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About Leigh
Leigh Fletcher, Director at hayeswinckle, started his career at Buxton in the prestigious Bayside area of Melbourne. In just three and a half years, he was officially recognised as a rising star in the industry. He went on to generate $430k GCI during 2020, a 58% increase on his GCI the year prior. Here, Leigh talks about the one percenters that have helped him succeed, how he’s harnessed unique content to build his brand and why he believes in offering his vendors more choice.
You’ve had a stellar trajectory in your short time in the industry. What’s been your secret?
Starting out as a rookie trying to make a name for myself against some very established agents wasn’t easy. My first year was really tough! I turned over $72k GCI. In my second year, I finally started seeing some rewards from all the effort and rejection and turned over $270k. I was also recognised as a rising star at Buxton. My confidence built and I turned that confidence and the relationships I’d started building into momentum, meeting more people and selling more properties. That momentum continued into my third year, 2020 - not an easy year for anyone! Despite original expectations I was rewarded for my effort with $430k GCI. I was then approached to open hayeswinckle down the coast, where property has seen huge growth. I thought it was a fantastic opportunity to own something and build it up myself - so here I am!
What are your tips for agents looking to build their brands and develop that momentum?
The first thing I did was model myself on key players. There was one person in particular at the Buxton office who I respected tremendously and learnt a lot from.
I put myself out there with continuous phone calls, letterbox drops and networking with the local community. The more I heard ‘no’, the more I was spurred on to put myself out there even more.
I learned to embrace social media. This one was the toughest! It’s hard to put yourself out there at the start but it is 100% necessary. Whether you’re Coca Cola or new to the industry, everyone needs to market themselves.
I believe in consistency. One thing that’s helped is using digital to connect with the communities I serve. Homely.com.au has been a great tool for building my brand online using suburb and street reviews while helping build relationships with locals by answering their questions. The agent review feature has definitely helped me generate more leads.
Believe in what you know. I leverage my own communities. I grew up with footy and cricket so I tap into those networks a lot and have met a lot of new people there. I also support surf lifesaving down in the surf coast and Geelong where I’m now based with hayeswinckle.
What are the biggest challenges when building your brand online?
I was initially very nervous about putting myself out there, especially since I’m naturally a shy person. I am also very ambitious and knew from the start I would succeed but I had to work hard for it. The biggest challenge for me was overcoming being shy! Once you break through that barrier, it becomes part of the job. Another challenge is to remain consistent. For me, consistency is key. Each week I commit to leaving one suburb review, one local answer on Homely.com.au, with at least one vendor street review too. I focus on my area of expertise when it comes to engaging with the community. It’s important that people see me as committed to them both online and offline because trust comes from having that face to face presence and responsiveness online. That’s the beauty of social media, Homely reviews, and the local clubs combined - an online/offline marketing mix for myself, so to speak.
How important is engaging with the wider community?
Super important. You need people to talk about you and promote you through word of mouth. It’s amazing when the public feels like they know you based on a review you’ve received online or a suburb review or local question you have answered, for example. When someone trusts you to list their property, they’ll do their research online and in the living room. It’s never been more important to have a presence everywhere, especially websites that rank well and are trusted. People will naturally grow your brand for you if they talk about you to their friends and families around the BBQ.
How have you used unique content to generate leads?
I use Homely.com.au to leave suburb and street reviews that are helpful to potential buyers. Every potential buyer is a potential seller. It’s our job to build trust in our communities and elevate our brand. I’ve done suburb and street reviews for the various areas I work, live and have grown up in. People have started following me too and reaching out to let me know they found my reviews helpful, which is a great lead generation opportunity. While they might not need property right now, they could refer me on. It’s about building my reputation in the community. It’s all about the one percenters and they add up faster than you think. I use Homely to answer questions from locals in the areas I serve. Those are the people who need the help of a local expert more than ever. Again, I always sign off with my full details, which helps my brand and makes sure I’m memorable!
How have you taken back control of your marketing expenses?
VPA is a killer for many vendors. I like to make sure I give vendors a choice about how they pay, while still encouraging them to promote their properties as best as they can. Marketing your property everywhere is important and listing on as many portals is key. It’s not a cost - it’s an investment. For example, here in the Surf Coast area, we’ve seen a lot of local and interstate buyers. Over the past few months, we have been communicating with a lot of people in Melbourne who haven’t been able to visit their investment home to secure the best prices. By listing on all the top portals, including Homely.com.au, we’ve seen faster sales and more eyeballs on our listings. Homely is a great platform, and an upcoming Australian company. Within the industry, there are obviously two powerful and expensive companies. I see tremendous value in Homely as much-needed competition to keep our industry honest.
Homely Plus Gold listings from Homely.com.au offers agents like Leigh the ability to build their brand using unique user generated content, and take back control of their marketing expenses using high-performing, cost-effective advertising.
Find out more about how Homely Plus can help you sell more listings and get more enquiries. Visit Homely.com.au/homely-
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