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Adelaide agent Thomas Crawford swears by an effective business unit model and credits his team for emerging as a top five agent in South Australia.
The TOOP + TOOP Real Estate sales partner (Team Crawford & Doran) placed fifth in the REB Top 50 Agents South Australia 2023 ranking, and sold 178 properties for $146.2 million.
This was significantly higher than the previous year, when he sold 149 properties for $102 million and ranked sixth in the state.
Mr Crawford predominantly sells family homes in the “middle-class family areas” of Adelaide city’s fringe, including older character homes, villas and bungalows, along with apartments.
Teamwork holds the key to his success, he asserted, along with following an effective business model, designed by education provider for real estate agents, Lee Woodward.
“We follow the Woodward system, which consists of three team members. This is what we have. Without them, we wouldn’t be anywhere near the level we’re achieving today,” he told REB.
“We’ve got Vincent Doran as our sales partner and auctioneer, and Kristen Goedecke as our business manager.”
Mr Crawford said he implemented the effective business model after achieving a certain number of listings.
The former Ray White sales associate moved to TOOP + TOOP in 2018 and worked as the sole agent. He hired an associate after achieving 50 sales and a business manager after achieving 100 sales.
“I think realistically, one agent should be able to handle every aspect of the job up to 50 listings. But you’d need an additional person in 50 increments. We’re at almost 180 sales now so we’re thinking about hiring a fourth person,” Mr Crawford said.
“I think a lot of agents are scared to take on people. They worry about how much it will cost. But the biggest shaker for me was not hesitating to recruit people when I needed them because when you start doing too much without the right help, you’ll get sloppy and start making mistakes.”
The effective business unit model has allowed Mr Crawford to delegate various tasks so that he can focus on higher value tasks.
For example, Ms Goedecke handles photoshoots, building inspections, valuations and property styling, while Mr Doran manages buyer callbacks.
“I will deal with the important callbacks with buyers who are more likely to make the purchase,” Mr Crawford said.
“We put buyers onto a database so we can keep in touch with them regularly.”
Being hungry for success
In unison with the effective business unit, Mr Crawford attributed his sales figures to prospecting, being hungry for listings, being available to clients, and outworking his competitors.
“I think it’s about wanting the job more than my competitors, working harder and smarter than anyone else, and knowing what my competitors are doing,” he said.
“I make sure I do a bit more than anyone else because I have the desire to do it.”
Resisting the temptation to become a “Jack of all trades” has also helped Mr Crawford thrive in real estate, he said.
“One of the key drivers of success is having a farm area. I think a lot of agents make the mistake of operating everywhere. But if they focus on one sole geographic area and they keep reminding people in their area about their work, people are going to call them if they need to sell a house,” he remarked.
Letterbox drops, phone calls, text messages and using social media have also helped Mr Crawford increase his visibility, and in turn, the probability of vendors contacting him if they wish to sell their property.
Become a trustworthy agent
“Earning trust in your community is crucial too,” he said.
“You don’t want to be known as doing a lot of business in the area but not doing the right thing by people. I think trust is crucial in our industry as well because not many people trust real estate agents. Trust comes from doing the right thing all the time, being honest, and being involved in the community.”
This has led to significant referral business for Mr Crawford, who said he sold two houses that he sold just a year ago.
As for his goals for the rest of 2023, Mr Crawford said he would like to maintain current sales volumes but feels confident enough to increase the agency’s total commission GCI that is on par with those charged by the “most expensive agents”.
“We’ve earned the name for ourselves and we’ve got the market control, so I don’t think we need to necessarily be the cheapest agents,” he concluded.
Click here to view the full list of the REB Top 50 Agents SA 2023 rankings.
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