with Charlie Lund Hunter River Realty Group
Passionate, positive, powerhouse agent Charlie Lund from the Hunter River Realty Group in Maitland NSW is a woman of courage.
Eighteen months ago, she was living the dream - working for a big firm, writing $800,000 in fees in one year and carrying an incredible average of 60 listings at any time. Nevertheless Charlie says, “I never felt like a winner on the inside.” She craved change and wanted to ignite her positivity with people who shared a similar vision and values. Crunch time loomed.
She explains, “I rang a coach, hoping that he would have all the answers because he was coaching successful agents at the time. That phone call changed my entire life. I said, ‘ I want to break through to the next level.’ And then he asked me, ‘Okay, where do you want to be in 5 years? Where do you want to be in 10 years and most importantly do you want the people that are currently in your life, in your life in the next 5 or 10 years? Do you want to be surrounded by them? What's your why?’ I know that sounds like for a lot of people an easy question to answer but for me to answer it honestly, I had to do some really deep soul searching. I couldn't answer those questions. It took me quite a while to answer them. It was a life changing moment for me because I answered those questions honestly.”
It took some time but Charlie eventually left the safety of a large franchise, took a deep breath and went “…to a very tiny firm which was pretty much a one man show”. Chris Henry was a man who shared her core values and vision. She explains, “Chris Henry was the only agent in my market place that was doing vendor paid advertising and he had really good buyer booklets, really high profile marketing and I liked his style of marketing. I knew that if I could get my hands on that marketing with my listing skills, I should be able to move forward.”
She continues, “It’s one of the most frightening things walking away from a big franchise, and I've always been in franchise groups for the networking that you do with other agents. I was frightened I wouldn’t have the training anymore, I wouldn’t be able to network. Those were the things that really frightened me - and I’d miss my awards night. But then I realised I could still have all that. All I had to do was go to my own training and find my own networking group which I have now done.”
Charlie detoxed, de-stressed, stopped smoking, started eating properly and made fitness a part of her daily life, relishing the freedom she found in her new environment. She says, “I invested in myself. I bought a big billboard right on the main highway and re-branded with the new brand. I did four page ads in the paper and I nagged and nagged until they would give me their top spot in my core suburb - I bought the premium box so that I could always have my properties up the top. I bought some banners as well.” She also sent out a video play list of testimonials to all database clients and used social media.
Even though market conditions have changed, since switching firms Charlie has blossomed. She’s increased her sales fee from 2.2 per cent to 2.75 per cent and has ensured listings utilise vendor-paid marketing. She’s on track to write $1 million in fees plus marketing. She’s joined the 5am club and engaged a personal trainer - all of which powers her to perform at a higher level. She says, “I’ve actually got a better quality vendor now than I had before. The vendors that are with me now (although my vendors before were great) are invested in the process. I guess it's like a trainer: if someone pays for training, they’ve got to learn more than someone that's sitting alongside. My vendors, they invest in their marketing and we go through the process together. That's one thing that I've noticed - a big change by doing vendor paid advertising.”
Charlie also produces outstanding buyer booklets that she bases her listing presentations on. She says, “One of my favourite pages is the inclusions list: the detail that other agents don't go to with listing every inclusion, adding a dollar value to everything that is part of their home. The vendors love that too. You get more information when you buy a toaster but these days agents only give you an A4 print out of realestate.com.au. The buyer booklet is such a great thing for buyers to take home. The property is lifted onto a pedestal with the buyer booklet. There's nothing in that buyer booklet that's been left out about the home. I think that's really important because if a buyer goes to six open homes on the weekend, they've got all the information about my properties, and I think that's good.”
With her life and career where she wants them to be, Charlie is now looking forward. She says, “Eventually I want to inspire other people that are out there, that are frightened to make change and don't think they're the best because they're the cheapest store. Just believe in yourself - I think it's really important. Listen to great people and learn from them.”
She adds, “I'm excited about my future. I've probably got more energy than I've ever had because I'm feeling healthy, I'm surrounded by a fantastic network of people. That's one thing now - everyone in my life is positive. If you're a driven person and you're surrounded by positive people, the sky to me is the limit now in what I can achieve.”
Watch this space for what Charlie does next!