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After six years of moderate success in the industry, one of REB's 2016 Top 100 Agents made the decision “to go pro” and perfected a new skill. Today he earns $2 million a year.
For McGrath Cremorne’s Piers van Hamburg, going from OK to pro meant learning how to become a “closer”.
“Sometimes you do need to close,” he told real estate coach Tom Panos, as part of Mr Panos’ Real Estate Gym series.
“It’s having the ability to read the play,” said Mr van Hamburg, “to be soft and hard at the same time.”
He gave an example: “Recently, I looked the lady in the eye and I said ‘Mrs Jones, as you know I live around the corner and my daughter goes to school just down here, and I drive down your street every single day. And if I miss out on your business, Mrs Jones, I’m going to have to drive the long way around to get my daughter to school and not go past your house. Look, I want your house more than anything…’ and I closed her that way.
“Sometimes you need to have that hard conversation. You look them in the eyes and say, leaning in, ‘Mrs Jones, what do I need to do? I really want your house’.”
Mr van Hamburg said he has found that vendors prefer agents to be firm.
“Look, you can be a nice person and do it in a nice way, but you do need to close and be hard at the right time.
“I’ve heard [clients], when I’ve taken the business off another agent, actually say ‘You know that agent such-and-such, he’s such a nice guy, I really like him, but I just don’t know if he’s a good real estate agent’.
“So they want to be closed. They don’t want a weak real estate agent, because you’ve got to close the buyer on the house,” he said.
In 2016 Mr van Hamburg was ranked 20th in the REB's Top 100 Agents, with sales of $166.3 million from 81 listings and 79 properties sold.
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