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A Sydney-based agency outlined that it trained its staff to relearn the art of “picking up the phone” while working remotely during the pandemic.
Speaking to REB ahead of REInnovate in Melbourne, Richard Matthews Real Estate director and auctioneer Richard Baini said that as remote working became the norm in the post-COVID environment, his agency invested time in training its staff to conduct conversations and connect with clients and staff.
“You see so many newer agents rely on technology in order to achieve some level of success or profile,” Mr Baini said.
“I come from a generation where everything was done face to face or on the phone. So, we went back to the basics and trained our staff to just pick up the phone and have a conversation.
“When everyone was in the office on a Monday morning and flat out, they didn’t really answer their calls. But we’ve never felt more connected than we have in the past 12 to 18 months. People were working from home, but they were answering their calls.”
Mr Baini’s comments preceded REB’s REInnovate conference in Melbourne next week, where the agency’s other director and auctioneer Matthew Everingham will participate in a panel discussion on how agencies can run a remote agency while reducing operating costs, increasing efficiencies, and being more accessible.
According to Mr Baini, the agency offered more in-house and external training from industry leaders to sharpen the team’s communication tools and provide strategies that they could implement to generate more business.
“For us, it was about a lot more time on the phones building more relationships with clients, and establishing where people were at in their lives, especially as it was a time when the home buyer was considering making lots of decisions,” he said.
The COVID-19 lockdowns and the shift to remote working led families to value space and reconsider their living arrangements, with many seeking to either transition from apartment living to a house or upgrade the size of their home.
“A lot of our clients were realising that they could work remotely and conduct their business from the Central Coast, and could make lifestyle changes. So, we were training our team to have those phone conversations with clients,” Mr Baini said.
“An agent could be just one conversation away from connecting with a potential home buyer who’s thinking about taking advantage of market conditions and moving now.”
As such, Mr Baini advised agents to view any challenging periods or crises in the future as an opportunity to grow.
“When everyone else is panicking, you just need to sit back calmly, take three breaths and say ‘let’s do this’, because there’s a solution to every problem,” Mr Baini said.
“We skipped all the noise in between and focused on what we needed to move forward. We also made sure that we communicated effectively with our whole team and provided them with reassurance of their positions within the agency.”
Indeed, while Richard Matthews Real Estate consisted of a team of 16 when COVID hit Australian shores, it has now grown to a team of 45.
Mr Baini attributed the growth to the agency recruiting staff in advance of requiring a role to “stay ahead of the curve”.
To hear more about how agencies are embracing remote work and tech tools to expand out of their local market and streamline their operations to build efficiencies, come along to REB REInnovate.
The conference will be held at the Pullman in Melbourne on Tuesday, 25 October 2022.
Click here to buy tickets and make sure you don’t miss out!
For more information, including agenda and speakers, click here.
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