The Year That Was

It’s only a few weeks left to the end of the year and it’s a great time to reflect on the year that was. It certainly has been a compelling year and there have been laughter, tears, stress and more tears perhaps.
Before we sit down to the traditional turkey or the great Aussie BBQ on Christmas day now is a good time to reflect on the year that was. Not just from a personal prospective but what’s happening across Australia.

Many of us can get into the Henny Penny stage and think that the sky is falling down and it’s all doom and gloom, however once we put things into prospective we quickly realise that this is not the case at all. So let’s take a ride through 2011

Reflection on 2011

• We started 2011 with the hope that the GFC was well and truly over and bring on the good times
• Major Tsunami in Japan killing thousands
• Devastating earthquake in Christchurch levelling a beautiful city
• Osama bin Laden the most wanted man on the planet killed
• Gadafi killed
• Floods in Brisbane, Victoria, Fires in Perth, cyclone Yasi
• Carbon tax and flood levy introduced
• Mass killings in Norway
• 2 interest rate cuts
• Crisis in Europe
• China economy starts to soften
• Borders and Angus and Robertson placed into receivership
• Riots in Villawood detention centre
• Virgin Blue rebrand to Virgin Australia
• Ash clouds from Chile ground flights in Australia
• Gillard Government signs “Malaysian Solution” deal
• High court judge rejects “Malaysia Solution”
• Census was held this year
• Daniel Morecombe remains found
• Ned Kelly remains found
• Visits by various royalty
• Commonwealth Head of Govt meeting held in Perth
• Qantas grounded
• Barrack Obama visits
• Geelong wins the AFL grand final
• Sea Eagles wins the NRL grand final
• All Blacks win the world cup
• Dunaden wins Melbourne Cup

The real estate market this year has been described as stable, flat, changing, challenging, soft…. Auction clearance rates have hovered between 50-70%, the much anticipated interest rate cuts have not really had an impact as yet and we all await for the new year to see if there will be further cuts to stimulate the economy.
Harcourts NSW is had an interesting year and looking at the figures overall we have performed well as a network in a changing market.

Harcourts NSW comparison 2010 to 2011

Sales Volume	58.97% ↑
Average Number of Sales Consultants	30.18% ↑
Average Sale Price	5.68%↑
Number of Properties SOLD	50.96%↑
Total Number of Properties Listed	29.67%↑
Auctions listed	37.44%↑

Refection on you
Now let’s focus on you, how have you performed this year in comparison to your business plan? In comparison to 2010 have you improved? What are the key areas you need to work on for 2012 to have an awesome year?

Work on your business plan now so that when you return in 2012 you have laid the foundations of success and most importantly ensure that you have someone to hold you accountable.

The customer has moved from passenger to pilot

I was catching a flight from Sydney to Melbourne and saw an ad that had the title - The customer has moved from being a passenger to pilot.
How accurate is this tag line. Our clients are now dictating to us the services they want, when they want it and how they want to receive it.
The mantra Customer is King has one premise in mind and that is no matter what we design - product, systems, processes etc we have one key focus in mind and that is the customer.

Your brand no matter how strong will not create loyalty or develop great customer relations. Your people do this.

Your clients today are doing all their research on you, the company, what others are saying about you on face book or google and then basing their decision on who they will meet that will best meet their needs at the time. These needs will include price, emotion, reason for buying or selling.

The customer is also extremely knowledgeable and they want to be treated as "kings".

How much effort are you putting into your customer service processes and experiences. When ever a client chooses to interact with your business it needs to be an experience, your people need to understand what the experience looks like and nail it every single time.

Here is a quick audit check for you:

• what is the face you and your team present to your customer?
• do your people know what this face is and believe in it?
• one size does not fit all, you have different types of customers, does your experience cater for this?
• do you and your people actually know what your customer wants before they ask for it; and the only way to find this out is to stay in touch and have an awesome database and contact plan in place?
• when the clients transacts with you is the experience a memorable one and how do you know if it is?
• how are you measuring customer service in your business?
• have you actually asked your customers what they want?
• have you told your customers the results and changes of those surveys you constantly send out?

