRICE AND PERFORMANCE There are many ways to measure the effectiveness of digital marketing. From the highest level, a major consideration would be the number of ads and clicks you can expect. Some provide surprisingly low numbers of ads and clicks per dollar compared to others, so ask what you are getting and use this to compare value if shopping around. Targeting is important, too; the best solutions will use big data to find passive and active buyers beyond the portals, whilst adding in relevant retargeting and local brand building.

WHO WILL SEE YOUR ADS? There are many ways to target your ads and it’s easy to waste money on inappropriately

Property marketing has some very specific requirements, from generation of ads that look on-brand and also work for real estate, through to the ad targeting and retargeting. General purpose solutions can post ads, but how can they compete with purpose-built real estate solutions for effectiveness? New-age digital marketing will have a profound impact on the industry and represents an opportunity to reclaim the high ground on brand-based marketing. As the pace of change quickens, it’s worth hitching your wagon to an evolving solution that won’t leave you behind. Presenting Google and Facebook ads to a vendor is helping agents close listings over agents who lack these solutions. But perhaps consider doing it right, rather than just a tick-a-box approach. Agents and agencies who get that will own their digital future, rather than have it own them. So this year, don’t just listen; how about doing something instead? It’s your bright shiny future – go and seize it. •

Stefan Williams is the cofounder of Campaigntrack, the marketing platform driving property marketing of agencies and agents nationwide. For more information visit campaigntrack.com.

productivity

THE TOP 7 REASONS WHY OUTSOURCED TEAMS FAIL THERE’S PLENTY OF INFORMATION AVAILABLE about how great Philippines outsourcing is and the positive benefits it can have on your business. But outsourcing successes are only half the story. Mark Engelmann has seen first-hand how outsourcing can fail – and what you need to do to avoid the pitfalls.

68 ELITE AGENT • APR – MAY 2018

e know that, anecdotally, across the industry 50 per cent of businesses who try outsourcing fail to reap any benefits. But why does this happen when so many succeed? Here are the top seven reasons why outsourced teams fail:

SUPER HERO NEEDED

When you start to think about the cost savings associated with an outsourced team, I wouldn’t blame you for getting really excited, and for good reason. You can hire someone in the Philippines for about 30 per cent of what it would cost you in Australia. The trick here is not to get carried away by cramming as many unrelated tasks as possible into one job description. You’ll create a position that requires multiple skillsets and can only be filled by a superhero! I like superhero movies as much as the

next person, but unfortunately they are fictitious. Superheroes don’t exist in Australia, the Philippines or anywhere else!

IT’S TRUE BECAUSE IT’S IN THE RESUME

Often when you engage with an outsourcing provider you can choose to participate in the recruitment process. If you are faced with recruiting your own offshore employee, don’t take what’s on the resume as gospel. We learnt very early on that basic aptitude testing and job-specific testing are crucial in candidate selection. After working with a Filipino team for some time, I’ve come to understand that they are motivated by different things. The Philippines is classed as a ‘developing’ country and as such many of the people who live there have very different daily struggles to us in Australia. It is always useful to keep this in mind when working across borders and cultures.

YES = ?

One thing Australians are well known for is being blunt. The downside is that we expect everyone else to communicate the same way! The simple truth is not everyone does. You would think that ‘yes’ and ‘no’ are pretty straightforward, but this is not always the case. In the Philippines, people are generally grateful for a job. So if you ask your Filipino staff member if they understand something they will often say ‘Yes’, but not really mean it; we call this the ‘passive yes’. This means they do not fully understand or may have some questions, but think it a poor reflection upon themselves if they ask for help. There are two lessons in this: l Try not to ask closed questions, which can be answered in one word l Always check for understanding.

NO FEEDBACK

During my time working with crosscultural teams I have learnt that Australians are generally average people managers. I’ve rarely come across an Australian manager who has a framework they use when managing teams. In contrast, I find Filipinos love being managed through feedback and KPIs. This

means the idea of building an offshore team and putting it on ‘set-and-forget’ is doomed to fail. To address this, ensure you: l Implement a management framework that your whole Australian team understands and uses l Develop SMART KPIs for your Philippines team l Check in regularly to assess task progress and offer your assistance when needed.

