Ep 150 – Auction Day Success

In this High-Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents, Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips discuss assuring auction day success, beginning with asking the right questions of your buyers. Alex lists some examples of direct questions to determine pricing and advises getting preregistration. Josh addresses knowing who your support team will be on auction day, and they further detail the elements of a successful auction. Alex tells how he breaks the ice with the buyers when they first turn up and offers examples of dialogue.

Josh talks about getting the buyers focused on the outcome that they really want, and they weigh in on how to interact with the underbidders before they leave so that you can continue to work with them to gain a better result at their next auction.

Reversing Market Trends

Consumers want an agent that can sell their home around all the recent changes in market conditions, and they’re willing to pay higher fees for that result. My Coaching Tip this week is about reversing market trends by boldly adapting to what’s happening today.

A lot of agents panic when they see things shifting in their market. You need to know what to do when change happens to make sure your business continues to grow. I can tell you that a great business is built on the simple foundation of serving your customer by solving their problem.

So how can you put yourself in the front to make things happen? First, understand that people don’t turn up to open homes and make online inquiries about properties if they’re happy where they’re living. Next, don’t worry that there are fewer people coming through open homes right now and it’s impacting your lead generation. This is where a great agent will reverse the market trends.

First, start really working your buyer and seller hit lists. These are the customers who have already proven that they have a higher level of urgency than most. They have clarity about what their dissatisfaction is, about their vision and where they want to go, and they’re prepared to take those first steps.

Timelines are critically important in a shifting market. You have to stay ahead of upcoming changes, so you need to build a sense of urgency and even a little fear to create reasons around why your clients need to do certain things by a certain time. For reversing market trends, focus on your average sale price, the volume of transactions, and average fee. Adjust those numbers as needed and you’ll continue to grow in any market.

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

Changed Agents Award Finalist – Grant McConnell

Grant McConnell from Hocking Stuart is one of our Australian Changed Agents Award 2018 finalists. He shares how drastically changing his fitness and health routine paved the way for his success in the industry and helped smash his goal of writing over $1 million in fees.

Grant McConnell has made incredible changes to get to where he is today; one includes losing a massive 25 kilograms, which he believes played a huge role in becoming a high performing agent.

“When I’m fit, I’ve got more energy; I’m more alive and that comes out in me when I’m with my clients,” he said. Last financial year, Mr McConnell wrote $1.2 million, close to $450,000 more than the year prior while being mentored by Josh Phegan.

“There are so many things that resonated with me during our training sessions. Family is very important. You have to have that work/life balance and you have to be healthy to succeed. I decided I wanted to take my business to the next level and being healthy and fit was a big part of that,” said Mr McConnell.

Mr McConnell said if you are determined and have a solid work ethic, you can do anything well, but you can’t overlook the daily grind.

“You’ve got to continue to do those little things that make you a good agent. I am constantly following up leads, I dedicate time to prospecting session, I nurture relationships; it’s the stuff that we don’t overly love doing but you have to do it.”

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Mr McConnell has increased his sales from 58 to 70 in one year. His market share is now approximately 43% and his average commission went from $13,362 to $17,142.

“The addition of my PA has been amazing. I’ve obtained more appraisals and pipeline listings,” he said.

Implementing constructive change has allowed Mr McConnell to have more time with his family. He is married with two kids and plans his day to be home by .530pm.

“Getting fit and healthy makes me a great competitor, but also gives me the energy to come home and be there for my family.”

His biggest tip to agents wanting to increase business:

“You have to be well-liked. Be genuine. You do what you say. You don’t procrastinate. Trust doesn’t happen overnight and it takes a lot to keep it with someone you’ve just met. Learn a successful and honest nurturing process where you can build long-term trust with someone.”

Ep 149 – Serving the Customer and Not Just Writing the Fees

This High Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents features Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips live at AREC 2018. Today they’re talking about serving the customer and not just writing the fees. Alex advises having a long-term view and building a good name in the marketplace. Josh speaks to the importance of doing the foundations well, and they discuss the effect that confidence, social proof, and credibility have on your business.

Josh notes that good agencies do a lot of sharing of information, and Alex offers some examples of how his agency does it. They discuss the benefits of an “If it’s not simple, we don’t do it” philosophy, and building a culture of excellence based on service.

Lead Acquisition Costs

If you’re spending too much on marketing then you’re not going to make money as an agent. In my Coaching Tip today I’ll tell you how to reduce your lead acquisition costs and recognise your best lead generation source because generating leads is vital to your total profitability.

Are you paying for leads, or are you generating leads that pay? Across the industry, as markets are changing and tightening up, businesses are spending too much on marketing. But as we’re working with the best real estate agents around the world we’re finding that they all understand a very basic idea, that one customer served well will lead you to your next customer.

Lead generation really gets traction starting with the people you already know. It’s about relationships and what you do with them. Most people feel awkward about that dynamic, but it’s easy if you think about the ways you talk about other work-related things in normal conversations.

A business that does well has repeat and return customers. Right now you have underserved clients sitting inside of your database, and all you have to do is call them up and ask them simple questions about where they are with their property. Overlooking this existing lead source results in missed opportunities.

You have buyers that you’ve met at open for inspections, people that you’ve taken through private appointments, and all of your past clients. Find out where their dissatisfactions are in their current situation, and help them realize their vision around what they want to achieve.

If you want to generate a whole heap of leads whilst reducing your lead acquisition costs, all you need to do is get on the phone and build upon those valuable relationships you already have. Stop paying too much for leads when your best leads are sitting right in front of you.

