Ask Mark Anderson what separates good agents from average ones and he doesn’t launch into scripts, prospecting systems or social media. Instead, he says the industry has forgotten a far more fundamental principle.
“I chose real estate because of that old saying about putting a roof over someone’s head,” he says. “But as I quickly found out, it had nothing to do with that, it was all about people.
“I’ve often said that anybody who was good in retail would be good in real estate because you’ve got to be able to listen, help and serve people and that’s really what this business is.”
It’s a philosophy that’s been forged over more than 35 years in the industry, but long before he became one of Perth’s leading agents at Shellabears Real Estate, Mark learnt what it felt like to lose everything.
Before real estate came fashion and by his mid-twenties he was one of three owners of four fashion stores across Perth, travelling regularly to Melbourne and Sydney to buy from Australia’s leading designers. Business was booming, until the recession of the early 1990s arrived.
“The cost of money went from 13 per cent to 24 per cent, rents went up about 115 per cent and I was undercapitalised,” he says. “I was only 26 when that happened. We’d been doing really well for three or four years, then I lost everything.”
There was no grand reinvention or lifelong ambition to work in property, but real estate simply became the next opportunity.
“I had the chance to go into real estate, insurance or stockbroking and I chose real estate, and was it the right choice? Absolutely…I love it!” he says.
Those early years looked very different from the industry new agents enter today.
“There was no mentoring. There were no associate agents or structured pathways. You got a desk, a phone, a directory and a farming area, then someone basically said, ‘Off you go.’
“I actually think that was a good thing because you had to work it out. You had to learn how to deal with people.”
One piece of advice from an experienced salesperson has stayed with him ever since.
“He always said there’s only one principal, the owner of the property, the person who signs the authority. That’s the person you’re working for.
“Buyers would sometimes say to me, ‘Mark, if I have a choice-I would prefer not to buy from you, but when I sell, I’ll definitely sell through you.’ To me, that meant I was doing my job properly.”
It also shaped the way he thinks about service, a word he believes has become overused and underdelivered.
“Everyone talks about service. Everyone says they’re transparent and honest, but transparency and honesty seem to have become an optional extra these days, when they should just be a given.
“You’ve got to go beyond service. You have to take a genuine interest in the person sitting in front of you and what they actually want. That’s very different from simply trying to get a listing.”
Ask Mark what vendors complain about most and his answer isn’t price or marketing.
“It’s communication. I’ll ask people about the last time they sold and often they say the marketing was good, or they got a good result. Then I’ll ask what disappointed them and nearly every time they’ll say communication.”
That belief explains why, even after three decades in the business, he still insists on meeting photographers himself, working with the buyers and sellers directly, attending building inspections and remaining personally involved throughout the campaign.
“If someone employs me as their agent, then they should actually get me.”
Several years ago, however, Mark realised he wasn’t enjoying the industry the way he once had. He stepped away completely, spent the best part of a year surfing and reassessed what success actually meant.
“It does consume you. This business can become twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week and after a while everything becomes monetised. You get sucked into that vortex of money.
“I got to the point where I thought, ‘That’s enough.’ I needed to work out what was actually important to me.”
When he returned, he came back with one rule.
“I wasn’t done yet, but I came back under my own rules.
“I don’t want to chase every listing anymore. I’d rather have a set amount of people each year who choose to work with me because they’re aligned with my values. That’s enough for me.”
For Mark, that’s the lesson the industry often misses – bigger isn’t always better, more isn’t always success, and the loudest agents aren’t necessarily delivering the best service.
“I drive around Perth and there are more agents’ faces on billboards than sizable national or worldwide brands like Coca-Cola or something similar. At the end of the day we’re service providers, we are and should be there to provide intelligent and accurate advice relating to everything around real estate and helping people buy and sell property.”
Instead of just chasing numbers Mark’s focus today is remarkably clear: do exceptional work for a select group of clients, give them honest, intelligent advice, and stay true to himself.
“At the end of the day, real estate is just about helping people through a big moment in their lives,” Mark says. “If you show up with real empathy, do what you say you’re going to do, and treat people right, everything else falls into place.”