THE TIME-POOR ENTREPRENEUR

Managing an outsourced team takes time. You will also need to shuffle some resources around to properly integrate local and outsourced teams. With this in mind, if you are flying solo and in start-up stage you will need to find the time to manage your outsourced team effectively. This may mean giving away some control, or hiring someone in Australia to look after operations and your outsourced team while you grow the business.

TECHNOLOGY

Our Australian team works remotely, and we’re all 100 per cent comfortable using web conferencing to meet with each other and the Philippines team. It is

today’s technology that has made Philippines outsourcing such an effective option for businesses. Your computer likely has everything you need to work with remote teams: a webcam, headset and web conferencing software, all of which is inexpensive and easy to set up. From a tech point of view, the only thing stopping you from running an offshore team is a closed mind.

PROCESS

Having well-documented processes is a must-have for building an effective outsourced team. That is why it is especially important to go with a real estate-focused outsourcing provider. Beepo already have staff ready to be placed, trained in industry best-practice across all appropriate aspects of property management, sales, marketing and accounting. •

Mark Engelmann is co-founder and Chief of Content at Beepo. He has helped hundreds of companies successfully implement an outsourcing strategy in their business. For more information visit beepo.com.au.

BUSINESS IS HARD. DON’T DO IT ALONE. [ that’s where we come in ]

info@businessdepot.com.au

businessdepot.com.au/realestate eliteagent.com 69

transform 2018

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO CHANGE?

DRAWING ON THE EXAMPLE OF AUSTRALIAN OPEN WINNER ROGER FEDERER, Pancho Mehrotra looks at the psychology of change and why we find it so difficult. With the benefits of change in real estate so potentially significant, it’s time to take that first small step to overcome our fear of failure.

have been asked many times how long it takes to change a bad habit and most people are surprised by my answer. They expect me to say what they’ve heard from others before: 30 to 45 days. However, my answer is, ‘It depends on (a) how badly you want to change it, (b) whether you know what you have to do and (c) whether you have the evidence to understand what it’s costing you if you don’t.’ The usual response is vague, most commonly, ‘I need to change; I just don’t know how’. Well-meant advice from other people ranges from, ‘You have to know what you want’ and ‘You just need clarity’ to ‘Know your purpose’ and even ‘Just do whatever it takes’. Let’s explore this further using a recent sports example to get an idea of what you need to do and become aware of the obstacles that you will face. The recent Australian Open was won again by Roger Federer. There has been commentary on how he has changed the way he plays at the relatively advanced age of 37. People were surprised he was consistently winning against players a lot younger than him, including his main rival, Rafael Nadal, whom he beat comfortably in three finals in 2017. Now this article is not a lesson on tennis. This is about awareness and habits. Without going into the technicalities of the sport, suffice it to say that Federer has

70 ELITE AGENT • APR – MAY 2018

changed the way he plays; especially the way he hits his backhand and where he stands on the court to return serve. Although he had been advised for several years to do this, he only started doing so in late 2016. He is now very consistent in this change; it has become a habit. A winning habit. Since he made the change he has beaten his main rival every time they have played. So why did he not make the change all those years ago when he had been advised to? After all, he had the best coaches in the world in his corner telling him what he needed to do.

Working harder without thought to change can often reinforce a poor habit. What stopped him was his lack of faith in his own ability and wanting to play it safe. He finally got the faith, which led his rival to comment, “Roger did something unbelievable and I believe that it is true that his backhand is great now. But in my opinion his return is one of the biggest improvements”. Nadal said that to a small group of reporters in Monte Carlo. So why do we not have faith? What stops us? Fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of change. People ask me what they can do to overcome fear. I liken it to seeing a scary

