FEATURE INTERVIEWS
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Overcoming adversity and setting goals: Anna Thomas
If there’s someone who knows a thing or two about overcoming adversity, it’s Anna Thomas, COO of Stockdale & Leggo. Anna grew up at the MCG Pub in Melbourne and was kicked out of home at 19, but became the first woman in her family to get a uni degree (and now she has multiple qualifications). Her career has taken her…
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James Baker and Adrian Venturi of McGrath Avalon on leadership and resilience
After studying architecture and structural engineering in Manchester, James practiced or a year before spending 15 years in recruitment, which included running the Asia Pacific rim for a business with a $50 million turnover. Real estate combined his passion of structure, architecture, sales and people, and he started his real estate experience during the GFC selling prestige property in Palm…
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Talking Technology with John McGrath
What are the tech tools agents will need in the future? For prospecting and listing, a solid CRM database system which categorises customers to allow you to send only relevant messaging to each client will be important. Curation of messaging will become more and more significant as people get bombarded with information. The next big thing will be predictive algorithms…
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What was Coach Tom Ferry about to say?
TRANSCRIPT Claudio Encina: So, here I am in LA with Elite Agent Magazine and we’re doing a little US tour. It wouldn’t be the same if we didn’t stop by and said hello to one coach, who certainly impacted my life almost 20 years ago. I was in Palm Springs, at the Marriott, and I saw this guy and it…
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Passion and Dedication: Jacob Pirrone
How many years have you been in real estate? On and off since I got my licence at age 18, actively selling for the last four years. Pirrone Property just celebrated its two-year anniversary! What motivated you to get into real estate? Other than family influence, my wife and I are keen renovators and have been buying and selling across…
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The Future of Real Estate: Meet the promising new talent at The Agency
PRINT MEDIA, DOOR-KNOCKING, letterbox drops and handwritten notes: it sounds a bit like a coaching mixtape from way back. While everyone expects the younger generation to be behind a tablet or mobile, these agents who are the future of the industry are actually more sold on the traditional listing techniques that top agents were successful with 20 years ago. But…
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Giving your Time for Growth: Dwight Ferguson
The esteemed principal of Ray White Ascot said the single biggest area that many agents let themselves down with was they don’t give people enough time. “If you have never met someone and you are given the responsibility of managing their biggest asset, and their most emotionally invested asset, you need to give people your time,” Mr Ferguson said. “If…
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Ewan Morton on leadership, teamwork and discipline
Ewan Morton has spent 24 years in the industry which were shaped by some earlier years at IBM. “When I look at real estate and how we carry on, (most) wouldn’t cut it at IBM,” says Ewan. Ewan studied an economics degree and completed the graduate trainee program at IBM, which he says was one of the “toughest things I’ve…
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Balancing Selling and Leading: Ben Faulks
Becoming an agent and principal on the same day is a feat that not many in real estate can attest to. Leaving a career in banking, Ben Faulks changed to real estate in 2010 and set up the first Ray White office in the ACT. At first, when Ray White was new in the area, Ben says it was difficult…
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Rachel Lawrie: Scientifically Speaking
As an agent, Rachel Lawrie professes she is different than most, but when you get talking to her it’s clear that’s definitely in a good way. Having grown up in the country on a farm, and also having experienced physically and mentally challenging work as a marine biologist for 16 years, she says, “I’m used to doing that sort of…
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Mark Earle, Principal of Buxton Real Estate Sandringham, talks Leadership
Mark started his real estate career in 1995 in property management never intended to go into sales. Funnily enough, Mark became the top salesperson within a few years in the inner western suburbs of Melbourne and made key mentor relationships along the way. Mark is no stranger to hard work and earning his way into the “upper echelons” of Melbourne…
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Peter Hutton on building your own independent brand
Creating a boutique agency comes with its fair share of challenges and rewards. Peter, who opened the doors to his boutique agency Hutton & Hutton in Fortitude Valley, Queensland, earlier this year, shares his insights on creating an authentic brand from the ground up. Challenges Peter says the biggest hurdle when Biggest hurdle was that mindset. “Can I do it…
