Top 50 Sales Offices 2015

Magain Real Estate, SA

• Suburb: Woodcroft, SA
• Principal: Mike Dobbin
• Sales staff: 6
• Support staff: 4
• $245.7 million
• 664 properties sold

Australia’s top sales office owes much of its success to a highly selective recruitment process.

Magain Real Estate placed first in the Real Estate Business Top 50 Sales Offices ranking after its 10-person team averaged 66.40 sales per staffer in 2013/2014.

Principal Mike Dobbin says Magain has been able to assemble a high-quality team thanks to a “very precious” hiring process that favours emotional skills over intellect.

Potential recruits first meet Mr Dobbin. The next step is to spend time with one of the agents. Interviews are more likely to happen in a café than a work environment.

Mr Dobbin says the Adelaide office won’t hire anyone who doesn’t seem likeable because recruits need to fit in around the office and make a good impression on clients.

“If we walk away after talking to that person and we would like to have another wine or beer with them or whatever, that is a real big tick,” he says.

A better hiring process means better staff retention, according to Mr Dobbin.

“Anyone that is in after three years is already thinking of the next step, which is setting up some sort of franchise group and staying within the company,” he says.

Magain secured 675 listings in 2013/2014 and made $245.7 million worth of sales.

Robinson Property, NSW

• Suburb: Newcastle, NSW
• Director: Guy Robinson
• Sales staff: 14
• Support staff: 5
• $405.6 million
• 840 properties sold

Thinking of calling a staff meeting? Maybe you should cancel it. Less is more, according to high-flying Robinson Property.

The Newcastle office finished second on this year’s rankings – up from fourth in 2014.

Compared to the other Top 50 agencies, it placed second with 908 listings, second with 840 sales, fourth with 44.21 sales per staff and seventh with sales volumes of $405.6 million.

Why are staff so productive? Partly because turnover rates are so low, says director Guy Robinson. So why is everyone so happy? Because they’re not stuck in meetings, he adds.

“Most agencies meet once a week and I think most of those meetings are run for the importance of the sales manager or run as a demand from the principal, rather than getting any good practical outcome for the sales guys,” he says.

“We will only run a sales meeting every couple of months, and we fill that with as much as we can about relevant information that actually assists the guys to gain more listings and to make sales.”

Mr Robinson says agents are always so busy with listing and selling that it is always difficult for them to find time to attend a meeting.

Hockingstuart Bentleigh, VIC

• Suburb: Bentleigh, VIC
• Director: Nick Renna
• Sales staff: 7
• Support staff: 8
• $359.7 million
• 412 properties sold

Hockingstuart Bentleigh is this year’s biggest mover, making its Top 50 Sales Offices debut at number three in the rankings.

The Melbourne business made $359.7 million of sales in 2013/2014, secured 370 listings and sold homes in an average of 22 days.

One reason for its success is clearly its boss, Nick Renna, who placed 16th in last year’s Top 100 Agents ranking.

Another reason is because of a strategic decision to put database management in the hands of specialist staff, Mr Renna says.

He says it’s wrong to let agents do it because their time is better spent with buyers and sellers.

But it’s also wrong to pass database management on to assistants because they prefer to spend time on their other responsibilities instead, he adds.

Mr Renna says one of his long-term plans for the business is to focus on residential developments.

“We have already started creating a database of apartment buyers and we are also making a lot of connections through financial planners and accountants to help sell these things off the plan,” he says.

“Also, we’re trying to become a specialist in townhouse developments because there is a lot of developing going on.”

LJ Hooker Canberra City, ACT

• Suburb: Canberra City, ACT
• Franchisee: Andrew Ligdopoulos
• Sales staff: 9
• Support staff: 1
• $188.5 million
• 421 properties sold

Investing in business coaching has helped LJ Hooker Canberra City climb this year’s rankings to fourth place.

The agency, which finished seventh last year, booked 421 sales in 2013/2014 at an average of 42.10 per staffer.

One reason for the agency’s improvement was its decision 18 months ago to use business consultants, owner Andrew Ligdopoulos says.

“Because we had been trying to grow the business and trying to do things to the business, we kept coming up against the same problems,” he says.

“One, for example, was trying to recruit new staff. We kept finding we were adding to the team but putting in the wrong people or losing them at the bottom end.”

Mr Ligdopoulos says the consultants have also helped the agency maximise its productivity by bringing greater order to its processes.

“You can spend a lot of money on technology and a lot of that money can be wasted. So it was about using the technology we already had and trying to use it to its full potential,” he says.

“They are basic systems that most people would be aware of, but we just needed to implement them and have them followed by the staff.”

Tracy Yap Realty, NSW

• Suburb: Epping, NSW
• Principal: Tracy Yap
• Sales staff: 10
• Support staff: 7
• $370.1 million
• 432 properties sold

A never-ending education process is a key reason for the success of Tracy Yap Realty.

The Sydney office improved on last year’s sixth place after finishing 2013/2014 with 432 sales valued at $370.1 million.

Principal Tracy Yap says the Sydney office makes its agents take part in studying and role-playing sessions twice a week.

Ms Yap also makes her staff read training books to boost their knowledge.

“I always think if you are a table tennis world champion player you are training every day, or if you are a basketball player you are training every day. But why don’t real estate agents train ourselves every day?” she says.

“We understand that vendors pay us to do a good job, not to do a lousy job. If we are not good enough, we have a lot of competitors everywhere; but if we are good, we don’t have any competitors.”

Ms Yap says she and her staff also work hard to build their local knowledge and reputation.

“Real estate is a personal business. We always show our vendors, our clients, our buyers that we appreciate them for all their help,” she says.