RWC kicked off day two of its national conference on the Gold Coast which had a laser focus on repositioning the leading group for success in its new era.
Ray White Group managing director Dan White interviewed RWC Capital Transactions director Ian Hetherington about the importance of nurturing clients.
He spoke about how the value of relationships has been the foundation to his success.
“There's no such thing as a dead pitch or a dead meeting,” Mr Hetherington said.
“If you don’t get the outcome you want in the moment, stay in touch and build that relationship and eventually you’ll win.
“We sell trust not buildings, if they don’t trust you they won't let you handle their transaction, and sometimes those relationships can take 10-15 years to nurture.
“Give people a vision for the future and where things are going, and there’s the relationship side - you're not building trust if you haven't spent time together.
“You have to give the best market advice, you’ve got to give the best experiences. You are often successful in this field if you’re fun and you’re excellent. You have to be authentic.”
Nationally accredited mediator Jimilla Houghton spoke to RWC members about getting comfortable with conflict. She used the example where a property manager may have to inform a tenant their rent was going up, and how to best handle any conflict.
She spoke about active listening, soothing statements, and how to respond.
“Active listening is the practice of listening to the speaker where we listen to truly understand, we listen and clarify what’s been said in order to truly listen to what’s being said,” Ms Houghton said.
“Soothing statements are things you can say to calm people in the moment. Acknowledge that it’s uncomfortable and a difficult situation. You might say ‘I’m sorry you’re going through this’ or ‘I can hear you’re having a tough time’.”
Wellness specialist Stephen Woods took the stage to talk about mastering stress in the modern world. He spoke about how stress can impact both your physical and mental health, and what you can do to manage different types of stress such as time stress, anticipatory stress, encounter stress, and financial stress.
Exercise, getting outdoors, starting a hobby or learning a new skill, and practising breathing techniques were just some stress management techniques people could adopt in their everyday lives, he said.
“The best time to start managing your stress is before you’re stressed,” Mr Woods said.
“Taking a few minutes out of your day to plan how you’re going to start managing your stress is important.
“Managing your stress won’t happen overnight, it’s a process, but you have to remain consistent.”
National head of real estate for Macquarie Bank Dominic Thompson spoke about leadership and the role culture has played in the growth of the business.
“Culture eats strategy for breakfast,” Mr Thompson said.
“You can have the best strategy in the world but unless you have people who act with respect you will struggle to work successfully in your market and enact that strategy.”
“Culture is the natural outgrowth of people with shared values.
RWC Bayside principal Nathan Moore said there had been lots of great learnings throughout the two day conference.
“I really enjoyed Dominic’s presentation today, as a business owner there was a lot to learn from him,” Mr Moore said.
“The cultural stuff he spoke about at Macquarie a lot of small businesses should adopt.
“We really try to focus on culture in our business and we’re going to implement some of his teachings from today.”
RWC Canberra head of industrial sales and leasing Frank Giorgi was enjoying the energy of the conference.
“The energy at the conference really comes together when you're catching up with everyone after some time,” Mr Giorgi said.
“The connections you make with the other leaders and high performers of the group is invaluable.
“The group continues to grow with plenty of young talent in the room here today and can't wait to come back again the year after.”
RWC Northern Corridor Group marketing coordinator Kelsie Smith said she loved how everyone came together for the conference.
“It’s really nice being able to participate in these types of events,” Ms Smith said.
“When we come together everyone gets really motivated and gets something of value out of it to use to grow their business.”
