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Steven Cross
Almost a third of agents believe principals should focus on the business rather than selling, according to a recent survey.
The latest Real Estate Business strawpoll found 29.4 per cent of the 252 respondents believed that principals should not sell and focus on running the business.
But 18.3 per cent believed that principals should sell while the majority, 52.4 per cent claimed they should be able to balance the two.
The question was raised last week at the Ideas Exchange event in Sydney, where John Cunningham, director of Cunninghams Property, said principals need to stop selling to let the business grow.
“As a selling-principal I realised I was holding the business back. It was a leap of faith, it was a risk but the team had been trained for it and they flourished… I let go and our business doubled in three years,” Mr Cunningham said.
However Mr Cunningham wanted to reiterate that while principals could still sell, they should consider getting help.
“If selling is your thing and leading is not, then stick with it but bring someone in who either leads or manages the team," he said.
“The key is to ensure that you are not in competition with your team and that you are generous with opportunities so that your team can thrive. Be selective with what you deal with and have an abundance attitude to all you do and then it can work for you.
“But as soon as you get greedy and precious you will never progress your business further.”
However, Jenny Andrews, selling principal at Jenny Andrews Real Estate in Queensland, admits she’s ‘time poor’ though she would never give up selling.
“I have two great sales agents that help me run the business, but in reality I do everything and really carry the business – and because of that I have no life outside of real estate,” she told Real Estate Business.
Ms Andrews ranked 49th in last year’s Top 100 Agents Ranking and was the third highest placed Queenslander.
“I’d like to take a step back to free myself up a little, but I would never ever consider giving up selling altogether.
“Selling is who I am, it’s in my blood and it’s what I do best,” she said.
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