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

Changed Agents Award Finalist – Julie Gauci

Julie Gauci from Ray White is one of our Australian Changed Agents Award 2018 finalists. She shares her story of growth and sacrifices through her real estate career, which spans more than 10 years. Julie Gauci understands what it takes to be number one in an office, but admits she has had to make various personal sacrifices along the journey.

“I’ve had seriously rapid growth in a short space of time which left me overwhelmed. Not to mention constantly feeling guilty when I was at work because I wasn’t with my family. I struggled to get things in order and had many emotional breakdowns in my first 18 months,” she said.

Mrs Gauci made the move across to sales from property management only two years ago. It was then she decided she had to develop better work/life balance.

Now, she manages to take 28 days leave to spend with her loved ones, all the while managing her successful business.

The suburban agent has an average fee of $16,000, selling 39 properties last financial year. “My biggest achievement to date is writing more than anyone else in my group, even the guys that have been doing it for 10+ years. I am also the number one auction lister in the office, which is something I’m proud of,” she said.

There was no defining moment in Mrs Gauci’s life that proved “instant success”.

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“It’s constant. It’s always striving to go a bit harder, do a bit more, be a bit better. It’s the small changes that have helped me accelerate. I remember my first Blue Print with Josh and thinking, how on earth am I going to make all this happen and what I realise now is, for me, change is about small steps and developing new habits,” she shared.

What has significantly helped Mrs Gauci’s business is implementing daily systems and processes.

“I love a good system, I do well when I have a process to follow. The less I have to think about what I’ve got to do, the more brain space I have free to focus on other things. That’s where Josh has really helped me out.”

Some other changes she made included:

  • AM in PM out
  • Just listed & just sold calls
  • Selling three appointment times every day
  • Created small, medium & large marketing packages
  • Social Media off her phone
  • No coffee until the calls are done

In turn, these processes and changes have allowed Mrs Gauci to spend better quality time with her family, all the while still reaching her real estate goals and bettering her business.

Her excellent work ethic and refined systems are why she believes she is a strong Changed Agent finalist.

Ep 148 – Building a Team and a Routine

In this High-Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents, Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips are live at AREC 2018. They discuss the importance of building a team and a routine, beginning with Alex’s view on the first person you should put on that team. Josh adds how an assistant helps keep you more productive. They discuss having a progression plan and adding the 2nd assistant, and Alex details some of the skills and attributes those assistants should have. Then they address retention through facilitating growth for your people.

Alex explains the importance of being able to grow by increasing average sales price, and Josh emphasises the need for you to help people grow inside of your team and expand your brand whilst helping them build their own.

Your Model As an Agent

Do you like being able to take holidays? Then you’d better design your life first and build your business around it. In my Coaching Tip today I’ll help you get clear about your model as an agent, which means focusing on the things that will make you truly great.

If you do expect to take those holidays, then you have to build a competent team. Because your job is to stay out in front listing and selling, you’ve got to have someone in the background that handles the email inquiries, the administration, the marketing, and any computer-based work so that you can stay focused on being in front of consumers.

The other part is, with a team there’s somebody else who can follow up on listings, do buyer and market appointments, and basically handle your business while you’re gone. It’s not just about having a junior agent that can do buyer work. It’s about having someone on the inside of your team that can level up and get inside of your listing presentations.

This is also how you build succession and growth into your business because the only reason someone leaves a team is that the leader doesn’t have a big enough vision. You have to have a vision that not only persuades clients to use you as an agent but also influences your best talent to sit tight inside of your team because they’re making great money.

Get good at selling your model as an agent and promoting the reasons why people should be working as part of your team. If you’re already doing lots of listings and sales then there’s going to be plenty of leads for your team members to work with and build their own success.

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

Modernising the Workspace

How much of your business is accessible on mobile devices? It’s an important question, and my Growth, Leadership, and Management Tip this month is about modernising the workplace by implementing a mobile-first strategy.

Ten years ago people didn’t think your business was legitimate if you didn’t have a landline phone, a fax, and a street address for your physical office. Now we have systems like VOIP that divert all of your calls to mobile. As technology changes we need to think about flexible workspaces and open environments that allow people to succeed.

It’s all about putting your business where people are, and people are on iPads, iPhones, Samsungs – 67% of all the traffic coming to the Josh Phegan website is based on mobile access. When we built our new website we made it mobile first, and the idea I’m getting you to think differently about is allowing mobile accessibility to all of the things that really count in your business, for your customers and your teams.

Instead of carrying paper around with them everywhere, your agents need to have all of your procedures, policies, checklists, forms, dialogues, visuals, etc. available right now in the digital environment of a mobile-first strategy.

Your goal as a great principal and business leader is to understand and implement a mobile-first environment. Your people need immediate access to information, and they can do new things with that information to make it more meaningful, and to be more successful.

Don’t get stuck trying to solve the wrong problems. Get clear about those activities that drive the value for the business. Modernising the workplace on a mobile-first foundation makes everything shift into greater outcomes for your customers, your agents and your business.

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 147 – Understanding What You Do For the Consumer

This High-Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents features Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips live at AREC 2018. Today they’re talking about understanding what you do for the consumer. Alex advises around what agents should be doing right now with the new market changes. He talks about his auctioning strategy, and Josh adds the need for clients to get their finances in order before you do a lot of work with them. Then they discuss methods for driving buyer urgency.

Alex talks about the importance of compression selling, how he keeps his phone calls brief and to the point, and why he considers bulk email and SMS an excuse for laziness. Josh advises on ramping up the activity, staying on the phone, and pushing for that conversion.