Working with four people means a lot of communication and trying to coordinate all of that is a really big challenge
It is not too much of a stretch to say Carlie Barnett has real estate running through her veins. Working in an agency while studying for her HSC (Higher School Certificate), Ms Barnett investigated other avenues when she finished school, but real estate was already part of her life
Ms Barnett has recently started as the Business Unit Coordinator for Ray White East Director Arthur Perdis, a role she has held since November 2009 with the aim of stamping her mark on it within the next 2-3 years.
Starting in the industry eight years ago, Ms Barnett began working as an agency receptionist and helping out with property management. She quickly worked her way up the ranks, choosing roles carefully to ensure she was always making a gain. “Every job I’ve taken on since I left high school I’ve just progressed up the ladder. As I’ve gone along, with every move I’ve made sure I’m going to be stepping into a new role or learning more, or I’ve changed areas, or changed companies,” Ms Barnett said, explaining she moved from the NSW Central Coast where she had worked for four years with McGrath to Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs for her current role. “The market is so different here from the Coast, so as I’ve gone along I have learnt new things and new challenges have presented themselves.”
In her role as Business Unit Coordinator, Ms Barnett is responsible for ensuring every day runs smoothly for her team, which includes Mr Perdis and two sales associates. Each day begins with a 10-minute briefing meeting where the team members discuss calls they will make, emails to send, appointments they have set in their diaries and marketing that must be approved. “We have two meetings a week where we meet for an hour and talk about various things in our business. One meeting is for working on our business and the other meeting is for working in our business,” she said.
The role also includes managing Ray White East’s incoming calls and emails and coordinating tasks to be completed for the team. “Working with four people means a lot of communication and trying to coordinate all of that is a really big challenge,” she said. As one of the first points of contact for all phone and email communication coming into the office, Ms Barnett must act as a gatekeeper and deals with many queries on the spot. “Whatever I can’t deal with I will speak to Arthur and I forward it on to him. It’s the same with office enquiries – I’ll forward them on to the two other associates in my team if I can’t deal with it, but normally a lot of the enquiries come through me.” Another part of her role is to keep the team focused on the target the members agreed on for the year ahead, based on the KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and business plan they have written together. To help keep everyone on track rewards have been set for reaching monthly, quarterly and annual goals, but equally there are consequences if team members don’t reach those goals.
“I’m responsible for my team and I’m accountable for them reaching their targets. We’ve got a goal for 2010, which is a dollar figure that we want to write in total commission. Making sure we are on track to reach our goal is the ultimate challenge. If I’m not holding them accountable, then I’m not playing my part in reaching that goal,” Ms Barnett said.
Just settling in after less than three months at Ray White East, Ms Barnett said she “would really like to feel I own this role and set this up as a blueprint for other Business Development Units within the real estate network”. She plans to use the skills she has developed in her career with those of her current role to set up a similar business model for other agencies that want to appoint assistants.
The business training model would be offered to agencies with physical and electronic training manuals, she explained. “I’d like to give them some electronic material and then sit with them and implement the program.”
Further into the future, Ms Barnett has her sights sent on real estate industry presenting roles where she can share her knowledge through seminars and speaking engagements. The beginning of this goal was realised when Ms Barnett spoke at the Real Estate Academy Professional Assistant Breakfast in February. Using her own career as a case study, she shared her experiences and thoughts on business practices at the Sydney breakfast meeting.
After making such a strong impact on the industry in a short time, there is no doubt Carlie Barnett is a name that will feature in the future.