When Amanda Stevens and her husband Ben Stevens started their own agency nearly 15 years ago, they not only had to grow the business but create many of the systems and processes that most agents today take for granted.
Thanks to relentless marketing and a focus on building a highly effective team, the couple grew the Ray White Wellington City office to more than $3 million in GCI last year.
In this interview with Ray White Head of Performance and Recognition, Bianca Denham, Amanda reveals the steps they took to start and grow their business and the key factors in their rapid rise.
She also talks about the importance of creating your own personal brand, why you must target a specific location so you’re not competing with other agents and compromising on fees and how to structure and recruit for a growing team.
“We can’t even see a way backwards, we do so many calls and our business is so consistent and scalable and predictable, and that brings a lot of relief in terms of feeling confident with my team structure.” – Amanda Stevens
Bianca and Amanda also discuss:
- Why agents need to do marketing activities consistently.
- Why it can be tough to work as a husband and wife team.
- Why knowing a vendor’s timeframe for selling can help earn you higher commissions.
- The importance of managing the backend of the office so lead agents can do their job more effectively.
- Why the Australian remuneration model can work well for New Zealand agencies.
- Why training a new agent from scratch is often more effective than hiring an experienced agent.
- The importance of fighting to protect your reputation.
- Why you should hire based on attributes and team fit.
- The importance of outbound calling to buyers when the market slows down.
