What makes a successful BA? Top tips from the experts

During a panel at the 2025 Property Investment Professionals of Australia (PIPA) National Conference, the three experts discussed a range of topics based on their experience, from building trust with clients to preserving their personal and family lives.

Here are their top tips:

Educate and inform prospective clients

Jennison, who has over two decades of experience, said that to gain new clients, BAs should help prospective property owners understand what a buyer agent is and what their role is in helping buyers secure a property.

“I found that by educating people through free information and giving back, I was able to attract the type of clients that worked for us and the type of clients that we could assist through their purchasing journey,” she said.

“That's how it all started, just really putting in a lot of information, a lot of work to create the content to educate the market.”

Additionally, Jennison said education can also take place within the industry itself, noting she has been trying to raise awareness of unethical BA behaviour to ultimately raise standards and strengthen public trust.

“I think we as a collective, the more that we combine to give back to raise standards collectively, that's where we'll make the greatest impact.”

Listen to clients’ motivations and concerns

While educating buyers is part of the BA’s process, Jachowski said listening to what drives clients and what sets them back in their investment journey is key to finding the right property.

“People will obviously touch base with all of us and say, ‘I'm here for different reasons’. And those reasons can be really articulated around, ‘I want property or this or high yield’ or appreciation or something,” she said.

She said that with her team, they refer to clients’ motivations as ‘rocks in a jar’ and whatever is holding them back as ‘pain points’, emphasising that balancing the two is key when trying to find a property.

“What are the rocks in the jar that they want to achieve? But at the same time, listening to what some of those pain points they've had."

“Others have had terrible experiences around property, or are fearful about the cash flows or whatever it is. “[It’s about] marrying the rocks in the jar that they want to achieve with the potential pain points or concerns or questions.”

Have a client-first ethos

To establish a connection with clients, Anderson advised BAs to build trust by respecting their privacy and keeping a client-first focus at the forefront of their business.

For example, he said that building trust can mean keeping clients off social media, which can help them gain traction among clients who prefer not to be exposed online.

“For me personally, I would hate it if I just bought a property through a buyer's agent or something, and that was blasted all over social media,” he said.

Additionally, Anderson said that his business model was centred on providing value rather than delivering on KPIs or deals, meaning his team has clients’ best interests at heart.

He said that his staff were paid a salary and not given any commission, and that employees could earn bonuses based on individual performance.

“For example, my senior analyst on a salary, basically his instructions are, ‘you impress me when you find out a reason we shouldn't buy a deal’,” he said.

See things through the lens of the buyer

Similarly to having a client-first ethos, Anderson said that buyer’s agents can further build trust with clients by empathising and seeing things from their perspective.

“I think just do right with people. Just be a good person, true people, how you want to be treated, both in business and on a personal level,” he said.

“I look at it always through the lens of am I, as if I were buying this property myself? And so I think if you do right by people and never chase the dollars."

“I've always just been obsessed with value, providing value to clients and never been focused on the money. I think if you're focused on that, the money will come later.”

Find out what drives you

To excel as a buyer’s agent, Jachowski emphasised understanding your personal motivations to deliver your best work and provide exceptional client service.

For example, she said her guiding principles – avoiding KPI pressures and the push for higher earnings – helped her stay focused on providing the right advice.

“I wanted to be able to be in an organisation where I could stay at the centre of what was best for the clients and have the agency to do that,” she said.

“It took me a little while to find the right place, and I did. So I think that would be my advice is to find out what drives you and why you're doing it.”

Balance work and personal life

While delivering the best service to clients is important, Jennison said that ultimately, BAs need to balance their professional and personal lives to avoid burnout and ensure they can tend to family commitments.

Jennison said the key was to set boundaries early with clients and to have systems in place that allow them to communicate without being disrespectful of the agent’s time.

“We're only available to respond to urgent situations outside of normal working hours – I think that's critical,” she said.

She felt comfortable occasionally carving out time in her calendar to attend family events, given that she knows she can depend on her team.

“So we know when there's a block of time where we are going to an event that's important to us, we've got the team now that will support us to get through those periods.”

“It's just about being present for clients within a scope that you've set, but prioritising family because without them, what would life be?”, she concluded.

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