Art of transitioning into ownership from sales

Ray White South Brisbane principal Luke Croft has made a seamless transition into business ownership from sales.Luke’s career path into real estate came via the less traditional path of a panel beater’s custom shop.He laughs about it now but the former tradie went from the workshop to wearing a suit in a matter of weeks some 14 years ago.For Luke the leap into business ownership was smooth as he had a graceful handover with his former principal Dean Yesberg.He said the leap from being a single agent with no team to having a team was the bigger leap for him, and he’d resisted for so long."I always thought it would be a headache but I am lucky as I have hired really well. So I already had a good team. They are all young and hungry people, with no real estate experience before they started. Just like me as I was a tradie,” Luke said.“I see agents who bounce around from agency to agency and pick up bad habits over the years. I wanted to get someone fresh as it enabled me to mould them into a really good agent.“I am looking for longevity in the business. I don’t want to hire someone just to make money and get out.“It’s an apprenticeship getting into real estate and I went to all of Mark ‘Macca’ McLeod’s training sessions. He's brutally honest and I like that. He’s a truth and a lot of people don’t like the truth. No-one wants to hear what they are doing wrong but I copped it on the chin. Macca won’t sugar coat it and he tells it like it is.“One of the things about Ray White that I really like, is it’s a family business.“But it really is. Brian White is real. Dan White is real. They are very approachable and very genuine. I think you’d be hard pressed to find that in any other real estate agency. The Whites are always in the network.“I love this business, I love the family and they are all very supportive. My experience over the last three months has been overwhelming since I opened.“There is a specialist in every part of this business in Corporate to help me and everyone is all over it.“I have only ever worked for a boutique agency and they didn’t do print media, or open homes or auctions. But Ray White as a brand is a big springboard to anywhere you want to go.”