Ray White lights up Western Australia with Ignite 2019

AROUND 150 Ray White Group members from across Western Australia descended on the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre for Ignite 2019.

Hosted across capital cities by Australasia’s biggest real estate group, the Ignite 2019program would provide a new and improved training format for salespeople and property managers.

The sessions were designed to help its agents navigate and adapt to current market conditions.

Ray White Western Australia CEO Mark Whiteman (above) said it was wonderful to see so many members from across the network coming together as one.

"I'd like to welcome all of you from across the state, and to congratulate our recent REIWA award winners, recognising their success in the past financial year," Mr Whiteman said.

"We must continue to deliver the best customer experience possible as often as we can. We must also acknowledge any poor customer experience comes at an extraordinary cost to us. Better retention of clients equals better referrals in the future."

Speaking to the full venue, key speaker and former Lonely Planet CTO Gus Balbontin (above) said the quest for improvements, no matter how successful you may be, should never end.

"Whatever service or product you are providing to your customers today, it will get better, so it's up to you to make it better or your competitors will," Mr Balbontin said.

"There's a key difference between resources and resourcefulness and it's not the strongest or the most intelligent that survives, it's the one that's most adaptable to change.

"The problems and challenges we face today are far more complex than they've ever been so you need a strong team to work on it collectively."

The full house was then treated to two case studies that proved even in the most difficult of circumstances, success was always possible.

Ray White Western Australia CEO Mark Whiteman, on behalf of Ray White Canberra Sales Consultant Phyllis Tidmarsh, said the pillars that underpinned a successful real estate business were the same for every agent, no matter what stage of career.

"Your ability to provide framework and structure in your business will help achieve clearance for your clients, you can't get where you want to go without hard work," Mr Whiteman said.

"It's not about coming to an event like Ignite, it's actually about taking the learnings from here and implementing them in your own business, and that will provide confidence to your colleagues."

Ray White Norwood Director Jason Spagnuolo (above right with Head of Growth Mark McLeod left) said everyone must buy in to the learning culture to get better.

"The most valuable asset we have is the number of hours we have in a day. You have to be both disciplined and competitive to win your listings," Mr Spagnuolo said.

"Personally, I had processes and structures and I was disciplined to make the calls. Having strong communication channels with your clients is key.

"Turning from private treaty to auction is a business-shaping decision. Auction gave me a level of expertise I never had before and freed up time for me to chase news listings."

Ray White National Head of Property Management Emily Sim (above) reminded the PMs at Ignite 2019 that growth was 'everyone’s responsibility'.

“The state of play is this - you are all working with the number one brand in Australia in terms of property management and sales,” Ms Sim told the attendees.

“If we can understand where we are then we’ll understand where we want to be in the future. Tracking business performance is the only way to improve."

Ray White Communications and Customer Experience Manager Natalie Hortz (above left) and Ray White Head of Marketing Lisa Pennell (above right) said it was always easier to maintain existing customers than going out and looking for new ones.

"Every day we should be asking ourselves, are we comfortable not knowing what our customers are really feeling? Because that's so important," Ms Hortz said.

"Communication is the number one most complained about thing, and if you don't listen to your unhappy customers, then your competitors will.

"If you're not engaging a customer in their preferred way then you'll lose their business. So much of who you are is why your clients sign up to your service."

"It's an area where the Group's learnings are far ahead of the real estate industry due to its implementation on NPS more than eight years ago," Ms Pennell said.

"Our members have become highly skilled at getting 10 out of 10s, but instead of running away from negative feedback, we’re now running towards it so we can understand what we can do better next time.

"Technology and marketing are only part of what’s important - customer experience is where future business starts."

The event was well received by members across Western Australia and they praised the value that both them and their teams would get out of it.

"The case study was a highlight because we have previously worked on database management and it works. It's important you keep doing it - you can't just stop because it works for a while," said Ray White Karratha Managing Director/Licensee Richard Naulls (above).

"I thought Gus was brilliant in regards to embracing change and I found the case studies insightful too. Understanding that your pipeline has to be fully visualized and for you to have a clear target. You can't hit a target if you can't see it," said Ray White South Perth Agent Lisa Mann.