Minimum Fee

Today’s consumers are hunting for value and if they find it, they’ll pay for it. In my Coaching Tip this week I’ll tell you why it may be time for you to have a minimum fee. There’s a reason consumers will choose you and your brand, and you have to get clear about what it is that you bring to the table.

Over the last few weeks even fee discounters have had to increase their fees. They worked out that they were only remunerating people around listing property because as the market changed no one was selling. Now agents selling one or two bedroom units are getting more expensive than some of our clients in highly competitive markets.

If you set a minimum fee you really begin to understand what’s happening in your agency, and fee discounters have realised that being a discounter doesn’t ensure that they’ll make a profit. It’s not about who can be the cheapest. It’s about who can be most profitable working with a sustainable model, even in changing markets.

You need to know what it actually costs to sell a property. From infrastructure costs to payroll to quality training, it’s all necessary just to keep the business running. With today’s demanding price-savvy customers you have to be able to reinvest and reinvent to stay relevant.

So maybe it’s time to have a minimum fee as well as an average fee. Work out the percentage that you need to be able to sell a property and base your minimum on that. Separate and differentiate your brand in a meaningful way – not as the cheapest, but as the agent who knows how to navigate the circumstances and market conditions of the day.

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s Coaching Tip, and I look forward to seeing you here again next week.

Company Culture

When incoming revenue isn’t going to cover costs, it’s really important that you cuddle your people. I’ll explain what I mean by that in this month’s Growth, Leadership, and Management Tip, and show you why your company culture is a massive part of the game, especially in a rapidly changing market.

Cuddling your people is about understanding what it is that they want to achieve personally and then driving them to do the work to get there. I’ll illustrate how to go about helping a team member identify and set new goals, and then remind her of what she’s working for going forward.

If you help your people get clear around what they’re after they’ll change their behaviors to make it happen. What that means to your organisational culture is that you may have to tighten the belt a bit, but in areas that aren’t so obvious. Cut away the things that aren’t necessary and focus on the basics: routines, numbers, and appointments.

Ultimately your goal is to trade through with your existing team intact. Have a little cultural meeting to start each day with clarity of direction. What are we doing today, who are we chasing, and how will we breed good energy. Remember, it’s getting in front of customers that wins new business. It’s up to you as CEO (Chief Energy Officer) to make sure your company culture maintains and builds that energy in your people.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this month’s Growth, Leadership, and Management Tip, and I look forward to seeing you here again next month.

Ep 165 – Using Fear as a Motivator

In this High Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips are discussing using fear as a motivator and why it’s an important option to drive both buyer and seller decisions. Alex explains what it is that fear does and when to use it to progress the client. Josh introduces negotiation leverage and they talk about the importance of understanding what a buyer is looking for in a house. Alex adds that having the best contacts really helps in securing deals.

Alex emphasises that you shouldn’t be afraid to control the deal and buyers appreciate it when you do. Josh suggests using fear to get past seller reluctance. He wraps up with the importance of understanding your market and knowing what’s driving your clients.

Market Changes

Whether you win or lose business, the reason is the same: It’s all about the energy you bring to the table. My Coaching Tip this week is about how to talk to clients about today’s market changes and still be upbeat about their prospects.

You can discuss market conditions in creative ways. Start by asking questions about what the customer is seeing in the media and how they feel about current market conditions. As their agent you can help them make their best transaction by maintaining positive energy and putting the conditions of the day in perspective for them.

Some agents don’t want to call people because prices they may have quoted them last year are different from today’s, and most likely the value is less than it was when you did their property appraisal. Still, most people who buy from you will make money over the long term.

Managing your energy so that you stay positive about today’s conditions even as the major markets continue to decline is so important. Some markets are actually entering a recovery stage, but understand that what we’re experiencing now is likely to continue over the next few years.

Your job is to realise that there’s never been a better time to get into the market than right now. It’s a great time for buyers when you look at market changes that will happen over the longer term. For sellers the reality is that the market price is not going upward any time soon, so it’s a good idea to do the transaction today.

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s Coaching Tip, and I look forward to seeing you here again next week.

Ep 164 – Leading Your Team Through a Changing Market

In this High Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips look at leading your team through a changing market like the one we’re experiencing currently. Josh notes that some agents react by putting more pressure on their assistants, and Alex explains how to lead from the top instead. He also notes the importance of consistency and a long-term mentality. Josh lists methods that drive focus, momentum and motivation with your team, and Alex describes some ways he achieves that in his agency.

Josh tells why training is so important, and Alex shows how vendor meetings and reporting increase the number of deals that get done. He advises assistants to develop themselves and find mentors. Josh finishes on leading from the front and getting back to basics.

Growth Stalls

What are you going to do if 20% to 30% of the volume in your marketplace stops? This week my Coaching Tip is about growth stalls, why they happen, and how to avoid them by putting yourself in a position to achieve all that you’re capable of.

The reality is that when you hit a growth stall there are only a few things you can do. You can increase your average sale price, get a higher volume of transactions, or increase your average fee. And there’s a balance to maintain – If you lose fees because there are fewer sales and lower volume, then you have to increase your fee.

It’s up to you to learn how to sell what you do in a way that’s meaningful to the customer. This is not a like-for-like service, you’re different from your competition and you bring unique advantages to the table.

It may not seem obvious, but one of the best ways to keep your business growing and reduce your lead generation costs is to simply think about customer experience. When you do hit a growth stall you can go deeper with your existing customers, get your landlords to buy and sell, and get more past clients doing transactions with you.

When you improve customer experience your customers will tell other people about you, and that reduces your lead acquisition costs. And remember that every member of your team has a part in delivering that higher customer service experience with your firm.

