Woodards Blackburn in Victoria recently took home two awards at the recent REIV awards, for Sales Agency of the Year and in Project Marketing.
Woodards Blackburn Director and Sales manager Julian Badenach has been with the brand for 18 years, almost all his working life as an agent. Together with Director Cameron Way, they have grown the team to 12 salespeople, five in property management plus additional administrative staff.
The Woodards team were given the task of selling a 25-lot subdivision in Bayswater North, a fairly outlying suburb in Melbourne’s east.
“It is not an area particularly loved or well known for an upmarket property. We were also given a fairly limited budget from our client, so we were really tested in coming up with something effective. We were able to come up with a program that included video that highlighted the location and showed potential buyers examples of the developers’ work, which gave them the confidence to buy off-plan.”
Julian and his assistant, Jessica Hellman, also set up a follow-up system which was detailed and thorough to ensure potential buyers would fully understand what they would be buying.
“That level of service was something that isn’t really developed in that area of sales. The customer service around the inquiry converted a lot more leads than others. That was a combination of using good video marketing and a very thorough follow-up approach.”
And the approach paid off, with Julian selling $12.5 million worth of townhouses and units within 60 days.
“We had a display suite set up in the office and every second person who came to the display made a purchase. It was really effective marketing from a cost per sale basis.”
The project at 1-25/320 Canterbury Rd, Bayswater North was launched and completed between September and November 2016, and the majority of buyers were first-home buyers.
Julian says his affinity for project marketing and his good relationship with property developers in their area is one of the strengths he brings to the table in his business partnership with Cameron Way.
“My business partner is good at attention to detail and office management, which is a valuable component of the business. Cameron is quite visionary, especially when it comes to technology and advancing the business with technology, which can make all the difference when it comes to remaining competitive.”
Care for the staff is one of the factors that Julian thinks contributed to the REIV Sales Agency of the Year win. The directors have implemented processes to ensure the staff are accountable while given guidance towards their goals.
“We have weekly one-on-one catch-ups with each of our agents. Those meetings we find are a very valuable part of our work. In our sales meeting each week we run through auction campaigns, see what can be done with the vendor or marketing that will boost it up. We make sure client meetings are being done. Some of these things might seem simple but do require a good degree of discipline. Appraisals are round-tabled with the team if someone isn’t sure where to set a price.”
The goals for Woodard Blackburn is to see market share in their core areas maintain or grow.
“We want to grow our team so they can improve their personal goals with gross commissions and budgets. We want to see them reach those goals and develop our team members to reach their potential.”