The 34-year-old agent has just completed his biggest year yet, with 93 transactions and $1.48 million in GCI with only one assistant.
Impressive numbers that came after already breaking his personal record in his first year with Area Specialist.
“In my first year with Area Specialist, I found myself doing my largest real estate year in 16 years,” Mr Robinson said.
“We’ve followed that up this last financial year with 93 transactions, which was our biggest year again.”
From franchise to freedom
Mr Robinson’s 16-year real estate journey began with a large franchise network before he spent a decade with a boutique independent agency.
Two years ago, he made the leap to become both an owner and director with Area Specialist, a decision that has transformed his business.
“It puts you in a position where it’s sink or swim, and I’m not the kind of operator to sink,” he said.
“I’ve really always backed myself, both financially, personally, professionally – everything in my life.”
The move has allowed Mr Robinson to refine his role and focus on what he does best – negotiating and working directly with vendors to create well-crafted campaigns.
“I’ve been able to fine-tune my role to be a really seasoned negotiator and somebody who deals specifically just with my vendors, negotiating with buyers and curating really well-versed campaigns,” he said.
Building on strengths
Rather than expanding his immediate team, Mr Robinson has concentrated on enhancing what makes his service special.
An unwavering commitment to his clients.
“We’ve really honed in on what makes us special, and I think what makes us special is just a hyper-focused ability to ensure that clientele is well looked after and well informed,” he said.
“Joining Area Specialist comes with the ability to have a lot of administration, trust account, social media, design work support to enable a lot of content to constantly go out.”
This support structure has freed Mr Robinson to focus on client relationships while also expanding in a different direction.
He has partnered with Area Specialist founder Michael Choi to build what they call the “Area Specialist Collective,” bringing together like-minded agents running their own businesses.
A shift in metrics
One of the most significant changes for Mr Robinson has been how he measures success.
“The only metric I was ever judged on in my previous real estate business was how much money and how many listings I brought in for that network,” he said.
“My metric now is, well, what kind of great recruits can we have and what kind of impact can we make? How do we grow the strength of our team?”
This broader perspective hasn’t diminished his competitive edge. Mr Robinson approaches real estate “as a sport” when it comes to performance.
“When you’re an elite sports person, you want to get to the pinnacle of that sport and you want to ensure that you’re the best,” he said.
“I want to ensure that my median sale price is as high as it can be. I want to ensure that my days on market can be as prompt as they can be.”
Authentic approach
Perhaps the most transformative aspect of joining Area Specialist for Mr Robinson has been the freedom to be himself rather than hiding behind a corporate brand.
“I stopped hiding behind a brand. I stopped hiding behind the glossy pages of a magazine which you’d be told to go out and promote,” he said.
“I stopped saying, ‘We have a network of X amount of people.’ I stopped saying, ‘There’s five real estate offices within five suburbs, which are all gonna be working for you,’ because actually that was BS.”
Instead, he now focuses on his personal strengths and bringing his authentic self to every client interaction.
“They’re working with me. So why not focus on me bringing my best self?” he said.
This authenticity extends to his recent personal milestone – purchasing a home in Mount Martha, something he says wouldn’t have been possible in his previous roles.
A network of high performers
Mr Robinson believes the Area Specialist model creates a natural selection of high-performing agents.
“This network forces the individual salesperson to be the best they can be, or they will not be a part of the network because we are a commission-only network,” he said.
“You either perform or you don’t perform. And if you don’t perform, well, you’re not a real estate agent anymore, and you come and go pretty quickly.”
For agents considering a similar move, Mr Robinson suggests that it comes down to you.
“If you’ve always backed yourself and you’ve always seen yourself as an individual which can perform anywhere, well, it’s a no-brainer,” he said.
“You might as well return a higher return, be happier, feel more fulfilled about what you’re earning, and then be able to actually put those earnings back into your clientele.”
The financial benefits have allowed him to be more generous with both clients and team members.
“I’ve never given more gifts to my clients. I’ve never been more generous to my clientele. I’ve never been more generous to the people within my team, ‘because I have the ability to,” he said.
Area Specialist is a real estate platform for top-performing agents, providing the systems, tools and technology they need to create, grow and power their business. For more information visit beyourboss.com.au