movie. If you watch even the scariest movie 10 times, it tends to lose its impact on you because you know what’s coming. Similarly, once you start doing something differently, the activity becomes less intimidating each time until it actually replaces the old habit. The first step is where it all starts for habit change. Exposing yourself to your fears will lessen their impact on you. “When you commit to that strategy it becomes cleaner, it becomes simpler and, because you’re practising it all the time, it’s getting better.” Roger Federer In order to change, you have to make yourself vulnerable to failure. Often when we fail we go back into our old patterns of behaviour or old habits for fear of failing again. In one way, success can hinder evolving to higher levels in skill and behaviours. Why do we have fear? Is it will or is it skill? You must think about these two areas carefully, as they both impact on your plan for change. “When facing a heavily-favoured opponent, an underdog must be willing to assume greater-than-average risk. In statistical language, one would say that an underdog must be willing to adopt a strategy whose outcome has a largerthan-average variance.” Brian Skinner Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports, Volume 7, Issue 4 What that means is you have to risk changing things to get a different result.

THE COST OF CHANGE It is always important to understand the mathematics of behaviour. Have you thought about something you would like to change, something that you know you need to change, but have never taken the first step? Take a moment to think about the cost to you if don’t do something about that, both financially and emotionally. What if you didn’t have this habit? How would your life be now? What kind of results would you have achieved? You can quantify that behaviour or result by giving it a rating between one and five, one being poor and five being great. If you have a low rating, explore that further to think about the monetary cost to you. And think of the gains to be made if you can make the change. Quantify them too. So now you have determined that the

cost of not changing is high, how do you go about changing? The way to overcome your fear of change is to get started with a small step first. Identify the reason behind the need to change. Once you have identified this, the pressure to not change will slowly start to diminish, along with your need for the immediate gratification of getting it right at the first go. This need to see a positive result almost immediately is the reason why people fail to change. Patience is the key to changing old ineffective habits and behaviour.

AGE IS NO RESTRICTION Related to this is an interesting comment from Pat Cash, the Australian tennis icon. He said that this 2018 Roger Federer would beat the younger Federer. To the agents who are competing against better-known agents, there is always something you can do to level the playing field. That requires thinking, working on new strategies and working on the self. The key is often not just working harder by punching out more calls, but allocating some time to thinking, reflecting, speaking to someone you can trust. Working harder without thought to change can often reinforce a poor habit. Measured and controlled assertiveness is required to succeed in virtually any sales role. However, it is important to remember that there is a big difference between being aggressive and belligerent, and projecting controlled confidence and certainty. We are often fearful of change and reluctant to adopt new habits because of negative thoughts attached to innovation and uncertainty. A good solution is to replace negative thinking surrounding changed habits and behaviours with positive thoughts. Here is an example of negative vs positive thoughts. Situation Listing presentation

Negative unhelpful thought

Positive helpful thought

I feel uneasy in making a change to my current presentation because I don’t know if it will work.

I feel certain that the changes to my presentation style will take me to another level of presenting the best possible solution to the vendor to be able to get the listing.

The longer you engage in a behaviour or habit, the more you become unaware of the actual activity. When we talk about

awareness, the only difference between a habit and an action is the level of awareness you give it. A habit is automatic and, if you become aware of it, you can stop it and create a new habit. So now this is about focusing your attention. Habits are purely mechanical, unconscious processes; to change a habit, you have to become aware of the process and then change the habitual action. What is the biggest challenge you are faced with when making a change? Stress and anxiety. Stress hinders your ability to focus on the change; you are too emotionally engaged in the experience. Because you are too engaged in these habits, they give you a sense of control which is comforting at a superficial level. It takes a brave and conscious move to break out of this false sense of control towards a new, better way of doing things. To become aware of your habitual behaviour, make a note of every time you do the activity and evaluate after a certain period of time. You need to see evidence of your poor habits, because often you are not even aware you are doing it. In my opinion it is better to have a typed or written entry to be able to ‘see the evidence’, so keep a log. For example, if you want to stop smoking, your entry might start: 6.45am: Got up, got dressed, had breakfast 7.30am: Got in the car and drove to work 7.45am: Lit my first cigarette in the car while driving to work. After entering this every day for a week or 10 days, you will become aware of the ritual and will start to think about what you are doing every time you light a cigarette in the morning before driving. Once you are aware, the next step will be to stop or skip that activity; for example, instead of lighting a cigarette reach for the chewing gum. In summary, we resist change because we like the familiar and are afraid of taking a risk. Change requires courage, perseverance and patience, but once you take the first step the subsequent steps become easier. The key is to be aware of what you want to do differently and make the change consciously. n

