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With Place Estate Agents celebrating 20 years in operation this year, chief executive Damian Hackett reflects on the underpinnings of the Brisbane-based group’s growth.
In conversation with REB, Mr Hackett highlighted the different growth strategy that underpins Place in comparison to other real estate businesses, noting that their expansion “is not staggering by design”.
Even so, their growth trajectory has seen them expand from one original office back in 2002 to 16 offices plus corporate head office in 2022.
It’s also seen the business evolve its business model “probably four times over that journey”.
Since 2015, the business has operated through an HQ model, where “every part of the process is done at head office”.
With a team of 60 responsible for marketing the brand, the agents, and the vendors’ properties, the head office is also responsible for finance, contract processing, recruitment, and human resources.
“We manage all of those non-sales or property management-related activity so we can get a high level of consistency,” he explained, revealing that it’s modelled on the legal firms and accounting firms — and allows for partners and shareholders to have buy-in with the business.
For those who are in the partnership, Mr Hackett explained that “it allows them to focus on driving revenue”, whether that’s through sales and team growth, or property management.
As well as enabling consistency in the brand, the CEO also believes it’s helped them to achieve their priority of putting “the right people around you”.
“It’s been not about growth for growth’s sake. It’s about growth with good people that we can manage the growth, and maintain our brand,” he considered.
From his perspective, while the growth that has been achieved by the business is exciting, it’s more important that the core of the business has remained unchanged: “We help people through property management or sales. It’s all pretty basic. It’s human interaction.”
That positioning permeates all the way through the business’ purpose: Helping people find their happy place.
“[It’s] a pretty good purpose to have as an organisation,” the CEO admitted.
“We say whether you’re a landlord, a tenant, a seller, or a buyer, or somebody who works within the organisation, our goal is to help you to move towards that happy place.”
Practically, that means different things for different people: “If a landlord, it’s financial independence and growing an asset. From a tenant or a buyer, it’s finding a great place to live. There’s a seller that’s moving on the next stage of the journey.”
Internally — and for its employees — it means Place Estate Agents “spend[s] a lot of time not focusing on the financials but all the different parts of people’s [lives] and how can we help them to be the best possible versions of themselves.”
Again highlighting the importance of culture and brand, Mr Hackett does acknowledge it can be difficult to maintain these in a growing organisation.
And it’s all the more reason he sees it as important that people know “that we care about each other.”
Arguing that business can’t just be about money, he said of the 500-odd team members that comprise the Place Estate Agents brand: “We’re on this journey together. We know where we’re going, we’re aiming at this target. We’re getting there as a team, we’re going to achieve it.”
Then, once that goal is achieved, “we’re going to set another one,” he said.
That journey is something people need in their life, according to Mr Hackett, acknowledging that it can’t simply be “turning up here every day [and] paying the bills”.
“You want to feel that you’re actually adding value. That’s, in essence, what the culture is.”
With a strong culture in tow, it allows Place Estate Agents to espouse its “very clear mission” about what it wants to achieve: Being the number one real estate business in Brisbane through market share and customer satisfaction.
“When you’ve got a pretty clear mission of what you’re trying to achieve and how you’re going to do it, bringing the right people along the journey is easier,” the CEO indicated.
Growth is certainly on the horizon — but it doesn’t mean Place Estate Agents will be popping up anywhere else along the eastern seaboard anytime soon.
While Mr Hackett said the business had fielded calls from people wanting them to go to the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, or further field, he is “very clear” that Place Estate Agents is a Brisbane agency.
With business across approximately 55 to 60 per cent of the city, he believes the brand has “still got work to do” in Brisbane.
“And we will open those businesses, but we’ll open them with the right people at the right time,” he said.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Grace Ormsby
Grace is a journalist across Momentum property and investment brands. Grace joined Momentum Media in 2018, bringing with her a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Communication (Journalism) from the University of Newcastle. She’s passionate about delivering easy to digest information and content relevant to her key audiences and stakeholders.
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