For years, a strong property market allowed real estate agents to build successful businesses without necessarily maintaining meaningful contact with most of their past clients. Listings came, properties sold and the next opportunity was rarely far away.
But as conditions have become more challenging, some agents are discovering just how much business may have slipped through their fingers.
According to LJ Hooker General Manager of Marketing Stephan Gervois, research and database analysis undertaken by the network suggest that agents operating in booming markets may have been engaging with as little as 5 per cent of their customer databases.
That leaves an enormous pool of past vendors, buyers and prospective sellers who may not have heard from their agent for years.
“So what’s happening now, we’re getting all of these requests from agents to say, can you help me doing the data mining?.”
The problem has become significant enough that LJ Hooker has developed an internal exercise called The Missing Millions, designed to show agents the value of business they may have lost simply because they failed to maintain contact.
Stephan describes a familiar scenario: an agent sells a property, loses touch with the owner and discovers years later that the same property has been listed and sold through a competitor.
The opportunity was there, the relationship already existed, but the agent was no longer part of the conversation.
“We do a lot of deep dive into databases, and we do a bit of an exercise with agents called the missing millions,” he says.
The exercise examines properties that have been resold through another agency despite an existing relationship with the original selling agent, exposing potential business lost through years of inactivity.
For Stephan, it is one of the clearest examples of how the skills required to succeed in the current market differ from those rewarded during the boom.
And he believes the answer is not necessarily more prospecting, more advertising or even better technology. It begins with rebuilding the relationships agents already have.
From hunters to farmers
The shift represents something of a cultural adjustment for an industry that has traditionally celebrated the ability to win the next listing.
Stephan argues that agents have become accustomed to operating as hunters, constantly pursuing new business, when current conditions demand a greater focus on nurturing existing relationships.
“I always say, you know, the salesperson is the hunter. The account manager is more of the farmer,” he says. “This current market, we need more farmers than hunters.”
It is a distinction that goes beyond sales technique.
The company’s analysis has found that the problem is often not a lack of technology or capable people, but the absence of consistent processes that keep agents connected with their customers.
Even in markets that continue to perform strongly, Stephan says some offices acknowledge that they have not established the systems needed to maintain regular communication.
“We realised that it’s not about the system. It’s not about the people. It’s just simply about the process,” he says.
The network is now encouraging agents to revisit their databases, identify potential opportunities and use available information to better understand which customers may be considering their next property decision.
That includes reviewing past vendors, using propensity modelling to identify potential sellers and establishing regular communication rather than waiting for a client to make contact.
For agents accustomed to relying on a steady flow of incoming enquiries, the adjustment can be substantial.
“Go back into their database, re-look at their vendors, re-look at the opportunity, use more propensity modelling to understand who’s looking, who’s not looking, use all of the data points that they have access to.”
The fundamentals, Stephan argues, are relatively straightforward: know who is in the database, understand their circumstances and maintain contact through useful, relevant communication.
It is also a reminder that technology cannot compensate for an agent who has failed to establish a relationship in the first place.
What vendors want isn’t always what agents are selling
The database problem is only part of a broader disconnect LJ Hooker has identified through its consumer research.
According to Stephan, the qualities sellers value in an agent are not always the same characteristics agents choose to promote about themselves.
In particular, he says vendors are placing greater emphasis on trust, transparency and receiving realistic advice, rather than focusing exclusively on an agent’s ability to achieve the highest possible price.
“What is definitely coming through all of the research that we have done, but also a lot of the area research that we discussed with them, is the notion of trust,” he says. “They’re really looking for transparency, especially in a difficult market.”
In a strong market, performance and results can dominate the conversation. In more difficult conditions, vendors are increasingly concerned about whether they can trust the advice they receive and whether an agent understands their circumstances.
To explore that difference, LJ Hooker identified three broad agent profiles through its research: the high-performance salesperson, the local area expert and the relationship-focused agent.
The findings revealed an interesting mismatch. While agents may be inclined to identify themselves with the high-performance profile, Stephan says consumers demonstrated a strong preference for relationship-driven qualities.
“Consumers really want the relationship, but sales agents maybe see themselves more as the shark,” he says.
The implications extend well beyond the way an agent describes themselves in a listing presentation.
If vendors are looking for reassurance, local understanding and communication, marketing that focuses almost exclusively on sales achievements may not be addressing the qualities that influence their decision.
For Stephan, the challenge is helping agents understand what their communities actually value, rather than simply promoting the attributes they believe make them successful.
It is also changing how LJ Hooker approaches the relationship between property marketing and agent marketing.
The distinction, he says, is one many salespeople still misunderstand.
“At the end of the day, for agents as well, they’re always confusing what I call property marketing with agent marketing,” Stephan says.
Putting an agent’s photograph prominently on a property signboard might increase visibility, but that does not necessarily amount to a considered personal marketing strategy.
Agent marketing should build recognition and relationships with prospective vendors over time, while property marketing has the more immediate job of attracting buyers to a particular listing.
“You’re not going to be building a relationship by just having your face on the signboard,” he says.
Confusing the two can mean neither objective is being served particularly well.
A different approach to personal branding
It is against this backdrop that LJ Hooker has introduced The Difference is You, an agent-focused marketing initiative designed to help salespeople establish a stronger identity in their local markets.
Rather than giving every agent the same advertising materials, the network has developed three marketing packages based on the agent profiles identified through its consumer research.
Agents complete a survey about their strengths and working style before being matched with one of the profiles.
