Blog / Leadership
Rising to the top with Rick Woodward
With Rick Woodward, The Agency
With a very strong family background in selling and a realist at heart, Rick Woodward thought he knew what to expect when he started in the industry. He says, “What I perceived to happen in my first 90 days, couple years in real estate is completely different to what actually happened throughout that first ... well, even today. Completely different, and I suppose, my perception of real estate from the outside, being in now is so different".
Three years in the industry, Rick Woodward works at The Agency as a solo agent within Danny Grant’s business in Sydney’s ritzy lower north shore. Rick says, “I'm a solo agent within Danny's team. I work in Northbridge, which is directly next to Danny's patch in Willoughby. Basically, should I list a home at 1 Smith Street, I can bring Danny in on that business, as well. He'll come to listing presentations with me, if need be. He'll stand at the door, take names and numbers, and he'll support throughout campaigns, as I do the same for him. Should Danny be selling 1 Smith Street in Willoughby, I'll do all his names and numbers, all that kind of stuff, to benefit his business. There's also a lot in terms of, I do a lot of prospecting based around Danny's listings, as well, which is great for me".
He realises that working with Danny allows him to build his own brand, and more opportunities for himself and the team in the future.
Having spent many years playing soccer at a high level, he loves working alongside one of the best agents in Sydney. He says, “What I quickly learned from Danny is he's a phenomenal coach. He has a terrific real estate business that I admire a lot, and I'd like to replicate his business in the future. He's very composed. He understands the real estate process. For me as a young agent, he was a fantastic mentor, and he's a fantastic coach".
The financial arrangement he has with Danny has allowed him to find his monetary feet. He says, “It's been great for me in terms of my financial position. Not that it's made me thousands and thousands of dollars, but it's given me breathing space each month to know that I'm able to survive at the end of the year.
I think looking back on my first year in real estate, I remember sitting down with saying what my goals were, and what I'd like to achieve that year. I had all these ambitions, and you need to have that".
His boss at the time, said to him, very early on that as long as he could cover your credit/debit space, you would be doing really well. Rick says, “I think in the first few months, I thought, "Oh, I'm a lot better than that. I've done all the courses. I know what I'm saying. I've got good dialogue. I work really hard. I'm doing all this work. I'll be way above that." He found out the truth though. Rick says, “It's tough. Your first couple years is tough".
Now, at this point of his career he is making the most of being in the company of some of the best agents in Australia. He says, “I'd love to replicate the career that most of them have had. I feel I'm far more connected to what the behaviours of the buyers and behaviours of the sellers are than my competitors. Having a tool like WebBooks, it's been amazing, because I strongly believe in business signals. When I'm sending out buyer booklets, market reports, or just a newsletter in terms of how's the market, as a real professional booklet that's texted to a phone that people can read when they're in the coffee shop, it plays into my brand. Whereas, email and stuff's all good, but having those tools in play, I think it really plays into why people pick Rick Woodward".
He is getting closer and closer to his dream. He says, “Now that I'm over that 200 appraisals mark, I know that I'm starting to get a lot more closer to sellers each month, each week, than what I was 12 months ago. I'm really trying not to look so far ahead in terms of what the huge picture is, and trying to concentrate on what this half of the game means, or what this phase of the game means. For me, what I'm trying to concentrate on is consistently doing my five to six appraisals a week, which we're doing very comfortably at the moment. And, building my database and continually to do the right things".
Good things await!
Advice from the front line
Rick says:
I’d encourage a young real estate professional to almost interview their next employer the same way that they're interviewing you. Why I think that's really important is you need to know what coach, and what mentor, and what person is going to get the best out of you.
If I was a real estate professional starting out again today, I would be looking for someone who is a great coach and will guide me throughout the real estate process. Because, there's plenty of times where not just Danny Grant, but people like Daniel Acocks and other people in my office, they've had to be psychologists at times and friends at times. They've had to put their arm around me at times, or they've had to push me at times. But, good coaches know when and what to at different times.
Changing to Complete Data has just given me a lot more structure within my business. Whether it's Complete Data or anyone else. But, I've just got a lot more structure in my business. I suppose the first thing that I love about Complete Data is how many contacts I have, how many appraisals I've done, what my mainstream marketing is saying. If I was listening to this 12 months ago, I probably wouldn't have appreciated them as much as I do now.
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