When a property franchise reports that its sales for a recent quarter are 230% up on the same period last year (as Rawson Properties’ Durbanville franchise did recently), the property trend analysts should begin to suspect that a significant upswing in demand is taking place in the area. They would also expect that the sales team here was operating extremely efficiently.
Louis Schoeman, Rawson Properties’ franchisee for Durbanville, said that in fact both statements are valid. The 230% rise reported recently by his franchise for the May to June period does, he said, reflect a big upswing in demand for property in the area, but it also shows that his sales team has “got back to the basics on which every estate agency should focus.” These, he said, are:
- Streamlining the office administrative systems and ensuring that all agents know how to use them. At Rawson Properties these systems are highly efficient and very easy to operate – it is simply a question of ensuring that agents make good use of them.
- Stressing the importance of getting mandates. Although very few agents enjoy canvassing, it has to take up to 50 to 60% of their time if the agency is to have sufficient stock to be able to attract a wide variety of buyers. Focusing on this aspect has made a very significant difference to the Rawson Properties Durbanville operation.
- Insisting wherever possible that mandates should be given on a sole mandate basis.
“All our experience shows”, said Schoeman, “that sole mandates motivate agents to perform really well. Our success rate with sole mandates has, in fact, been 80% higher than that of shared mandates and our selling times on them are 50% shorter. In addition, our ad spend on sole mandates is usually four times of that spent on shared mandates.”
In another interview, Schoeman has said, that the Durbanville area is seeing an influx of potential buyers looking for more expensive properties and this, he has predicted, will lead to an overall rise in property values.