As a customer when I interact with any brand in my mind they exist in that moment in time to only create value for me and I expect the best.

Value however is different for everyone and it constantly changes. Therefore for those of us in client facing industries we need to be constantly finding new ways to price our goods, be innovative, tap into the emotion of the transaction. Remember the balance of power is in our customers hands.

We need to change the way we think, from charging a fee to sell a home to merging your product and service together that provides the customer with not just value but an experience they simply cannot walk away from. Something that goes beyond a simple sales transaction.

Are you focused with a game plan?

Take a look around you, are you surrounded by people who are just going through the motions, too busy worrying about things they can’t control, blaming the market, the brand or the weather for their lack of success. Let’s take a quick reality check for these people - It’s not the market, it’s not your brand or the weather it’s YOU!.
So what characteristics do you want to see in people around you at the moment… For me it would be are they focused, they have a game plan to the end of the year and more importantly how do they intend to start the new year. That plan needs to be in place now before you go away on the Christmas break.

I read an article last week that I found fascinating about a documentary called “Yes Madam Sir”. It's about Kiran Bedi, India’s first woman to join the Indian police force and who later made her mark as a fighter for social justice. Evidently she was fearless in facing her challenges which ranged from saving people from burning buildings, creating community schools or running India’s toughest prison with 10,000 inmates. She was the first and last police office to tow away the Prime Ministers car because it was parked illegally. As described in this article in one situation, where angry rioters brandishing swords had run amuck and her own police regiment had scattered, Bedi armed with just a baton, single-handedly faced off the rioters. When a BBC reporter later asked her “Were you scared?” Bedi responded “Not at all...because my mind was focused.” (taken from newsletter – Greg Nathan Franchise Institute)… The movie Yes Madam Sir is a must see.

I caught up with my previous CEO from the old firm the other day and he said something interesting to me. The tedious tasks are actually the most dollar productive and when we are working in a market that is buoyant we don’t really need to do the tedious tasks however in a changing market focus on these will make the difference.

What are these tasks well here are few you could consider:

· How awesome and up to date is your database. By this I mean that every person you come into contact with is on the system with a category and a contact plan in place. Data is the key to your success.
· You call every person from your OFI list and qualify them, enter them into your database
· If your OFI numbers are low then work your database of potential buyers
· You put potential buyers into your car and drive them around the area looking at options on properties, you need to make sure that every buyer who walks into your sphere of influence is qualified
· You are constantly working on your negotiation skills
· You are pricing your properties correctly and keeping your vendors up to date with what feedback you are getting from opens and inspections. There should be no surprises for vendors on auction day or during the private sale process
· You intend to have long term marriages with your clients not love affairs – by this I mean that once you have sold the property you don’t just move onto the next client. You ensure that you have a contact/communication plan in place to keep in touch with all past clients.
· Have in place a one page plan that keeps you focused on the key numbers, how many calls do you need to make, how many face to face appointments per week, listings converted, sales made. Tick these off every week, if you are off track you will know and you can make adjustments no point in getting to the end of the month or quarter and then reviewing your performance – its too late by that stage, you cant make any changes.

Like Kiran Bedi you need to have complete focus on what you need to do to be successful. No point in focusing on things you can’t control such as the market, what is occurring in china or Europe or interest rates. Your focus needs to be on the plan you have in place to be successful and remember the basics of real estate always work no matter what market you are working in.

Is it faster – better – cheaper or better with a great experience?

Are consumers looking for faster, better, cheaper or are they looking for better with great experience and value for money?

I was catching up for a coffee with a very successful real estate friend of mine last week when the conversation - as expected- turned to real estate and fees. How do we maintain our fees in a tight market when our competitors are constantly dropping their pants?

Now for the purpose of this story and to protect identities lets name my friend Bill.  

Bill mentioned how he recently bought a new home and was looking for a fridge. He did his research on the internet and local paper prior to going to the shops. In his own words “after looking at so many providers and fridges it got blurred and confusing." 