Of course, the best way to deal with growth stalls is not to hit them. In this market the best agents will be the ones who really get going, do the work, and earn even more than last year.

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s Coaching Tip, and I look forward to seeing you here again next week.

What problem are you solving?

The last 10 years have radically reshaped the way we live. The adoption of mobile phones, the socialisation of our relationships and the amplification of remote work have also changed the way we do business.

Software is eating the world. What was once done by a team of people is being automated, forcing fewer people in the process to deliver the service. It’s changing job roles to be more human, personalised and intimate. We have all the information we need at our fingertips, thanks to Google, meaning that consumers don’t need another market report, update or agent in their street today. Instead what they need is someone who’s prepared to ask the questions around their dissatisfaction and vision, to help the customer make the first steps.

With the adoption of tech, we’re making appointments faster to build rapid rapport and helping customers to make decisions face to face.

It’s forcing the industry into a corner. In our rush to be amazing on social, we’ve forgotten the basics of what makes a business move. To be successful in business you have to make sales, and the first sale that’s made every day is booking the appointment.

No one’s asking what happens when we get to the point of digital saturation – we’re already here. More and more effort is needed. Before I put in any technology, I ask, ‘What’s the problem we’re trying to solve?’. Plenty put in tech or go all-in on social before they ask the question or even define if the problem’s worth solving. 

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What the savvy agents are doing is building out the tech to automate the workflow to deliver on their customer experience. And this where you need to start. Define your brand. It’s not a logo; it’s a set of customer moments that are either carefully curated or not. Think in moments, then see what technology you can use to automate and improve them for the customer. In the UK, online appointment booking is a massive driver, yet it’s hardly taken off here in Australia. 

Most of the offshoring we’re seeing happen in the property management and sales administration spaces will end up onshore again as automation makes those roles redundant, or the consumer forces a more human experience for the fees we demand. 

One thing that’s certain is that technology doesn’t recognise booms or recessions; it just makes progress. In your business, I’d be surprised if you didn’t already have 20-plus applications in what’s called your app stack. It could be as simple as Dropbox for file storage and Slack for team communication. Your app stack is allowing your workforce to be more remote, yet the evolution of the workplace with global workplaces like WeWork suggests we actually want to be together to do our work. What we’re building is flexibility, and a mobile-first approach to make working on the road between appointments even easier. 

How can you automate your workflow? 

The app stack that you’re using today is great for now, but what other parts of the workflow process can you improve? One of our clients has automated the listing process. When he enters the appointment in his diary using LAP at the start of the appointment title, that triggers in Zapier to start a process in Process St, which then also triggers a direct message in Slack to his administrative assistant to prepare the recent sales data. It’s simple but shows you how you can improve workflow. 

 User adoption still matters 

People hate change when it happens to them, but they love change when they are a part of it. Think before you bring that next app to the sales meeting, and ask some simple questions: 

  1. What’s the problem we’re trying to solve and is it worth solving?
  2. What’s the vision for what it will look like fixed?
  3. Who will it impact? And how do we champion their passion for the problem?
  4. What’s our action plan to implement?
  5. Do it.

This is a profoundly human business amplified by the use of technology that works. It should speed you up, not slow you down. Clunky systems are just that. Design from a mobile-first approach, and watch your business thrive.  

This article first appeared in Elite Agent: https://eliteagent.com/josh-phegan-what-problem-are-you-solving/

Ep 163 – The Property Cycle

This High Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents features Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips on stages of the property cycle. Alex begins with suggestions around how agents can respond to where the current declining market is going, advising that you work hard and don’t live above your means. Josh outlines events that triggered the downturn in the market and how the government could remedy the situation. And Alex emphasises the importance of really understanding your marketplace by asking the right questions.

Alex recommends working out the numbers on paper and showing them to the vendor to help explain changes in market, and tells why this is the best market for selling and renting property. Josh ends with the most important question to ask your client, “Why now?”

Price Reductions

You expect that if you list a property well it will sell equally well, but what if the market changes? In my Coaching Tip this week we’ll be discussing price reductions – those things you need to get but are afraid to ask for.

In every negotiation you have bargaining power, but it can quickly change from low to high depending on a variety of circumstances. What’s important is that you understand the leverage you have for your owner, and know how to talk with them about positioning the property when that leverage evaporates.

The reality is that the owner already knows they have to make a change, but it’s what you do as their agent that determines whether they’ll do it. The key to justifying a price reduction is for you to go out and get an offer on the property. Do that and the owner has to make a decision.

You should be having a daily phone conversation with your owners. Tell them about new properties coming to market and properties that have just sold, and how that affects buyer demand. Then have a face-to-face conversation with them about their expectations, how many people should be looking at the property, and what needs to happen to get those buyers to make an offer.

Understand that suggesting price reductions seems like you’re saying No to the owner’s ability to achieve their objectives. But you don’t want to take their dreams away – you want to be the dream maker. You do that by explaining to them how you will get their property sold by always knowing what’s currently happening in the market and adjusting to those new market circumstances.

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s Coaching Tip, and I look forward to seeing you here again next week.

Ep 162 – David Tyrrell on Energy and Time Management

Our High Performance Podcast Special Edition series wraps up with Josh Phegan and David Tyrrell discussing energy and time management. David notes how his team maintains consistency by using the calendar, holding regular team meetings, and planning for work flow. He details his normal business day, and notes that the team runs really well even when Alex isn’t there as Pru steps up to keep things moving. David tells how their open-plan office helps everyone keep informed and working together as a team. He also relates what it’s like to work inside of a fast-paced team.

David describes Alex’s management style inside of his team, how he gets really good knowledge about each listing he’s representing, and how lucky he feels to have this opportunity to build his profile and develop as an agent with Alex.