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Karen Vogl, Mental Fitness Translates to Brilliant Figures


Karen Vogl

From four sales a month to just completing her 150th sale for the year, Karen Vogl has proven herself to be a real estate agent with great sales ability as well as mental fitness.

The Hocking Stuart Ringwood director grossed $1.8 million last year and knows what it takes to reach – and keep - those figures. She has a strategy to ensure she is always at the top of her game.

Her average of 15-20 appraisals a week, and 20-25 on a good week, sets Ms Vogl up for the week ahead, but the real secret behind her success is the reputation she has built up over many years and the backing of a great team.

“I’ve been working in the same area for some time, so I do have a relatively good following,” Ms Vogl explained. “I’ve got a very good team around me,” she added, saying her buyer’s agent Donna started as a PA but has now become her partner and they share appraisals and open homes.

As an agent Ms Vogl carries 35-40 properties for sale at once and knows anything above that is too much. Her average sales price is around $600,000 for the three-bedroom brick veneer or four bedroom, two-bathroom properties she mainly sells.

Preparing for Success

To keep this sales machine running smoothly and effectively, Ms Vogl starts each week mentally clear by preparing on Sunday afternoon and forecasting for the week ahead. “I do like to prepare myself for the week. If I look in my diary and I can see there’s already 10 appraisals booked for the week, I know it’s going to be pretty full on,” she explained. “On the flipside, if I’ve only got four or five, we need to get on the phone.”

When the week is light on, there is a strategy to combat that too. “I’ll look through my scheduled task list to see who’s coming on pretty soon and I’ll try to escalate them, but then I’ll also work my hot chase list a bit harder.”

It is here that Ms Vogl’s husband, Peter, steps into the mix. Mr Vogl runs the office prospecting program, ensuring all agents have up-to-date scheduled tasks and the data is clean.

Running around 50 scheduled tasks is what makes those figures happen for Ms Vogl. “If I’m tracking up around 100, I’ve got some work to do and I’ve got to shut myself away for three hours and get on the phone,” she laughed. While relying on a database did not come naturally for Ms Vogl, she credits it with her success. “I felt a bit like I was bullied or pushed into it, but it’s the best thing that’s happened. That’s the reason I have doubled and tripled and quadrupled my figures,” she added.

Softening buyers

The prospecting program enables Ms Vogl to cut to the chase quicker as vendors have already received information from the office before she arrives. “The song and dance is shorter and sharper – it’s punchier and a lot of that has really come about because I’m doing so many more appointments,” she said and explained many vendors come to her through referrals, but others she has to chase. “Some of them have been dropped into my lap through referrals and there are others that I have followed hard.”

Once she has an appraisal appointment, Ms Vogl uses a structured presentation to ensure she gets the answers to her questions - how they want the home sold, what they are looking for in their agent, marketing, pricing and settlement time. “It’s all pretty straightforward and I do the same thing each time. I try and stick to the same order, but if I know them well I let them lead a little bit. The close is a lot easier and simpler now [since the prospecting program was introduced]. It’s pretty easy – ‘you know why I’m here, let’s get on with it’ and they say ‘OK’.”

Concentrating on her strengths

This is the ideal scenario for an agent who used to be exhausted by the prospecting side of the job. The business is now three years old but this office is one of the most successful in the country. “We always knew when we started the business that we were working hard, but for my business and my team it really is just getting the people on to their next level,” Ms Vogl explained.

Looking back at her career, which included eight years studying at university, Ms Vogl said she often thought she would have started in real estate earlier. “I do think my university degrees have actually helped me in the way I think and the logical way I present an argument. When you present a logical argument, it’s very hard to actually argue with you,” she said.

Instead of being the agent who had trouble saying no, Ms Vogl said now she doesn’t have time to waste. “I had to get tougher from a time management perspective. I say to my clients: I only want to work with people who want to work with me. We’re in it together and if you don’t think we can do it together, then choose someone else.” Her professional standing and attitude means it’s not often someone takes that option.

Ms Vogl has also learnt the importance of surrounding herself with good people. “I now know I can’t do it by the seat of my pants – I’ve got to have a plan; I’ve got to have a database behind me; I’ve got to have structure behind me; I can’t do it on my own.”

Planning effectively includes organising herself and the team for work, but also holidays. “You’ve got to plan when you have your holidays. You’ve got to think about the best time and the best thing for the business,” she added. It is this planning, extending throughout the business to her own diary, that sets Ms Vogl up for the figures she achieves.

 


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Karen Vogl