Being the “#1 agent” whether it is in your office, marketplace or even brand takes a certain set of skills and attributes. Is it an impossible feat to achieve?
No.
While sometimes it may feel impossible. If you are willing to do the work, then it is totally possible. In the latest episode of the Build Your Best Life Podcast, I spoke to one of my coaching clients, Tony O’Doherty from Belle Property Bulimba. Tony became the #1 agent in Belle Property Australasia in just 18 months and is the #1 agent in Brisbane!
Tony’s fundamental attitude to the industry is what initially sets him apart. Real estate to him is ‘service-based’ sales. Meaning he is always putting people before the transaction first. Prioritising relationships above all else has enabled Tony to build a business where each transaction leads to the next. His “secret” to the real estate business is that it’s not about the house’s it’s about the people.
In this blog post, I am going walk you through some of the things that Tony has implemented within himself and in his business.
Finding your why.
Finding your ‘why’ is the “thing” we are always taught we need to do. It’s figuring out what drives us. In most instances we are taught that it needs to be tangible, such as family, living a certain lifestyle or building something.
This is not always the case for some people. Tony has figured out his why is driven by finding the enjoyment of what he does. He loves working in the industry and being a super competitive person, this drives him to achieve what he does.
Finding your why might not look like everyone else’s, if it drives you to succeed, it’s YOUR ‘why’.
Implementing systems and structures.
Tony admits that he once operated in chaos. However, since implementing systems and structures into his business it has enabled him to improve in leaps and bounds. Some of the things that he has implemented are:
Ensuring that you have the right support behind you from a brand point.
Ensuring that you are nailing at your marketing. Tony talks specifically how he has tracked his DL strategy and how they notice a marked difference when they don’t follow the system to the volume of people attending opens.
Ensuring that he has a system in place for his listing presentations, from the moment you walk in the front door. To quote ‘Be a boss at the listing table. Don’t be learning at the listing table’.
Making his call log look good by keeping up constant contact. His ‘secret sauce’. is to bring value to the people that they are in touch with. Operating in service and continually giving without expectation. Tony knows working this way means it always comes back in one way or another.
The most important item that Tony highlights is that it’s not one individual thing that has impacted his business over and above all the other systems and structures he has implemented. Collectively each of them works together to elevate his business and each one is just as important as the rest.
Checking your mindset.
Tony very early on in his career didn’t envision himself as a $2,000,000+ agent. His mindset turning point actually all came down to tracking what he did and his competitive nature.
Once Tony started tracking his stats – calls, listing presentations, listings, sales etc it gave him a clear road map on where he was and what he had to do to succeed. “Measuring my business helps me know every month where we are and where we need to be.”
From that point on, whichever direction Tony wanted to take his business, he had a clear roadmap of what he needed to do and when to achieve it. Tony picked a target and decided he was going to beat it.
Building an EBU
Tony’s EBU looks very different from what it did when he first started building it. He’s learnt that one of the most important things is having the right people around you. “It's about standing out having good people around you. And when I say good, good people is wrong, great people. I’ve parted ways with good people to get to great people.” For Tony, one of the biggest things about his team is building the right one and respecting each and every one of them and their skill sets.
One of the biggest issues that I personally talk a lot about on the real estate industry is that our support staff really get burnt out because we're just expecting them to run at the same pace as us and work just as hard as us agents. But they don't get paid the same way that we do, and they also have other goals and ambitions and things that they want.
Tony imparts so much more of his wisdom and talks all about his journey in the latest episode of my Build Your Best Life Podcast. I’ve personally loved working with Tony, being part of his journey and am so proud of the agent, business owner and the person he has become.
If you’d like to listen to the full 55-minute chat, you can tune into episode 6, ‘How to go to #1 within 18 months with Tony O’Doherty’, on your preferred platform of choice below: Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/BuildYourBestLife_ApplePodcasts Spotify: https://bit.ly/BuildYourBestLife_Spotify Google Podcasts: https://bit.ly/BuildYourBestLife_GooglePodcasts