Sound familiar?

As Bill wanted to get the best product on the market at the best possible price he firstly set about going to each shop and meeting the sales person who sold him the benefits of the fridge and provided him with a price.

The experience was described as here is the fridge, this is what it does, this is the price, here is my card with my details.

Now Bill was going into these shops with only one thing in mind how much could he crunch the price because the product and service were all the same to him. So Bing Lee, the Super Centre, etc - they were all the same.

Consumers today are all about getting a bargain, getting the best deal and we will research on the internet, ask our friends and have a strategy in mind before we engage with the provider. Like Bill the providers at the point of research all look the same.

However based on my own experience, my colleagues, friends and general research most of us will be prepared to pay more for better levels of service.  This part of the transaction is dependent on human interaction, where we are able to connect, gain trust, set ourselves apart, be understanding and empathetic.

So when as an agent we are faced with a client who like Bill has researched agents on the internet, face book and friends, is focused on crunching our fees to the same as the other agent we need to make sure we have shown them value and provide them with service that is memorable.

If their response is I know you do much more and I like you but I only want to pay the lower price they don't see your value. If we look the same as all the others we will be competing on the price they have set and often it is much lower than ours.

Mostly you will need to do a deal, we all want win/win but we don't have drop our price down as low as our competitors.

And remember sometimes it is better to walk away

I remember walking through markets in India where you are expected to bargain, however amongst the best bargain price shops were those who had a fixed price, they did not bargain. Their product was the same however their service and the shopping experience was different and people were prepared to pay for it.

So what happened to Bill well he was off to Harvey Norman this weekend to buy the fridge - why from them... They weren't the cheapest; they had provided him with the best level of service compared to the other providers – so it was better service and experience at a slightly higher price but still value for money.

Bill if you work out who you are always great to have a coffee and thank you for the inspiration of this Blog.

Its all the about experience - how memorable is yours?

 

I have had the fabulous pleasure of going to two different health retreats over the last 3 months, self-indulgent perhaps yes, required absolutely.

However the experience at both of these has been vastly different as you would perhaps expect but the difference in the experience is what has confirmed for me what I believe to be the better health retreat.

The differences were subtle yet obvious, the outcomes were the same yet the experience to get there vastly different, the staff had the same technical qualifications however the delivery in service was lacking, award winning chef but the food wasn’t as tasty nor was there the variety, information provided similar but delivery poor and not engaging.

More importantly I had something else to compare to!

Who are you being compared to and what are the differences?  In fact do you actually know what the differences are and how your team are communicating these to clients?

A potential vendor/investor may call anywhere up to 5 agents into their home. How are you standing out? Or is the experience you provide from the clients prospective the same? In fact are you even being called in?

Remember today your point of difference in terms of prelisting kits, websites, how you conduct your opens, feedback to vendors is very similar, in fact from your vendors prospective they may struggle to really see a difference.

However where you can stand out is the experience you provide vendors during each of these interactions. It comes down to you not so much the brand or the offerings, they may be reason you were called in but you get the listing because they connected with you.

Celebrating Independance Day.

Many of you have been to Fiji for a holiday: it is a popular destination world over and despite the political instability still seen as a safe destination. Many of you may not know the history of Fiji, so to celebrate independance day here is a brief outline on our history.

In 1874 Fiji ceded to Great Britain and remained a colony until the 10^th of October 1970. The British did not conquer Fiji but the island asked to be ceded and it was only accepted on the condition that it had to govern itself.

The land was fertile and it was decided to use it for copra and sugar cane. There was a need for regular supply of labourers.

The first Governor of the Colony was determined to preserve Fijian culture and society and as a result no Fijian would be asked to work in the plantations as this would breakdown the village system. He also realised that the native population was more difficult to control.

The British had used Indian indentured labour systems in other colonies quite successfully and decided to do the same in Fiji. The labourers we bought in from India.