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The Innovators at Ray White: Putting Agents face to face to face with more people
As a result of the explosion in digital lead generation, the traditionally separate departments of marketing, service, and technology now need to work together. When leads are ‘generated’ they should be nurtured, according to the individual’s needs, both online and in person. As a group, Ray White are continually on the cutting edge of innovation through investing in people and…
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Century 21: Future by Design
TODAY’S CONSUMERS ARE increasingly connected and tech savvy, so real estate franchises must lift to meet new service demands by using technology to its full potential. Century 21 are leaders in innovative thinking and today are considering how a new era of innovation will help their network to thrive in a mobile future. Samantha McLean talks to CEO Charles Tarbey…
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People First: Nathan Najib
What was your first job and what did it teach you? At 13 I worked at an internet café, cleaning and tidying up after the customers and occasionally standing by the door greeting people. I learned three profound lessons that have shaped my working life: hard work, attention to detail and customer service. This shows in everything we do at…
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The Un-Million Dollar Agent: Alexander Waters
Tell me about becoming a million-dollar agent. I basically worked about four years of normal working hours in that first two years. I was switched on all the time and shut myself in, doing the job, getting the next listing, transacting. There was almost a sense of anxiousness if I wasn’t doing something work-related like being on the phone. It…
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Feature Interview: Andrew Rechtman with Samantha McLean
Transcript: Samantha McLean: Hey everyone, Samantha from Elite Agent Magazine and I have the pleasure of welcoming Andrew Rechtman, who is the Executive General Manager of Residential for realestate.com.au. Hi Andrew. How are you going? Andrew Rechtman: Great to be here. Thank you very much. Samantha: You’ve got a lot of robotic devices here at AREC this year. So tell…
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Feature Interview: Andrew Cocks with Samantha McLean
Transcript: Samantha McLean: Hi, everyone. Back at stand 18 in the expo for AREC 2017 and my guest is Andrew Cocks, who is the managing director of Richardson & Wrench, one of the bigger franchises in New South Wales. Welcome, Andrew. Andrew Cocks: Thank you very much. Samantha: Who, so far, do you think has been your favourite presentation? Andrew:…
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Feature Interview: John Cunningham with Samantha McLean and Sarah Bell
Transcript: Samantha McLean: Hey everyone, back in the AREC Expo Hall at the Elite Agent Magazine stand. This time we’re almost ready to wrap up. We’ve got John Cunningham, REINSW president and head of the Cunningham ship. How are you going, John? John Cunningham: Good, really good. Thank you. Samantha: What we want to do John is just go through…
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Feature Interview: Fiona Blayney with Sarah Bell
Transcript: Sarah Bell: Welcome to the Elite Agent couch, Fiona. Fiona Blayney: Thank you very much, Sarah. Sarah: Talk to me about how our sales agents can just get more listings from their property managers. Fiona: Look I think the first thing is forget the notion that property management is in one side of the room and sales people are…
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Tradition and Innovation: Toop&Toop Real Estate
Toop&Toop Real Estate, one of South Australia’s leading real estate agencies, has been recognised with three major awards at the 2017 Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA) National Awards for Excellence in Canberra. From humble beginnings, this family business has gone from strength to strength since its inception in 1985. Sisters Suzannah Toop, CEO of Property Investment & Finance, and Genevieve…
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Feature Interview: Gavin Croft with Sarah Bell
Transcript: Sarah Bell: Welcome to the AREC lounge, Gavin Croft. Gavin Croft: Lovely to be here. Lovely to see you. Sarah: Welcome, welcome. Now, Gavin, you are fresh off being a coach in our Transform program. What did you make of our Super Six? Gavin: The group had a good energy to it. You can see they’re all there for the right reasons.…
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Feature Interview: James Bell with Sarah Bell
Transcript: Sarah Bell: Welcome back to the AREC couch. Now, interesting interview this morning. I’d like to introduce to you James Bell who is one of Australia’s most experienced and best real estate agents. If not, certainly the most handsome. James Bell: Too kind. Sarah: We often have conversations about how the industry has changed and how everything got quite…
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Feature Interview: Ash Weston with Claudio Encina
