Over the past 12 months, 18 of Harcourts Coastal’s top 20 agents have settled more than $1 million in gross commission income (GCI).
To put that in perspective, this means that one in every five of our 90 agents is writing more than $1 million GCI.
I am continually asked, “What is it like working with Dane Atherton, director at Harcourts Coastal, behind closed doors?”
And, “How does Harcourts Coastal create a high-performance culture and attract and retain the best talent in the industry?”
I have had the privilege of gaining visibility and insight into hundreds, if not thousands, of real estate offices across Australia and abroad based on my experience in previous roles as chief executive officer for Harcourts NSW, regional director for Harcourts in California, Nevada and Hawaii, and chief operating officer of Harcourts International.
Based on my experience, I put Harcourts Coastal’s success and high-performance culture down to three key factors:
- The agent is the hero
- We understand the individuality of every agent to unlock their full potential
- We have a world-class support engine.
1. The agent is the hero in Harcourts Coastal’s story
Neither Dane nor I sell, which makes our daily focus simple; what can we do to add more value to our agents?
For real estate principals that are also selling, when they walk into the office in the morning, the first thing they think about is, ‘Where is my next listing coming from?’
If that’s where their primary source of income is coming from it’s natural to focus on that first.
However, as we don’t compete for listings and we don’t have a name or brand we want to promote, it’s all about how the agents can be the hero.
This is not just about saying ‘no’ to selling, it is about the mindset that comes with it. We have made our agents’ development our obsession.
When the principal is a great agent, the team may be built on their name and brand, they are the Michael Jordan of the team.
For us, we are in the business of building and supporting Jordans rather than challenging their dominance.
2. Understand the individuality of every agent to unlock their full potential
There are not a lot of secrets in real estate.
Often, at conferences, the best agents are happy to share their secrets as they know most people will try to replicate what they have done but will ultimately fall short.
The true magic is unlocked when the agent can explore and tap into their individual strengths, which takes time and commitment.
To get the best out of people, you need to know them, you need to know what drives them and you need to be able to identify gaps in their business and in the market to capitalise on them.
The traditional thinking of having an annual business plan is outdated.
You need to be connected to what is happening daily and be able to invest in people and growth so you can pivot when opportunities are presented.
3. We have a world-class support engine
Harcourts Coastal’s administration team (the A-Team) are the best I have seen.
I must admit that when I started with Coastal, I thought they were admin-heavy compared to the industry.
This has always been thought of as being unproductive, however Dane’s view is that investing in a world-class administration team makes the agents more profitable.
Having seen the machine in action, I am now a true believer of this philosophy!
We have an administration team of committed individuals that consistently deliver a world-class service to the agents they look after.
We have had agents join our business who decided they no longer needed to pay for a personal assistant (PA) out of their own pocket to handle administrative matters as the support they receive from the A-Team is so comprehensive.
Based on the robust admin support already in place, the role of the PA is empowered to focus solely on the growth of their agent’s business, while we take care of PA recruitment and management to create an environment for our agents to become the most profitable in the industry doing what they do best.
So what’s the secret?
- Make sure each agent is the hero
- Understand the individuality of every agent to unlock their full potential
- Have a world-class support engine.
Visit the team at Harcourts Coastal today https://www.coastal.com.au/
