Managing Director Michael Davoren opened the 2017 RE/MAX Australia Rally heralding its powerful theme.
“RE/MAX has stood the test of time for the past 43 years”, he said, “and the success of the past is grounded in the personal relationships that agents have had with their customers, which enable RE/MAX agents to give outstanding real estate experiences.”
He said it is the personal relationships that are powerful and must continue to be the force in the future.
“Agents must see that their success lies in their uniqueness and ability to better the customer’s experience; and not waste time trying to find that ‘magic app’ that will replace what agents may think are time-consuming tasks. Time invested in agent-client relationships is never time wasted.”
Around 250 attended the very successful day of speakers, special guests and panel sessions at the Pullman Hotel, Brisbane.
On the back of solid growth, RE/MAX Australia projects that the number and the quality of its members will continue to rise, with 1000 agents by the end of 2020 a current target.
2017 plans unveiled included an integrated CRM panel, the creation of web books for training events and onboarding, a super refreshed professional development program, a digital-based marketing campaign, and a brand refresh led by RE/MAX LLC later in the year.
At the end of August, RE/MAX Australia and RE/MAX New Zealand host the RE/MAX Asia Pacific Convention on the Gold Coast. With its theme of ‘Together towards tomorrow – local and global’, Michael Davoren called it ‘To date, the greatest event in Australia in my time with RE/MAX’.
Denver-based Cheryl Luster, RE/MAX LLC Senior Consultant, Global Development, who is part of the team supporting RE/MAX success through more than 100 countries, described RE/MAX Directors Michael Davoren, Joel Davoren and Chris Chapman as ‘one of the best leadership teams in all of RE/MAX’ who have their ‘heart and soul’ in the network.
Keynote speaker Sebastian Terry, who is currently Australian Ambassador for Make-A-Wish Australia, was first up on the program.
Affected by the loss of a close friend, Sebastian started on a personal journey to find happiness but has inadvertently begun a global movement of people who both chase their own dreams and help others do the same. He could have been describing RE/MAX agents in the room when he said ‘People want to help people, and it’s driven by passion’.
He too stressed ‘personal connection’ as a foundation for the future and that we should use available technology to connect with and help others.
The shoeless Seb had the audience oscillating between laughter and tears, and sometimes both at once. His web site is http://100things.com.au/.
REA Group’s Grant Turner started his career as a passionate real estate sales agent in Brisbane, grew REA Group’s market share in the ACT and is now part of its Queensland Residential Leadership Team. He gave valuable suggestions on developing a business strategy for the digital age, which he said was more appropriate than a digital strategy. He also told the audience to ‘Do business with your heart’.
Franchise Director, Joel Davoren, chaired a panel of RE/MAX high achievers: Melita Bell, RE/MAX Success; Nicole Carter, RE/MAX Regency; Bruce Hutchison, RE/MAX Bayside Properties and Karl Rademeyer, RE/MAX First.
He kicked off by asking the panelists to define their value and all four panelists demonstrated their uniqueness as they shared advice and experiences with the audience. The importance of relationships and connecting with customers was a common theme, and Melita drew applause when she said ‘People want to hear what’s in your voice – emails and texts are not enough!’
For RE/MAX property managers, the Rally presented a chance to learn from the inspirational Deniz Yusuf, who started BDMCoach in 2013 after his own phenomenal success in business development. He now trains property managers across Australia, New Zealand and the United States.
He started his working life as a ‘fruito’ and famously tells people he coaches that ‘There’s no emails in Fruit’; again giving the message that business is about what experiences you can give your clients.
He says, “Real estate isn’t just about collecting rent and charging a fee, but about what services and products you can provide your clients, and how much money you can save them by using you or your services”.
Property Asset Management (PAM) Committee members also experienced three valuable interactive workshops.
Michael Crossland was the RE/MAX Rally’s closing speaker.
This man’s life almost defies description. Having faced, overcome, refaced – and continuing to face – life threating conditions, Michael has presented to over 500,000 people from all walks of life around the world over the past five years.
ABC’s Australian Story’s award-winning documentary on his life was viewed by over four million people, and his autobiography, Kids Don’t Get Cancer, released in January 2016, is a best seller in six countries
He has spent around a quarter of his life in hospital, yet he has represented Australia in his chosen sport of baseball, forged a highly successful career in the corporate world, and featured regularly across all forms of media. He also runs a school and orphanage in Haiti and has been presented with the Australia Day Ambassador role for seven consecutive years.
There were tears in the room; and just as many wonderful words from Michael Crossland to hang on, like ‘If you don’t like where you are in life, move. You are not a tree!’
RE/MAX Australia’s highest achievers – members of Platinum Plus – enjoyed an invitation-only cocktail party as a warm-up to the Thursday evening main event, the annual awards gala at Brisbane City Hall, which rose to a capacity attendance of almost 600.