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Prospective agents considering a career shift from non-real estate industries may have an advantage, with a network CEO sharing the key transferable skills that set them up for success.
As real estate newcomers increasingly shift to the industry later in their careers, they often bring versatile skills from other areas, allowing them to perform their roles more effectively.
According to Professionals CEO, Sean Hanneberry, new agents who previously worked in other industries often bring a different skillset and the ability to understand different vendors’ perspectives.
“You’re working with people every day who represent all segments of life across Australia, and your ability to connect is about having your own experiences and being able to bring that to the conversation,” he told REB.
Hanneberry said that, while it was pivotal for new agents to have a good attitude and desire to learn, key transferable skills and qualities from other sectors included a performance mindset, adaptability, and the ability to build relationships.
Selling the vision
Hanneberry said his prior experience in advertising and management consultancy set him up for real estate, as both were people-based businesses focused on solving problems.
“Marketing and management consultancy are very similar to real estate, they’re about understanding problems, they’re about finding solutions.”
Additionally, Hanneberry said that all of those industries were about influencing people and prompting them to embrace solutions, rather than being strictly transactional.
“It’s about selling the vision. We’re talking through change. So the ability to not just talk a strategy and think a strategy through, but to sell that strategy and to get everyone on board is an important part of it all.”
“When you’re doing a lot of change, there are a lot of negotiation skills that come with it. And obviously, just at a basic skill level, marketing and brand are important.”
No cookie-cutter approach
While newcomers most commonly switched from the customer service and hospitality fields, Hanneberry said agents from any industry could succeed with the right mindset and attitude.
“Our chairman, Ben Stevens, has a deep background in hospitality, and I think that is a great skill – hospitality is a great proving ground for so many industries.”
“Then a lot tend to be more in the retail, or some kind of customer service-based roles, where they develop those soft skills really early on.”
Given that many real estate professionals transferred to the sector later in their careers, he often saw newcomers from a range of industries, from teachers to engineers.
“There’s not a cookie-cutter approach to being successful in real estate; there are people who are plumbers and builders, through to people who worked in startups and software companies.”
“The median age of getting certified in real estate is about 43, whereas in other categories it’s lower. By attracting career switches, you get people from such a diverse set of backgrounds.”
Adaptability is key
According to Hanneberry, agents who worked in other industries prior to real estate were often more adaptable, allowing them to handle any issues that arose with confidence.
“It is important to have systems, but it’s more important to be able to be adaptive because you’re dealing with people and people are really unpredictable.”
“Every day is a new challenge, and if you come from a background that requires a structured, ‘every day is the same’ [approach], you’re probably not going to survive.”
Hanneberry said even if agents were highly skilled in other ways, such as being good salespeople, an inability to face new situations head-on would set them back.
So maybe someone who’s from a structured corporate environment and not appreciated that … [can be] a challenge for people stepping in.”
Grit and performance mindset
While adaptability is a valuable quality for real estate agents, Hanneberry said many successful agents also had a performance mindset shared by sports stars.
“Particularly on the sales side, they have that mindset that they probably could be sports people – instead, they’re great agents, but they come into the industry with a real sense of grit.”
In addition to grit and hard work, Hannaberry said agents who brought a performance mindset had discipline, receptivity to coaching, and strong resilience.
“[It’s] about the ability to have a high tolerance for rejection, and therefore you need some good emotional durability and the ability to ride the punches.”
Playing the long game
While a performance mindset helps agents be proactive and pursue consistent growth, Hanneberry said another valuable, transferable skill was the ability to build long-term relationships.
“The best performing teams see opportunities in everyone, and how they attract people is in terms of people skills,” Hanneberry said.
According to Hanneberry, those who were more focused on generating transactions and sales than relationship-building missed the chance to generate future leads.
“[Some agents are] not about the relationship and are just a good salesperson; they don’t care about the ongoing nature of the relationship.”
“They don’t realise the value of advocacy, they don’t realise the value of word of mouth and relationships and realise that playing the long game as to where you get the real success,” he concluded.
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