They then receive access to a corresponding suite of marketing materials developed through Canva, including social media content, email marketing, printed materials and outdoor advertising templates.
“What we have done is we have templated everything into Canva,” Stephan says.
“We’ve asked our agents to do a little survey about themselves. How do you see yourself? Based on that, we’re returning a profile.”
The materials can be personalised with an agent’s own sales results, customer reviews, ratings and testimonials, allowing them to promote their individual strengths while maintaining the network’s branding.
More than half of LJ Hooker’s salespeople have completed the survey, according to the company.
Stephan also says the network’s social media platform has almost 80 per cent active users. The intention is to make consistent marketing easier for agents who may lack the time or expertise to develop a comprehensive strategy themselves.
But Stephan is cautious about describing the initiative as a campaign at all.
“The risk almost that we have now is to actually call it a campaign because it’s not a one-off thing,” he says. “It’s something that they need to keep on doing constantly.”
That longer-term approach is central to the strategy.
An agent might produce a polished advertisement or an impressive social media video, but neither is likely to achieve much if it is not supported by ongoing communication.
Stephan points to the importance of repeated contact through different channels, including email, SMS, direct mail and other marketing activities, to establish familiarity with prospective clients.
The objective is not simply to become more visible, but to ensure an agent remains relevant and recognisable when a homeowner eventually decides to sell.
For LJ Hooker Dunedin salesperson Luke MacDonald, that approach has already become an important part of his business.
Luke, who operates across Dunedin and Mosgiel in New Zealand, has developed a strong local profile through regular video and social media content about his community and property market.
According to LJ Hooker, he now ranks among the top 2.5 per cent of the network’s salespeople.
“Building my own profile alongside LJ Hooker has been hugely important,” Luke says.
“LJ Hooker is a well-known and trusted brand, so having that behind me is a massive advantage. But I’ve also focused on making sure people know who I am, what I’m about, and feel comfortable picking up the phone to me. Real estate is a people business.”
That recognition has translated into business opportunities.
“People often approach or contact me who I’ve never met before, but they feel like they already know me because they’ve been watching my videos. That makes the first conversation much easier and has turned into appraisals, listings and sales,” Luke says.
His experience illustrates the commercial value of building recognition before a potential client is ready to transact.
It also highlights the role a major network can play in supporting an individual agent’s profile.
Stephan does not believe that promoting individual salespeople necessarily diminishes the value of the agency brand.
Instead, he sees the two as complementary, with the network providing broad recognition and credibility while the individual agent develops the local relationships that ultimately generate business.
Can AI give agents their time back?
While the immediate focus is on rebuilding relationships, Stephan believes the next major change in real estate marketing will come from automation.
Having previously worked on digital transformation initiatives at Mortgage Choice, he says he has been surprised by the fragmentation of technology across the real estate industry.
Despite the number of property technology platforms available, agents still spend considerable time completing administrative and marketing tasks that could potentially be automated.
“I was still amazed by the fact that there are so many proptechs and no consolidation,” he says.
“And now with the world of AI, I think we are going to start seeing a lot of changes.”
He believes artificial intelligence will accelerate changes to those processes, particularly in the way agents manage leads, prepare listing presentations and produce marketing materials.
His longer-term vision is for much of that work to happen automatically, allowing agents to spend more time with clients.
From the moment an enquiry enters an inbox, Stephan sees opportunities to automate different stages of the process, including producing digital listing proposals, property advertising and agent marketing materials.
“I truly believe that from the minute you receive a lead into your inbox, there are so many things that could be automated through that process,” he says.
The ambition is not to replace the salesperson, but to reduce the time spent on repetitive tasks.
“It’s about giving back time to agents to actually build relationships,” Stephan says.
He also believes better systems and technology could become a significant recruitment advantage for real estate networks.
Rather than competing solely on brand recognition, commission structures or marketing support, agencies may increasingly be able to demonstrate how their technology helps salespeople operate more efficiently.
However, Stephan makes a distinction between using technology to perform tasks and developing the underlying skills needed to maintain customer relationships.
An automated email may create a contact opportunity, but it cannot independently establish the trust that comes from an agent understanding a client’s needs.
That remains the responsibility of the salesperson.
The overlooked factor in winning listings
For agents looking to improve their results over the next 12 months, Stephan’s advice is to pay closer attention to the quality and consistency of every interaction with a prospective client.
He says LJ Hooker’s consumer research and internal CRM data indicate that marketing quality influences how agents are judged, while consistent branding and communication throughout the sales process are associated with stronger conversion.
That extends from the first telephone conversation through to the digital listing proposal and subsequent follow-up.
“What we see ourselves within our CRM data is that the consistency of quality of touchpoint from the minute you pick up the phone to the digital listing proposal that you send to the email follow-up that you send, that consistency of marketing of brand and touchpoint definitely increases conversion,” he says.
It is an argument that places marketing at the centre of business development rather than treating it as a separate promotional activity.
The agent who communicates regularly, presents professionally and provides relevant information is potentially building an advantage long before a homeowner invites competing agents to an appraisal.
And while new technology may make those activities easier to manage, Stephan believes the current market is also forcing the industry to revisit skills that were less essential when properties were selling quickly.
For agents who entered the industry during the recent boom, that may mean developing prospecting, database management and relationship-building disciplines they have had little reason to practise.
For more experienced operators, it is an opportunity to return to fundamentals that have helped them navigate previous market cycles.
Stephan believes the industry is entering a period of retraining after years in which favourable conditions allowed some agents to overlook established business development practices.