The ‘Dynamic Duo’ of Helen Bond and Di Pitchford at The Professionals Michael Johnson and Co, Mount Lawley, have run with the idea of an Effective Business Unit (EBU) and created an unbeatable force.
Specialising in properties over the $1 million mark, and averaging 10-12 sales per month, this female powerhouse netted $1.6 million in fees in the past year. Even the slump in property sales throughout the country due to the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) didn’t affect their shine.
“In Perth, the average is about 78 days on market. Di and I moved two $1.8 million properties - one took eight days and the house next door moved on the day we listed it,” Ms Bond said.
MARKETING EFFECTIVELY
Advising their clients as they would want to be helped as vendors themselves, the Mount Lawley EBU charges 2.9 per cent commission, inclusive of GST, and a $1900 fee for marketing campaigns. They have found the formula that works – and it doesn’t cost the earth.
“We are heavily into internet advertising and some local papers. We also advertise all of our home opens on the internet,” Ms Bond explained and said they were honest with vendors, letting them know they didn’t need to “chew up” thousands of dollars in advertising in daily newspapers. “We say to people, if we were selling our house, this is exactly what we would do.”
“We have earned the reputation of not only achieving people’s expectations, but exceeding those expectations. Having the Dynamic Duo, as we call ourselves, they feel the energy when we’re with them and I think they feel good about employing us to do the job,” Ms Pitchford added.
And their numbers aren’t their only accolades. Both sales consultants have picked up The Professionals Master Sales Person of the Year WA, Professional of the Year and Highest Gross Commission, even after their sales were split down the middle and they were considered separately.
With assistant Peta Cron – who is Di’s daughter – backing them up in the offi ce, it seems nothing gets in their way. Ms Bond explains their success is continually generating because they are seen everywhere. “We have so many listings and a great turnover; people think ‘we’ve got to get the girls on board’,” she explained.
PLAYING TO THEIR STRENGTHS
Before joining forces three years ago, Ms Bond and Ms Pitchford were sole agents. Since forming their EBU and bringing Ms Cron on board to assist with administration, marketing and operations, they haven’t looked back.
“As a separate agent, I found that I was being bogged down by all the back end stuff instead on concentrating on the numbers of listing and selling, whereas now in the EBU we have someone to take care of those issues so Helen and I are out there day in, day out, listing and selling,” Ms Pitchford said.
“I believe that separately I would have achieved less than half of that because I would have been concentrating on things that weren’t going to help the numbers as well as appraisals, listings and then the sales,” she added.
One of the reasons the Mount Lawley EBU is so successful is the team environment. The two women run it like a job share operation, so they can be successful business women – and have lives.
“We always go to the appraisals together and when we go back for the listing presentation we invariably do try and do that together, otherwise they have met us both and we can go individually. Di and I talk the same language - we can both pick up where the other left off, no problem at all,” Ms Bond said.
“A lot of teams have one lister and one seller, but Di and I are both listers and sellers. We’re both sales people, so it’s not like one of us has a strength in one rather than the other. We both have the strength in both the listing and the selling,” she said.
TIME OUT
Ms Bond has a young family and this arrangement means she can spend time with them between 3pm and 6pm.
“At 3pm the school pick up commences, going home, the homework, making the meals. I’m unavailable until 6pm when my husband returns from work to look after the children and in that time Di covers everything,” Ms Bond explains, saying most of their clients wouldn’t even know. “From their point of view, one of us is always available whenever they need us,” she added.
Instead of working themselves to the bone and never taking a break, the EBU team environment allows each partner to have time off to recharge.
“The bit that’s fabulous is that somebody can have time out, but for the person whose property you’re looking after, nothing stops for them. If an individual listed somebody’s property and they were going away for a weekend, a week or even two weeks, those people would be left completely out in the cold,” Ms Bond said.
It wasn’t just about being around when the other wasn’t there, Ms Bond explained, but also being their support. “Two heads
are better than one and you’re covering a whole lot more ground than you would as an individual,” she said.
THE LITTLE THINGS
With a host of other agents sharing their area, both women know they have to go the extra mile to show their point of difference and not rely on their results to speak for them. This means putting out open home signs at 6am and following up everyone who attends the 18+ open homes they hold each weekend.
“We have a minimum of 12 open houses on a Saturday and 6 on a Sunday. If we’re carrying more than 30-odd listings, then Peta would help and also do another six, so there have been weekends when we’ve had 22-24 home opens,” Ms Pitchford said.
“In the follow up, we phone people fi rstly to say thank you for coming to the home opens and we just see if they were out having a look, or are a serious seller, or a buyer,” Ms Bond added. “It’s quite easy to be good in this industry because a lot of people aren’t doing those little things that are the points of difference. We absolutely love it and I think people see that.”
