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One of REB’s top 50 women in real estate has explained how agents can effectively bolster their business while maintaining a proper work/life balance.
Speaking on a recent episode of Secrets of the Top 100 Agents podcast, Harris Real Estate property consultant Arabella Hooper discussed how she’s able to maximise business productivity while keeping up with demands at home.
The mother of four was ranked number 30 in this year’s REB Top 50 Women in Real Estate. She told host Tim Neary that being able to multi-task is pivotal to her success.
“I started in the industry at a relatively young age, but had kids very quickly and had to then quickly work out a way to do this job with kids and being a mother as well and still be effective and disciplined,” Ms Hooper said.
“I think my way has become very real. It’s very matter-of-fact, very cut and dry and straight to the point. I guessed I’ve learnt that I don’t have time to deal with people who are going to waste my time, and that I’ve learnt to fish where the fish are very quickly.”
Ms Hooper’s strategy revolves around having an off switch, whereby she blocks out her time between work and home life.
“I’ve learnt very quickly that I couldn’t be doing both exceptionally well at the same time and so I had to have blocked time. You hear about that a lot in anyone’s career, but certainly with children, you need to know that when you’re on, you’re on and when you’re off, you’re off,” she said.
“So I learnt very quickly that having Friday and Saturdays off allowed me to be an attentive mother and I could divert my phone and so forth to my assistant or to the office or whatever that is for that time so I could be present.
“I worked out that I became a much better mother [doing this]. While I’m with them, I’m completely off, but when I’m on, I am very much on the ground running on a work capacity and that focus and that mental shift has to be very clear for me.”
Ms Hooper encourages other agents to adopt a similar mindset, noting that blocking out time and prioritising is essential to sustain healthy business flow.
“I say that now to a lot of the people within Harris that are starting out. They often think they need to work seven days a week, and they need to work 12-hour days. They just need to call, call, call, door-knock, door-knock, door-knock. I think the reality is, yes, you do need to do those things; overriding and overarching all of that is you need to have a very clear on time/off time in order to sustain this business,” she explained.
“I have learnt to say ‘no’ well, so, I guess I have learnt that I don’t need to jump to people’s requests. I very quickly qualify the clients as they come to me or as I find them, as to what they’re doing, where they’re going and how I can help them.
“If they want to see me before 11am, I don’t see them, and if they want to see me on a Friday or a Saturday, I don’t see them. I think it’s okay to say to people that you’re not available and that you’re available between these times and that you’re happy to help them, you’d love to help them, but set some ground rules as to when you’re available because, I think that people in our industry, clients like to use you whenever they want to use you and touch base whenever they want to touch base.
“With all the technology that we’ve got at our disposal, we are so contactable that they need to understand that there are times that you’re working and times you’re not working just like they are.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Emma Ryan
Emma Ryan is the deputy head of editorial at Momentum Media.
Emma has worked for Momentum Media since 2015, and has since been responsible for breaking some of the biggest stories in corporate Australia, including across the legal, mortgages, real estate and wealth industries. In addition, Emma has launched several additional sub-brands and events, driven by a passion to deliver quality and timely content to audiences through multiple platforms.
Email Emma on: Emma.Ryan@momentummedia.
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