CONTRIBUTORSElite AgentOPINION

Nick Brown: creating success from the inside out

We’ve all heard the saying ‘happy wife, happy life’, but Nick Brown also lives by ‘happy team, happy life’. The Edge Property Agents founder examines the benefits of fostering a team that feels supported, trusted and valued, as well as how you can attain the same in your business.

Recently I was asked what my brand stands for in a professional environment and on a social level.

I am lucky to know exactly what my brand stood for when I launched Edge Property almost seven years ago and still stands for now.

My brand has always been about people first – not money.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll repeat it – real estate is a people game, not a property game.

When I say people, I don’t just mean landlords, tenants, buyers, and sellers.

More important to me is that my brand stands proud as one that supports its team – the team behind the brand is what makes it.

You can be a large franchise or an independent, and your reputation (good or bad) is only perceived by the outside world through their interactions with your team.

I never expect my team to do something I wouldn’t be comfortable doing.

I don’t expect them to listen to abusive clients if I am not willing to do the same, and I don’t call on them to go the extra mile if I am not ready to show them that I will do it as the team leader.

I’d rather make sure that my team are happy and feel supported over taking on any listing just to earn an extra dollar for myself or my business.

Sure, that mindset has sometimes come at a financial cost to me, but I can tell you the people involved in Team Edge are the most loyal, trustworthy, and driven people I have met.

They will do anything they can to ensure that our brand is respected and viewed positively.

There’s a bit of an old saying of ‘happy wife, happy life’ that people laugh about.

This sentiment is exactly how I look at my business – happy team, happy life.

I don’t mean that my team gets absolutely everything they want at work, but they do get respect and support.

If we need to address performance or look at an issue where we could have done something differently, the team takes it onboard the right way.

They don’t think I’m an ogre or a terrible boss.

Property management can be very thankless at times, and the unfortunate thing is that many owners and leaders lose sight of the fact that it’s the property managers that cop the brunt of tenants’ and landlords’ anger.

They are our frontline to resolve any issues between landlords and tenants, and they are the face of our brand.

People remember an unpleasant event or interaction more readily than they do a happy one. So, as the team leader, you need to ensure your property managers feel supported, trusted, valued and cared about.

If you have a team that feels supported, they will give 100 per cent each time – even in those moments we would all try and avoid if we had the chance.

Business owners and managers should run through this checklist from time to time:

  • Are the team happy?
  • Are our clients creating unnecessary workload for our business?
  • Have I checked-in to see what the team’s workload is?
  • Are our clients happy with services and turnaround times?
  • Is there something the team would like to implement to make their job more efficient?
  • Does the team feel valued?
  • Have I shown the team I value them in a way they appreciate?
  • Does the team understand the challenges of business and property management as a whole?

Having a happy team is the foundation of any successful agency.

You can operate with an unhealthy culture, but it’s going to make your day-to-day twice as hard

Which way do you want to operate?

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Nick Brown

With over 20 years’ wide-ranging experience in real estate, Nick Brown is the founder of Edge Property and runs his own Training and Advisory Service to educate agencies and their teams.