Not built overnight: How agents can break into the luxury market 

Speaking on a recent episode of the REB podcast, Boyd said that many agents wrongly assumed they could enter the luxury market and succeed right away.

“We’ve got some extremely good agents that call our network home, and it’s not a strategy that you can go out overnight and say, I’m a luxury specialist,” he said.

Before rushing into a sale, Boyd said the first rule for agents who had never transacted a luxury property before was to find a mentor who knew how to deal with clients with the highest standards.

He said one major mistake he often saw from agents new to the sector was when they allowed their egos to get in the way and get ahead of themselves, trying to make an impression.

“They stumble across a ‘whale’, someone who is a high net worth individual, they form a relationship, and the opportunity is just so big and exciting and yet you’ve never done it before,” he said.

To avoid losing the opportunity, Boyd said agents should consider if there is someone in their business who had transacted in similar luxury sales, whether geographically or in price.

He also said that, particularly in the luxury market, privacy was of the utmost importance to both seller and buyer, with many transactions including special conditions and clauses around anonymity.

Because of the opportunity to work with high-net-worth clients, he advised agents to show the utmost respect to both parties throughout the transaction, or risk losing the opportunity to sell.

“It’s [about] being consistent, always doing the right thing by the people around them because your reputation is worth significantly more than anything luxury sale.”

To be a successful luxury property agent, Boyd said it was crucial to approach sales professionally, considerately, and ethically, rather than being flashy or drawing attention to themselves.

“You turn up respectful, you turn up understated. There’s value to understated elegance. And that’s what I see, just time and time again … it’s not always about beating your chest the loudest.”

When establishing an initial connection with prospective clients, Boyd said agents should get to know them on a deeper level, learning more about who they are as people, to build a rapport so they would be encouraged to sell with them.

“You’ve got to just be curious – that’s one of the best pieces of advice when you’re dealing with anyone, but particularly high net worth, because they may not want to share and you’ll read the room,” he said.

Boyd also spoke on the importance of agents having ongoing, consistent interactions with clients, as the luxury market often requires longer-term relationships than other segments.

“It’s more than just a journey of a campaign of going, I present a property, show a buyer, do a negotiation, sell the property, sell the property, it’s a client for life, more so than ever,” he said.

Boyd said agents needed to consider the touchpoints they would use beyond the sale and how they would service the buyer through advice after settlement.

“How do we present ourselves? How do we do an open home? What’s our expectation on follow-ups? What’s our expectation on settlement gifts, in the settlement process, post settlement day?”

“More so than just saying, hey, well done, you paid $25 million for that home.”

Ultimately, Boyd said the sector required agents to build a name for themselves to allow prospective clients to know about them, but to do so in a humble manner.

“Sometimes, the loudest gets heard first, but it doesn’t always mean they are respected through that process,” he said.

“So it’s about how do you find the balance between being recognised, but for the high net worth clients, being trusted? It takes time, but it’s about doing it in a conservative manner,” Boyd concluded.