Transcript: Claudio Encina: Here we are at AREC 2017, and we’ve got the pleasure of meeting Ash Weston from Ray White Frankston. He’s just come off stage. Ash, thanks for joining us on the couch. Ash Weston: Thanks for having me. Claudio: Ash, tell me a little bit about your team. Ash: I’ve got a team of four. There’s myself,…
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Feature Interview: Phil Harris with Sarah Bell
Transcript: Sarah Bell: Welcome to the Elite Agent couch and AREC, Phil. Thanks for joining us. Phil Harris: My pleasure. Great to be catching up again. Sarah: And what have you made of the conference so far? Phil: I thought there were some exceptional things that I picked up on yesterday. I think Bob Wolff was extraordinary. Everything that Bob…
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Feature Interview: Michael Coombs with Claudio Encina
Transcript: Claudio Encina: Here we are at Elite Agent Magazine stand celebrating 20 years of AREC, and we had Michael Coombs talk with Tom Panos about super teams. Michael, thanks for joining us on the couch today. Michael Cooms: Thanks for having me. Claudio: How many is in your team now? Michael: It’s myself plus three others, so a team of…
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Feature Interview: Marcus Chiminello with Sarah Bell
Transcript: Sarah Bell: I’ve got Marcus Chiminello joining us on the Elite Agent AREC lounge. Fresh off the stage yesterday, how did it go? Marcus Chiminello: I really enjoyed it, Sarah. Sarah: I loved your message about just cutting away all of the noise and the fat of what agents are doing, and return to the basics. Marcus: And that’s…
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Feature Interview: David Ding with Sarah Bell
Transcript: Sarah Bell: I’m joined with one of the breakout superstars of AREC 2017, David Ding. Welcome to the couch. David Ding: Thank you. Sarah: I enjoyed your presentation this morning so much as did many of our readers following along on the note pool. How did it feel being up there? David: I thought I would be nervous but…
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Feature Interview: Ric Serrao with Claudio Encina
Transcript: Claudio Encina: I’m sitting next to Ric Serrao. He’s been a high performing agent in the eastern suburbs of Sydney for a long, long time. Ric, what can we expect tomorrow from your presentation? Ric Serrao: I think I’m just trying to keep it simple. A lot has already been talked about today. I’m just trying to challenge how…
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Feature Interview: Josh Hart with Claudio Encina
Transcript: Claudio Encina: So here we are at the 20-year anniversary of AREC at Elite Agent Magazine, and we’ve just heard from Josh Hart, One Agency down in Tasmania. Josh, fantastic presentation! Josh Hart: Thank you so much. My pleasure. Claudio: Thanks for joining us on the couch. Josh: No, thanks for having me. Claudio: Tell us a little bit…
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Feature Interview: Rik Rushton with Samantha McLean
Transcript: Samantha McLean: Back at the Elite Agent stand with someone very special, someone who has been to all 20 years of AREC. That doesn’t mean he’s old, it just means he’s wise. Welcome, Rik Rushton. Rik Rushton: Thank you, and I came here during work experience, so that–no, I actually have been here for 20 years, that’s correct. Samantha:…
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Feature Interview: Leanne Druery with Samantha McLean
Transcript: Samantha McLean: Hi everyone. Samantha McLean from Elite Agent Magazine here at AREC 2017, and we are talking to our Transform 2017 Winner Mighty Mackay, Leanne Druery. How are you going? Leanne Druery: Fabulous. It’s been an amazing couple of days here at the Gold Coast. Samantha: How did it feel when you saw your cover flash up on the screen?…
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Feature Interview: Richard Bootle with Sarah Bell
Transcript: Sarah Bell: I have got Richard Bootle from the Rundl platform and Lawlab with me on the AREC couch today. Welcome. Richard Bootle: Thank you very much. It’s lovely to be here. Sarah: I have had the benefit of a video conference with you, learning about the Rundl platform and safe to say, mind blown. Richard: That’s very kind.…
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Feature Interview: Gavin Rubinstein with Samantha McLean
Transcript: Samantha McLean: Hey folks, back in the expo hall at AREC 2017. Right now I have the pleasure of Ray White’s number agent and an AREC speaker last year, Gavin Rubinstein. Gavin Rubinstein: How are you doing? Samantha: Gavin, welcome to the stand. How are you going? Gavin: Thank you very much. Very well. Samantha: What are some of your…
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Feature Interview: Matt Lancashire with Claudio Encina
Transcript: Claudio Encina: We’ve got a special guest who spoke this morning, Matt Lancashire from Ray White New Farm. Hey, Matt. Awesome speech and presentation this morning. Matt Lancashire: Thank you very much. Claudio: And I’ve got some great comments from a lot of people. You mentioned the importance of a team. How many in your team at the moment and what…
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