Pancho Mehrotra is the CEO of Frontier Performance and a recognised leading expert in the area of communication, influence and the psychology of selling. He has worked with top performers in a number of industries, including real estate, automotion, finance, law and academia. For more information visit frontierp.com.au.

eliteagent.com 7 1

The Home Straight Mark McLeod

Mark McLeod is the Ray White Group’s Chief Executive of Growth. He works alongside both agents and businesses across Australia, helping them reach their ultimate potential to achieve success.

Redirecting resources In a challenging environment, markets are no longer the growth catalyst they have been; instead, they create an excuse for why a business is not growing. Time to ensure you have reliable systems in place, says Mark McLeod.

ver the last few years, the market has provided the growth impetus even for the most average of agents. Now things have changed. A great self-reflection question to ask yourself is, ‘Why would my business grow this year?’ There are, in my view, two types of businesses. Some are devoid of structure and process, and are linked to the ebbs and flows of the market; others have structural and measurable components that can be adjusted and redirected to create growth regardless of the cycle. As I have mentioned in previous columns, days on market greatly affect the performance of a real estate business. A blow-out of days on market by 10 actually has a negative impact on a business by up to 30 per cent. So what are your structure and processes? And how do you handle it when traffic (number of buyers) come out of the system? Are you reallocating your resources, particularly your man-hours, to where the blockage in your business may be occurring? How do we find these hours – and do we redirect them in a way that continues to create momentum in the business and supports around controlling

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days on market? Let’s look at a practical and logical example: when the market was strong many agents could expect, say, 15 to 20 people through their OFI. (Yes, I know many people from regional Australia are now laughing at that number; my continuing criticism of contextual real estate coaching in this country

With that number now dropping to five, which I was told very recently, it may only take me two to three hours to process my opens. All of a sudden I have found between four and six hours of efficiencies in my business. The big question is: how do I redirect those new-found hours?

People viewing a house that’s overpriced are just traffic. The vendor turns the traffic into buyers. is that, in my view, it is aimed at major Eastern seaboard cities.) If I had four opens every Saturday I was looking to process between 60 and 80 potential buyers every Monday, which could take – with callbacks and vendor reports – anywhere between six and 10 hours.

What becomes challenging for businesses that don’t have measurement capabilities is they often become unsure where to redirect those hours. Do we use them to drive traffic back into our systems – for example, spend those four to six hours ensuring that we get

quality numbers through our opens? Do I use those hours to have more in-depth and structured conversations with my owners about where they are positioned in the market? Do I use those hours to build greater collaboration with my database? I do know that to be successful in these more challenging environments we will need to be ruthlessly efficient with our time and detail does matter. Our evidence shows that in challenging markets (thanks to all my colleagues in WA) there is a 30 per cent higher clearance rate with a quality vendor report. When vendor meetings are at the forefront of your process, ask yourself: Are these forming part of my weekly routine? An exercise that I would encourage you to do is get someone to read your vendor reports prior to you sending them to the owner. Ask them to read the reports without the knowledge of price and from a vendor’s perspective; remember, people view things through the lens they are currently using. Often what they read into a report and what we want them to read into a report are vastly different. Referring back to the question of where my growth comes from, my growth will come from redirecting hours into the stock-out component of my business. It continues to amaze me how much the markets have changed, yet the day-to-day actions of the agents haven’t. In finishing, I will leave you with this thought: people viewing a house that’s overpriced are just traffic. Remember, the vendor turns the traffic into buyers. 

MY REAL ESTATE TRAINING

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V I S I T E L I T E A G E N T. A C A D E M Y F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N