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For the past eight years, Alexander Phillips has stood at the pinnacle of the Australian property profession. So how does he continue to set the standard year after year?
The eastern Sydney agent of Phillips Pantzer Donnelley sold 214 residential properties over the 2022 calendar year and has once again earned the title of Australia’s number one agent through his efforts.
With an average sale price of $4,045,000 and an average days on market of just 21, the leading agent sold a total of $865,760,100 worth of property over the 2023 judging period.
Speaking to real estate coach and trainer Tom Panos and REB managing editor Phil Tarrant via livestream following the release of this year’s ranking, Mr Phillips acknowledges he is “lucky” to “actually love what I do.”
When quizzed on how he not only maintains a “spring in his step” after 23 years in the profession but also maintains his position at the top, the agent explained: “I don’t see it as a chore. I go to bed at night; I sleep well. It doesn’t stress me.”
“It’s just a way of life to me in so many ways,” he espoused.
“I’m very lucky to be surrounded by the best team, hence the amount of sales we do.”
In saying that, it’s not a matter of being able to sit back and rest on his laurels as a top-performing agent, despite his personal belief that they are “probably still a long way ahead of where the competition is”.
With his goal now to be the number one ranked agent across the country for 10 years in a row (which he could hit in 2025), Mr Phillips is driven by the fact that sometimes “we’re not good enough.”
“We adapt yearly to get better and be ahead of what’s happening out there,” he acknowledged.
“Every year, we’re changing our processes, refining our processes, we’re getting different layers within our processes, so we’re ahead of the market itself.”
The benefit of that, according to Mr Phillips, is that it also keeps them ahead “of the other agents that we compete against” — with many of those agents also pushing for top 100 agent rankings and that elusive number one ranking themselves.
According to Mr Phillips, both he and his team (of four support staff) are “very driven by improvement on our skill set but also [in] the way we transact”.
He believes that the team’s constant efforts to evolve is one of the things that sets him apart from the competition — as well as why vendors and buyers flock to his business.
“We’re not archaic. We’re always adapting, always brainstorming, thinking [of] different ideas.”
For the top-ranked agent, as well as his constant desire for improvement, the secret to his success is all about structure and productivity, as well as taking enough time to recharge.
He revealed that he’s in the office “like clockwork every day at 6:30[am]”.
“I’m making calls by 7:30[am] and I’ve always done that, but I’m home by 5:30[pm]. I don’t think that’s super long hours. I might be sending emails or something when I’m home, but it’s just a very structured day. I get most of my work done in the mornings, basically.”
All the more impressive is the fact that Mr Phillips gets more done in 40 weeks than others may achieve in a lifetime.
“In four weeks’ time, I’m going overseas for six weeks. My phone’s off, diverted. I just came back from two weeks in Europe three weeks ago,” he pointed out.
“My year’s done in chunks. And the chunks that I do are through the roof. So, it’s 100 per cent intensity, where I think most agents are working at 50 per cent.”
“We work 40 weeks a year. Those guys work 50 weeks a year and we’re still well ahead just because we rejuvenate ourselves so regularly,” the agent imparted.
View the full list of Top 100 Agents 2023 here.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Grace Ormsby
Grace is a journalist across Momentum property and investment brands. Grace joined Momentum Media in 2018, bringing with her a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Communication (Journalism) from the University of Newcastle. She’s passionate about delivering easy to digest information and content relevant to her key audiences and stakeholders.
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