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Manos Findikakis: What car racing and real estate have in common

Way back when we established Australia’s first multi-brand network in 2015, we had two key beliefs front of mind.

Both were slightly different to the tradition at the time, but ultimately tapped into a trend that’s only become more apparent.

The first was that the agent had become bigger than the brand and the second was that a real estate network’s primary customers are the agents it supports.

That philosophy has underpinned the success of the Agents’Agency and here’s why…

The agent, not the brand

Think of any professional service and it quickly becomes apparent people choose people, not necessarily brands. And that’s especially true in real estate.

Sellers choose agents they know, like and trust, based on their reputation, the recommendation of friends or family, or their track record.

They select an individual who they then put their faith in to see through one of the biggest financial transactions they will undertake in their lifetime.

It’s not the brand, but the people behind it that clients connect with – the agent they are familiar with because they know their name, the one they encounter in the driveway waiting to greet buyers, the real estate professional they meet at a networking event, or the one who is recommended to them by their peers.

This trend has become increasingly evident in recent years, at a time when customers seek an experience that’s second to none, and where an agent’s results are just a Google search away.

This realisation and the fact the traditional model didn’t cater to it was one of the key catalysts for the multi-brand network we then pioneered.

We firmly believed there was a way to assist agents looking to tap into their market recognition, but still provide the essential support they required.

The agent is our customer

Our second key belief stemmed from my experience as an agency principal, where I quickly discovered my role was to support individual agents and do everything possible to help them achieve their goals.

In other words, they were my primary customer. If I took care of the agent with mentoring, the right tools and the right support, their path to success was made all the easier.

In turn, they could serve their clients to the highest standards, build a career, and enjoy success.
The multi-brand approach only amplified this belief.

The more we were able to support the agent and enable them to leverage their own brand, the more success they enjoyed.

The more success they enjoyed, the more success the organisation as a whole experienced.
It was and is the ideal formula for a win-win relationship.

Simple but so effective

In the end, the concept was simple but so effective. Behind the scenes we created a support crew that would handle all the back-of-house business tasks.

Their role would be to assist an agent build their own boutique agency, under their own brand.

In turn, the agent was free to do what they do best, listing and selling property, while the support crew would take care of everything else – from accounting to administration, and all those time-consuming back-of-house tasks.

In the background there would also be mentoring and support and the backing of like-minded real estate professionals who had walked the same path.

I often liken this model to having a pit crew where the driver is the agent and chooses the make and model of the vehicle they drive, and even choose their own personal number plate.

The pit crew then takes care of everything else, maintaining the vehicle and allowing the driver to attain peak performance.

There’s guidance along the way too, courtesy of a network of experienced peers who can offer advice on how exactly to take that sharp corner, when to put the pedal to the metal, or when to let your foot of the gas.

The best of both worlds

At the Agents’Agency, we know what it’s like to be an agent with business ambition. We’ve walked that path and experienced the trials, tribulations, and achievements along the way.

We understand the desire to strike out on your own, to harness the hard work and recognition of a real estate career and build something that is yours.

We also believe you can have the best of both worlds – your own business, on your own terms, but with the support of an experienced and like-minded pit-crew.

Couple ambition with experience and the road to success becomes all the clearer. My question to you is: are you ready to take the driver’s seat?

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Manos Findikakis

Manos Findikakis is the CEO of Agents'Agency, Australia's first multi-brand real estate network.

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