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Internal changes, rebrands, and system overhauls often face resistance, requiring clear communication and unified direction to ensure staff understand the objective and work toward one shared goal.
On the REB Podcast, Professionals CEO Sean Hanneberry spoke with editor Liam Garman about ensuring staff understood system changes and rebranding, keeping everyone focused on one clear goal for success.
Before leading the network, Hanneberry had consulted for Professionals over the years and was helping find a new CEO when he was asked to take the role himself.
“The chairman at the time said, ‘Look, you’ve been consulting with us, and you’ve had your hands all over it (the search for a CEO). Why don’t you step into it?’” Hanneberry said.
Once he took charge in February 2025, Hanneberry’s first task was to guide Professionals through its rebrand.
“We were to launch the brand in May, which is a timeline that, looking back, was total madness,” Hanneberry said.
Despite the the rebranding process usually taking 12-18 months, Professionals did it within five months, making its May 2025 timeline following a “complete reset” of the network, overhauling operations and adopting a new logo to reflect its “elevated brand and approach”.
“I don’t think that any other brand in the real estate category is undergoing the scale and level of transformation that we are.”
While the rebranding process was successful, Hanneberry said that despite his previous expertise across multiple industries, challenges arose.
“I was coming into it thinking I knew everything, but then obviously once you get the keys to the car, you suddenly realise that there’s a lot more going on.”
Not just a rebrand, but a transformation
When overhauling a business, Hanneberry said one of the biggest challenges was getting staff to share in the vision and trust the process.
“No matter how much planning and preparation you do, there is always going to be resistance,” he said.
“That is human nature, and you’ve got to accept it.”
While on the outside it appeared to be a brand refresh, Hanneberry said in reality it was a complete transformation.
As part of the process, he said that every aspect of the brand had been reviewed, broken apart, and then rebuilt.
“Members don’t always see it, but they are fundamental things that need to get done.”
“One of the big challenges was constantly demonstrating that the team were working hard on many things, but you couldn’t actually see a lot of them.”
“Those invisible changes were such a hard thing to demonstrate value to people around. But in the background, they are the foundations that set you up for success.”
In addition to the branding overhaul, the network also pushed a number of collaborations and technology partnerships to its members, including with Canva and Salesforce.
“We’ve also made significant investments in data intelligence, digital integration, design and training partnerships that will support agencies from the ground up,” Hanneberry said.
A unified goal
Despite increased investment in systems, Hanneberry said it was vital to ensure the business utilised its most important asset: its staff.
“So many times you see people playing out of position, and as a leader, it’s about understanding everyone’s strengths and how you lean into and leverage that.”
“When everyone’s on the same page with the vision and the direction, you can achieve so much.”
To ensure the team remained on the same page, Hanneberry said it was important to be clear about the end-goal and to “stick to the mission.”
“If across 150 odd offices, if everyone’s got a different interpretation, you are going to look like a mess, like you’ve got an identity crisis.”
“It’s about not over-engineering it with jargon, it’s about a really simple thought and getting centred on that.”
Similarly, he said it was important for businesses to remember that the collective is greater than the individual and to adopt a “we, not me” approach.
“Sometimes, it’s about realising that you have to sacrifice your personal ambition for the greater good.”
“The sacrifice that needs to come with this is buying into the vision.”
“So then you are willing to say ‘I’m going to put aside my personal needs to some extent for the greater good’, realising that the greater good will ultimately deliver value back in spades,” Hanneberry concluded.
Listen to the full episode here
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mathew Williams
Born in the rural town of Griffith NSW, Mathew Williams is a graduate journalist who has always had a passion for storytelling. Having graduated from the University of Canberra with a Bachelor of Sports Media in 2023, Mathew recently made the move to Sydney from Canberra to pursue a career in journalism and has joined the Momentum Media team, writing for their real estate brands. Outside of journalism, Mathew is an avid fan of all things sports and regularly attends sporting events across Sydney. Get in touch at
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