Becoming the best

More than 150 aspiring elite agents from across Australia and New Zealand gathered at the Crowne Plaza, Coogee for Ray White’s annual Emerging Elite conference.

There were just over 30 per cent more Premier level Ray White agents in the group last financial year than the one before, making this year’s two day conference more relevant than ever.

The theme of the event, catering specifically to the group’s Premier level agents from across Ray White, was “what it takes to be the best”. The conference is aimed at helping Ray White’s Premier agents take their business to the next level and attain Elite status.

South Australian Chairman’s Elite agent Brandon Pilgrim (pictured above) has recently opened Ray White Burnside after distinguishing himself as a top performer at Ray White Norwood. He and his team hold 40 per cent plus market share in Burnside and a controlling percentage in the surrounding Hazelwood Park and Beaumont suburbs.

One thing that sets Mr Pilgrim apart is his dedication to following the processes he has put in place, which has been aided by his use of the group’s cutting edge prop tech tool NurtureCloud. When asked by Ray White chief strategy officer (real estate) Mark McLeod about his success in the affluent area of Adelaide, controlled by experienced agents, he said “you just outwork them.”

“The blueprint I run is the blueprint Mark McLeod teaches every day. It hasn’t changed a lot,” Mr Pilgrim.

“It’s only been made easier to follow the process. NurtureCloud has been developed and that’s made the whole database and pipeline side of things so much simpler. It’s 90 per cent following the process and 10 per cent adding your own flair.

“My advice would be to try and add more structure to your days and know what you want to get out of each day.

“A win in a day is not just getting a listing or selling a house, you can get wins in a lot of different ways.

“Set really good goals that are achievable and set out a plan to reach that goal.”

Not many people can boast a schedule as full as Ray White Cheltenham Elite agent Trevor Bowen who has been a full time firefighter for the past 37 years, along with 12 years as an elite level real estate agent. Mr Bowen shared his tips on making the most out of your day.

“The minute I get in the office, I’ve already done 48 hours of work. I’ve had to make decisions about my time management, it’s just a mindset, you’re making time choices, you choose what you’re going to do with your time,” Mr Bowen said.

“One of my biggest shifts in time management was using every opportunity to make calls including in the car. And ever since I heard Mark McLeod tell us to do two open homes on a Saturday, I thought that’s such a no brainer.

“Everything I do in real estate, I have a checklist, it sets my standards. Everyday I have a checklist except Sunday - nothing gets left to chance.

“If it’s good enough for firefighters to have a checklist, it’s good enough in real estate. There’s a million things you have to do, so how can you remember every single thing?”

Ray White Upper North Shore agent Jessica Cao (pictured above) began her career with little real estate experience but after leaning into what the group has to offer, she has just qualified as a Chairman’s Elite agent. Key to her success is auctions and leveraging media exposure to grow her business.

“When I came to Ray White, I was doing no auctions but now 96 per cent of my transactions are through the auction method of sale,” Ms Cao said.

“It’s a mindset thing, just be brave and do it. On auction day it’s done. There’s no improvisation, it’s a process driven thing.

“I encourage you to go and watch Josh Tesolin’s auctions, his control of the auction floor is amazing. He knows where it’s going to start, how it will develop and where it’s going to go.

“Invite the neighbours, invite the whole suburb, invite the vendors you’ve done appraisals, show them how you run an auction.

“In the lead up, get price feedback from buyers, even if they’re not buying. It sets the expectations for the vendor. We also do a buyer meeting before the auction to prepare them.

“We are the only group with a media team. Before I worked with them, I had to chase the editor of the local paper to run a story.

“I promote myself as an auction agent, my vendors can see the results and they see how Ray White dominates the media space, it’s hugely helpful at listing presentations.

“We can spread the word, get more buyers and get better prices.”

Ray White Canberra sales director Jake Battenally (pictured above) had a growing business and believed he had cracked the formula, until he started going backwards. After several ups and downs, Mr Battenally tweaked the formula to begin long term, sustainable growth.

