Ready Set Go 2023

Ready is designed to get members ready for April and beyond.

Ray White Queensland is firmly focused on its goal of selling one in four houses in the state. The market share is now 15 per cent, with 25 per cent in its sights.

Jason Andrew, Ray White Queensland CEO, unveiled a newly created platform to get more referrals across the leading group.

“Can we get more referrals from inside the group? Yes and since December we have tracked $500 million worth of referrals, with a 31 per cent refer-to-list ratio and through this collaborative effort it’s getting better together.

“The theme of the year is to be the hunter, not the hunted.”

Keynote speaker Dave Donaghy (pictured above), CEO of the Brisbane Broncos, is managing one of the most high profile NRL clubs in Australia. Prior to joining the Broncos, Mr Donaghy was CEO of the Melbourne Storm for nearly a decade.

“As CEO of the Melbourne Storm, I was asked to cut the budget but not affect performance, and to build a strategy. I knew I had to build a strategy to ensure the team would continue to come through but also build a sustainable program on-field and sustainable practices off-field to ensure viability of the club in the long term,” Mr Donaghy said.

“Our off-field offering needed to be relevant so we put our fans at the centre of the experience. We put ourselves in their shoes and challenged ourselves about how we could take our learnings and bring them into the club.

“Success is all about your people, you need a great environment. And we knew there was always something we could do everyday to help us win a premiership. When it starts getting hard, there are little things that are neglected which can erode your business so we really focused on those.

“Now at the Broncos, we are tracking ourselves on the three P’s – professionalism, progress and performance.”

Ray White Group Head of Performance and Recognition Bianca Denham (pictured above) spoke about the dangers of falling into a scarcity mindset.

A scarcity mindset is when you believe there are limited resources, so if someone else has something, you feel there is less of that resource available for you.

“I want to look at why we’ve had some of our top people move backwards year-on-year and to give you confidence that you can have your personal best year, even in the current landscape which is always changing,” Ms Denham said.

“There was an element of ‘I’ll take it while it lasts’, but most of us have built businesses that are unsustainable and the worst part is our mindset is based on scarcity.

“As soon as you get in a scarcity mindset you start panicking and you compromise. Your brain will fixate in the short term. When you have a scarcity mindset it stops you from having the capacity to plan long term. It creates a cycle of being transactionally focused.”

She listed the top high performance structural tools agents can use to boost their business.

“If you use it well, our sales management platform, Nurture Cloud will help you improve your business. You need to clearly create roles and structures for every team member and follow the auction process because private treaty makes you a victim to the market,” Ms Denham said.

Ray White Chief Strategy Officer (Real Estate) Mark McLeod (pictured above) reminded the crowd that they have no control over interest rates or house prices so it’s time to stop focusing on them.

“We spend most of our time talking about things we don’t have anything to do with. We have no control over prices or interest rates but it gives us an excuse to not perform,” Mr McLeod said.

“If you are doing the same thing today as when the market was booming, I can tell you it won’t work. You will need to make fundamental, structural changes this year.

“I guarantee if you are telling yourself that this is going to be your worst year, then it will be. Everyone of you knows what to do, so this should be your best year.

“You have no control over the market but what you do have control over, is if your market is down 10 per cent then you do 10 per cent more of what drives listings to your business.”

Ray White Queensland Chief Auctioneer Gavin Croft (pictured above) discussed the future of auctions in the sunshine state.

“There is a pot of gold in Queensland real estate right now and it’s directly linked to auctions. Auction sentiment has changed. The year 2022 was a breakout year for auctions with almost 7000 auctions booked, compared to 3500 in 2018,” Mr Croft said.

“There used to be a huge mindset disparity about auctions from Sydney to Auckland to Brisbane but Queensland has now caught up. Some of the best auction agents in the country are right here sitting in this room.

“We have the capability and ability to do more than 10,000 auctions in a year. If everyone in this room did two auctions a month we’d hit 10,000 and the impact on the Queensland real estate market would be profound. But this requires a mindset shift and a change in behaviour. No other group in Queensland can do 7000 auctions in a year, let alone 10,000.”

“Private treaty makes you a victim of the market, and auctions are more efficient across all markets. So ask yourself are you running towards auctions and taking control?

“In 2022, more than 40,000 buyers were prepared to bid unconditionally at auction and auctions simply changed behaviour. The market has changed in the last 7-8 years, the real estate transaction has changed in Queensland.

“We want to help people bid and buy and we have changed behaviour from Port Douglas to Tugun. We can educate buyers and change their behaviour to bid and buy unconditionally. “When I hear people say ‘auctions don’t work in my area’ we need to help you know when to push, to do great buyer work, and when not to give in. We are the competition creators and our role as an agent is to always get the highest price for our clients.”

Chairman’s Elite agent Sonya Treloar from Ray White Bridgeman Downs and Elite selling principal of Ray White Rockhampton David Bell joined Ray White Queensland’s Tony Warland (pictured above) on stage. Mr Warland hosted a panel with the two top agents about the importance of volume in a changing market.

Ms Denham and Ray White Queensland’s Michael Andrews hosted a second panel with Ray White Upper Coomera’s Brad Wilson, Jason Atkinson and Simon Finlayson (pictured above). They spoke about how a champion team will always beat a team of champions.

Ray White Rochedale director Azhar Omar (pictured above) said he loved today’s event. “My favourite thing about today’s event is the networking with fellow peers. Learning from them and implementing in our businesses.”

Ray White West End’s Fiona Conde (pictured above) said her business had taken NurtureCloud seriously. “As a result we are making more calls and getting more appraisal than ever before,” Ms Conde said. “We are a volume business, we are an auction business. NurtureCloud is now a core platform that allows us to be the volume auction business that we are.”

Ray White Robina sales agent Karyn O’Dea (pictured above) said NurtureCloud has become a huge advantage for her business.

“For me NurtureCloud increases volume. It all starts with people, prospecting and relationships and we have all been given a golden ticket with NurtureCloud. It tells us the activity of people and the smart calls to make.

“NurtureCloud increases connections, and makes clear lanes & the lanes will return to you.”

Ray White Coomera’s Simon Finlayson (pictured above) said today’s event was terrific with great takeaways to have the best year ever in a changing market.