On the 14^th of May 1879 the first ship from Calcutta – the Leonidas – arrived in Fiji carrying 464 passengers/indentured labourers. The boat was pest ridden with many suffering cholera and small pox.

All labourers were contracted to CSR, an Australian Company that ran the plantations in Fiji. Upon disembarkation they were allocated to a plantation and taken there.

Over the next 37 years over 61,000 were bought into Fiji. They became known as the Girmitiyas. My grandfather and his family were some of these labourers. They came from Patna and they left India on the 19th of July 1095 on board the SS Fultala. He was listed as a 6 years labourer No 328. They arrived on the 17/8 1905, disemabarked on the 18/8 and were sent to Drasa T Estate under the management of CSR.

They were housed in coolie lines that were 10ft by 7ft. Each line had 8-10 rooms with walls that did not reach the ceiling and each family, no matter how large, were given one room with no separate kitchen or latrines and rations were only provided for the first 6 months. From what I have found the total family that came over was my great grandfather, his wife and 3 kids aged 1, 6 and 9.

The girmit contract stipulated that an individual had to work nine hours on five consecutive days of every week, plus five hours on Saturday, and for each full day's work he would receive a shilling. They were contracted to do 5 years with the promise of being sent back home- this of course did not occur.

Men and women did the same hours of work; however women then came home to cook and clean and tend to the home. Due to the fact that there were shortages of women they were also constantly in danger of being raped, taken as a mistress or killed by their husbands due to suspected infidelity.

In fact it was the news of the molestation and abuse of Indian women on the plantations that outraged India most. The campaigns in India to stop the degradation of Indian women in the colonies 'received wider public support than any other movement in Indian history, more even than the movement for independence'.

There are some amazing stories and you can read them on http://www.fijigirmit.org/stories.htm

The Girmitiyas are gone now, but their imprint is etched indelibly on the landscape of Fiji. When I tell people that my grandparents were part of this era many are surprised to hear of the history. My grandparents were part of a remarkable episode in modern history where slavery was given another name.  The Girmitiyas called it 'narak' which means hell, an experience which robbed them of 'izzat', honour, which denied them 'insaf', justice. The words are theirs, not mine.

In 1916 the Indenture system was officially abolished by Britain. The last shipload of labourers arrived in November aboard the Sutlej V. This is the 87th ship that brought labourers to Fiji.  In 1920, all indenture in Fiji was cancelled.

On the 10^th of October 1970 we gained our independence and ended 96 years under British Rule.
I can only imagine what life for my grandparents was like, I remember stories my grandmother told me and sometimes I can still hear her voice in the distance reminding me of my heritage.

Independence day still resonates significance within my island home and plays an integral role in defining the culture and values of the nation that has a history that many do not know about.
*information from the book Girmitiyas

To engage or not to engage - that is the question.

Ever heard of happy people = happy clients = happy dollars. For those of you who have heard me speak before would have.

But oh how easy it is not to have happy people and the smallest of things will start to disengage them.

It's coming up to that time of the year, reviews are due, salaries are up for discussion, KPIs are reset and promotions are being considered. However truth be known everyone wants to feel important, told they are doing a great job and yes get a bonus or pay rise

If you manage a team consider the following:
1. Have you had regular one on one meetings with them
2. Are you using standard forms
3. Have you booked in a time to catch up to discuss the above before end of June
4. Have you got team member to do self assessment
5. Do they understand your biz plan and how they fit into it
6. Do you need to reassess their kpis

If you haven't you must do so. If you need help I can provide you with easy simple tools to start you off.

Your people give to your biz every day, the least you can do is give back to them. Do not make the mistake of cancelling a performance meeting because you are busy and have too much on your plate but keep a personal appointment like lunch or hair cut or worse drinks at the pub!

If you are an employee and your manager has not made the time to give you feedback in the role, drop me a line, more than happy to help you provide them with feedback.

Remember engagement is the key, this is the responsibility of managers, directors, CEOs...happy people = happy clients = happy dollars.

More on this hearty topic in the next few weeks