“I was riding the market like a surfboard. I was thinking ‘what’s wrong with my business? Why can’t I turn the dial?’,” Mr Battenally said.

“I had developed unhealthy habits at the same time. I knew what I needed to do to succeed so I created healthy habits that I repeated everyday and weaved into the fabric of who I am.

“I walked 30 minutes, wore a tie every day, journalled daily, gave myself ‘drink tokens’, so gave myself a night off every now and then so I felt like I’d earned it, I also roughly tracked my calories.

“It made me make better decisions during the day because I would have to write that into my journal at night so being accountable to myself made a big difference.

Mr Battenally’s business operates on two important principles. The first is relationships and database management. Throughout the year, he has 24 touch points with his database members. The second is market activity and leveraging your listings which includes buyer calls, database calls, door knocking neighbours and flyer drops.

One of the country’s top real estate agents, PPD’s Alexander Phillips (pictured above) with more than two decades of experience in the industry spoke at the event. He specialises in the prestigious eastern suburbs of Sydney, with a particular focus on Bronte. His average sale price is $5.6 million and 200 transactions a year.

Mr Phillips took the Emerging Elite audience through the structure of his business.

“The conversations you have with your database are important, you need to offer something.

I learned this early on to offer market insights, market forecasts and information about where the market is heading to progress them to sell, most people will now call when they are ready to sell, very few are looking at competing agents.

“The way I built my database is I cold called all of Bronte over two years, I started doing buyer work and it started compounding.

“The first phone call is hard but after that as long as you follow up within three months, they will remember who you are.

“The idea is to make the vendor feel obligated to use you. They’re using you because they have to use you, because you’ve kept them up to date and they can see you’re selling in their area.

“You’re very easily forgotten in real estate. It’s about making sure their obligation is towards you.”

Ray White chief strategy officer (real estate) Mark McLeod (pictured above) has trained and built some of the top performing agents and business owners in the country. He had some simple messages for the audience about how they can level up their business to rival the best in the industry.

Mr McLeod said it’s as simple as making more calls, doing more open homes and doing more appraisals.

“Top performers are always dissatisfied, they are always looking at how they can achieve more,” Mr McLeod said.

“Are the standards you set for yourself last year, the standards to become Chairman’s Elite? Mindset matters - the mindset of your standards. Your life will not exceed those standards.

“Everyone in this room already knows exactly what to do to grow their business. You know that calls and prospecting are key.

“All the best agents know they need to dominate Saturdays.

“We’ve started seeing Saturday as the tail end of the week, but it’s the day when we see the most customers.

“We are getting our best people doubling up opens and they are seeing more people. They are seeing more buyers, and more homeowners equalling more appraisals.”

Ray White head of performance and recognition Bianca Denham (pictured above) took a session on building a sustainable team.

“As you build your career, you will reach a platform in your business. This is where you can change the trajectory of your career if you make some important decisions at the right time,” Ms Denham said.

“If you fail to address this, your business will go into decline. If you do reach a platform, you can expand your capacity and your business will enter another growth phase. A platform can bring renewed energy into your business.

“You need to focus on outsourcing, team development and investment. Things that will get lost if you fail to platform are database management, buyer service, vendor reporting and vendor meeting.”

Ms Denham identified some common mistakes when deciding to bring a new team member onboard.
“The first one is not working in the system, the number one mistake people make is thinking the system isn’t relevant to them. It makes it very hard to scale when others join the team,” she said.

“Hiring the wrong person, often people look for the closest, most convenient person or the one most like them.

“They expect them to go above and beyond but it’s not a good business model.

“They also expect the new team members to care about their business as much as they do. If you can get someone to care 80 per cent as much as you do, then you’ve got a good person.

“Failing to give them time to learn. It takes between three and six months to be fully effective.

“And thinking they’ll never leave - great people do so learn what’s reasonable.”