With an average of 8-10 people though an open home and at least 18 opens each weekend, this agency is seeing hundreds of potential buyers and sellers every week. “We are meeting people every single week that nobody else is meeting, because nobody else out there in our area is doing 18 home opens a weekend. We have an advantage, because everything we do, we do for them. If we get a price reduction, we will ring everybody that’s been through that property and let them know of that price reduction,” Ms Bond said.
In their bid to be everywhere, Ms Pitchford and Ms Bond do a regular letterbox drop in their area every six weeks. They use brochures explaining their successes or invite people to call for a free appraisal. They also do calendars and football fi xtures. “When we go around to do our appraisals, we always look for our calendar straight away on all the fridges,” Ms Bond laughed.
WHY WAIT?
With plans to expand in the next year, the owners of Mount Lawley EBU have their sights set on big things, but they are careful to keep the spark that makes them unique. “We’ve been discussing an additional person in the system. We haven’t quite worked out the function, but I do believe there is space to grow the EBU, but we also don’t want to lose the synergy that we have because that’s really important. Having three of us in one office and the amount of fun we have is incredible. People in the offices around us say ‘you girls are always laughing in there’. We have lots of laughs, and it’s all a fun process,” Ms Pitchford said.
For those thinking of taking the plunge and setting up an EBU, Ms Bond recommends just doing it. “Be careful of waiting too long. Just do it tomorrow,” she said. “When I started in the industry I went to a conference with Lee [Woodward] and he said this [EBUs] was the way to go so I thought: why not do it now, why wait 5-10 years down the track? It has been proven to be the way to go and I think in 5-10 years time you will find that it’s all people will be doing – teaming up with somebody.”
Ms Pitchford said the system worked best when the partners were equals. “I would say: match up with somebody who’s got the same high energy levels as yourself and who works at the same pace. We all muck in together and we make it happen together.”
Open Home Follow Up Call...
As a team, Ms Bond and Ms Pitchford are powerful, but separately they are just as good at their game, as shown by the role plays here with Lee Woodward. Helen Bond starts the process with a follow up call.
Helen Bond: “Hi Lee, just giving you a courtesy call to thank you for coming to our home open on the weekend. I’m just giving the owner some feedback and wanted to know if you have any further interest in that property.”
Lee Woodward: “Yeah, it was alright. What do you think it will go for?”
HB: “I think very near that asking price, Lee.”
LW: “Have you had any offers yet?”
HB: “We have; we’ve had several offers on that property in a very soughtafter location and a real king of the castle home.”
LW: “For me I think it was a bit high, but I’ll let you know how I go on that one.”
HB: “OK, so Lee you’re looking for something seriously in the Mount Lawley area?”
LW: “I am, yeah. I’ve been looking for a while.”
HB: “Do you have your property on the market at the moment?”
LW: “No I don’t.”
HB: “Have you had anybody through to give you a price to see where it is in the market?”
LW: “I’ve had a few appraisals over the time. Everyone’s trying to get into my place all the time, so yeah, I’ve had a few people in.”
HB: “Well, we would love to come through and have a look and let you know where we see it in the marketplace. You’ve probably seen our signs everywhere and you’ve probably noticed the two in Fifth Avenue that went very quickly – it was Di and I who sold those two.”
LW: “I did notice those. That was a very good result.”
HB: “We were very happy with those, so Lee if you would like us to come through, I’d be more than happy to. What was it about that home that you’d probably move on, or would you look for something else?”
LW: “The garden was good; I liked the pool, but the living area just didn’t have it for me.”
HB: “If we found something that had that, would you be keen to have a look?”
LW: “Yes certainly, have you got anything else?”
HB: “We do actually, Lee. I could set up a few appointments later in the week and get back to you with a time, if that suits you. When would you be free?”
LW: “3.15 tomorrow”
HB: “3.15, perfect. I’ll set that up for you now.”
Viewing Commitment
After Lee has seen the property, Di Pitchford sets up further viewings.
Di Pitchford: “Lee, you’ve seen four properties today. Which would you prefer out of the four we’ve shown you?”
Lee Woodward: “The second one was really good.”
DP: “Would you like to now set up a time to go through your property so that we can have a look and assess what we think your property would be worth in today’s market and take it from there, or would you like to invite your wife to come back and we can arrange for a second viewing there at a different time, in a different light, because properties are a little bit like people – they have moods and you may like to capture it in a different mood, Lee.”
LW: “Yeah, when is a good time to come back through?”
DP: “Our owner has indicated that Friday evening is quite a good time for her, and from about 6.30pm the views from the property are exceptional, so I’m sure that you and your wife would love to come through the property and have a look at that.”
LW: “And who’ll be showing me through that one?”
DP: “I’ll be meeting you there Lee, and possibly Helen will be available. She’s available after 6pm on Friday, so the two of us will probably meet you and your wife there and then we can discuss taking it further.”