Transitioning from agent to principal: mentors, motivation and framework

Eric was only two years into his real estate career when he opened Ray White Sunnybank Hills last November. As the only sales performer in the business, Eric hit the ground running and sold seven properties in his first month as a principal.

Since then, the office has grown from three team members to 11, and Eric has no plans of slowing down. So much so that in a single day in February, Eric held 13 open homes, guided 83 groups through, sold one of the properties and began negotiations on six others.

Eric’s journey began when Ray White’s CEO of Network Development, Andrew McCulloch and the Group’s National Network Development Manager, Suki Fei worked to transition him from agent to business owner.

“The truth is we faced the challenge of replacing a business in a critical marketplace. When Suki and I began talking to Eric, his immediate response was that he wasn’t ready to take the leap into ownership. He said ‘I’d think about it in five years time.’

“We saw true leadership qualities in Eric so our immediate response was ‘what’s stopping you?’. That one question changed his whole thinking to ‘in five years time, I’ll be 30”, and it shifted his mindset in the right direction,” Andrew explained.

The transformation began straight away. Suki guided Eric on balancing the mix of Chinese and Australian cultures in his business.

“There are obvious cultural differences Chinese agents face in Australia. My job is to help build successful businesses that respect the Chinese culture,” Suki said.

From there, Ray White’s Profit Team came in to write Eric a business plan, identifying strategies and focus areas to build a highly profitable business. In achieving immediate momentum, Eric credits Ray White’s support and systems combined with his own drive to succeed.

“We’re in a very competitive marketplace and there is always improvements to make, but I am so pleased with how well we are working. Ray White opens up more opportunity for success because of all the people and business tools available to me.

“My team and I are all committed to constantly improving. I have no doubt 2017 will see huge growth and prosperity for Ray White Sunnybank Hills,” Eric said.