‘Get prepared to be uncomfortable if you want to grow’ was the message coming out of Ray White’s 2024 Launch event this week.
More than 1000 Ray White members descended on the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre for their 2024 Launch event, which aimed to inspire everyone to level up.
Ray White Victoria and Tasmania Chief Executive Officer Domenic Belfiore said he wanted agents to challenge themselves to achieve growth.
“Growth comes from being uncomfortable so I urge you all to embrace this challenge,” Mr Belfiore said.
He said a key to network growth would be for agents to use the auction process to its fullest extent.
“We are passionate about auctions at Ray White and for good reason, 46 of our offices have 50 per cent or higher auction share in their business,” he said.
“Ray White calls more than one-in-four auctions in Victoria.
“There’s total transparency for buyers, they can see who they’re bidding against and we know it’s the best way to achieve top results for our clients.
“Success leaves clues and, if auctions are an integral part of our best businesses, then they should be in yours too.
“There should be no debate about the best method to sell real estate.”
Mr Belfiore also called on agents to continually develop and improve their skills or risk going backwards.
“We have all the best tools but they aren’t enough on their own, you have to invest the time into learning how to use them,” he said.
“By upskilling yourself, using the learnings from today and implementing them into your business, you can and will beat every single living room battle.”
Ray White Managing Director Dan White said the goal of the group was to give agents everything they needed for success.
“Our mission is to equip you with unparalleled advantages,” Mr White said.
“Reflecting on our past, where we lacked control over our technological future, we’ve pivoted to NurtureCloud, which is now under our umbrella.
“We’re dedicated to enhancing it further, ensuring you continue to benefit from unfair advantages.
He said embracing new technology could be daunting, but agents needed to use the new tools to boost things they could control in order to grow.
“While we acknowledge that real estate agents can’t directly influence market variables like rents or house prices, our focus remains on expanding our market share,” he said.
“Increased participation in auctions and fostering healthy competition are integral to our strategy.”
Ray White Head of Performance and Recognition, Bianca Denham, said growth in real estate also comes down to improving your processes.
“Motivation is fantastic, it will get you started, it’s the ignition, but you need discipline and structure to grow,” Ms Denham said.
“Structure takes time to set up, but it will give you a framework.”
Ms Denham said the key product in real estate was always trust and relationships.
“You can destroy trust if you are inconsistent,” she said.
“Our pain point is often capacity.
“Real estate agents’ build relationships and complete lots of tasks.
“That is what we do.”
She said if agents don’t address capacity they will hit a plateau.
“In this phase, you assess what needs to happen and who needs to do it, so define your team’s roles and responsibilities,” she said.
Ms Denham said the average agent, who had been in the real estate industry for five years, was in decline.
“After five years they often haven’t addressed the responsibility of capacity,” she said.
“So you have to love tasks in this role.”
Leadership and mindset specialist Tanja Lee said property managers and agents needed to focus on creating a healthy mindset.
“Leadership is about passion and if you’re not passionate about what you do, it’s hard to succeed,” Ms Lee said.
“You and I have around 60,000 to 90,000 thoughts per day, 90 per cent of them are the same regurgitated thoughts as yesterday and 85 per cent are negative.
“If you wait to feel like taking action, you’re going to be waiting a really long time.”
She said if you want to create a breakthrough, you can’t just have a strategy, you have to do it.
“We need to liberate ourselves,” she said.
“You determine your destiny.”
