Key takeouts from our keynote speaker: Jason Adcock

As they say, success leaves clues. At XCON 2022, Jason Adcock made the clues simple to find and shared his insights on growing his successful agency, Adcock Prestige, which has dominated the Brisbane prestige market for 25+ years. 

Not only did he start his business during a downturn, he has outlasted three of them, so has learned a thing or two on how to excel during these times.
 

Takeout #1: Find your niche 

“More of what you list is more of what you sell.” 

It’s hard to be everything to everyone, and trying to do too much across your agency can water down your expertise. Jason has proven that owning a niche can pay BIG dividends, and your niche can be based on property type, suburb, or anything that you can add value too that others can’t. 

Find your niche, own your niche, and learn to say ‘no’ to properties that don’t reinforce your niche. Doing so will make you an expert and authority in that field.  

Takeout #2: Use your authority to protect your commission 

“Show value in your ability to sell the property.” 

Building on Clue #1, you need to learn to say no when a vendor asks you to reduce your commission. Jason shared his commission is over 1% higher than his competitor and he always gets it. Why? He’s earned the seat at the table, he knows the client knows he’ll get the property sold, and he explains an agent competing on commission percentage should be a warning sign to the vendor (if they were confident they’d sell it, why would they reduce their commission?).

Takeout #3:  Build your brand 

“Its’ not who you know, it’s who knows you.” 

There’s no point starting your business and owning a niche if no-one knows about it. Jason recommends a budget of 10% of your GCI to your own marketing. This includes brand building and lead generation and he focuses on video content to drive engagement. While not everyone can have a dedicated video team, he suggests everyone can get amazing results with the right equipment. What exactly you ask? 

• iPhone 13 Pro Max 
• RODE Go Wireless Mic 
• 2 x Tri-pods so you can stream to both Facebook & Instagram 

Takeout #4: Look after your sellers and your buyers 

“Buyers have been treated like sh*t.” 

With the boom we’ve experienced and surplus of buyers, many agents treated buyers poorly. If you treat them well, they’ll sing your praises and they’ll often gave a property to sell (now or in the future) . 

For your vendors, be clear with them about expectations. Present all offers. Be clear about marketing their property and have tough discussions should no offers come through at the original price. Explain to them that what they expected to get 6 months ago is no longer the case, and that they’ll also be buying back at better prices. An example from Jason: 

We are not getting enough traction at the current price, we need to adjust to 5% initially, if that attracts more people we will hopefully be able to generate some offers from that and get it sold. If we don’t, we are going to need to drop it down another 5%.”  

Takeout #5: Ask the right questions 

“What is your current situation?” 

If there’s one question you ask, make it this one. Whether asked to buyers or sellers, it opens up an entire discussion on the needs and wants of that person.

The answers you get will guide you on their intentions, urgency, and create opportunities to explore what they need right now. Better still, you’ll uncover if there’s anything else you can help them with in the future.