Login
iscover
Ray White Australia’s award-winning real estate agent Sonya Treloar shares her top tips for success in the competitive agent landscape.
According to Ms Treloar, while female real estate agents are still the minority when it comes to gender representation in the industry, with a ratio of about 30 per cent, she believes that there remains an equal opportunity to succeed.
“In some cases, it gives women a real chance to stand out… It’s what you do with that opportunity that puts you a cut above everyone else,” she said.
Ms Treloar shares three of her secrets on staying ahead of the pack and standing out as a top agent in their area:
Maintaining connections
“The great thing about the industry is that, as agents, we actually know where our clients live! This is a rarity. We have this unusual opportunity to build our databases and categorise our clients by geographical area,” the agent said.
“My biggest tip for agents is this: if you love your client database, it will love you back.”
Each year, Ms Treloar makes nine points of contact with her client base. These touchpoints include quarterly market reviews and chocolates delivered at Christmas.
She recommended investing 10 per cent of the agent’s gross income into a client retention fund in order to look after the client database by keeping in touch and ultimately staying on top of the key stakeholders’ minds.
“If you give back and show empathy to your community and the people who live in your core area, you’ll be called in when they’re ready to sell,” she said.
Build a strong referral network
As most agents know, referrals are key to securing property listings.
In fact, according to Ms Treloar, some agents’ referrals can make up 50 per cent of their total listings in a year.
“This makes sense — who do we trust more than our friends and family members?”
For this reason, she encouraged real estate agents to keep in touch with clients long after the house is sold. Continuing the relationship will encourage these clients to refer the agent to others.
Additionally, nurturing your buyers and sellers throughout the selling process will further encourage them to recommend the agent to somebody they know.
“Sending champagne or flowers to your vendor when the sale goes through is a nice gesture and won’t be forgotten. Similarly, do the same for the buyer of the house — that’s another person to add to your referral network,” Ms Treloar said.
Reviews, reviews, reviews
Finally, she strongly advised actively building a strong online library of positive reviews, as there is nothing more powerful than written reviews from people in the area.
According to Ms Treloar, positive reviews reinforce the idea that the agent is trustworthy and reliable.
“In terms of getting the reviews, here is my top tip: ask the vendor to leave a review on RateMyAgent the day the property sells. Positive emotions are running high and your vendor is going to be thrilled that they’ve just sold their home. This is the perfect time to have them write the review,” she said.
“Once you’ve settled the property, ask the buyer to leave a review, too – doing this will put you ahead in terms of not only the number of reviews you receive, but also the number of positive reviews.”
Ultimately, online reviews share a clear snapshot of what buyers in the area are saying about an agent’s service, making it as important as referral networks in terms of taking performance to new heights.
Newsletter
