EWEMOVE WAPPING & BOW
When Adrian Johnston took the decision to take on a EweMove franchise, he sought the assistance and advice of Steve, a long term friend and business associate. Being new to the industry, Adrian wanted sound advice around how to set up his marketing plan, what fee levels to charge at, and what was required to ensure he hit the ground running and become an Estate Agency to be reckoned with.
Adrian’s business acumen and his expertise in the world of sales stood him in good stead, and with Steve’s guidance for the first 6 months of his agency, he thrived and is now a force to be reckoned with in the area he operates, which incidentally is awash with well known High Street agents.
Quote from Adrian:
“Engaging Steve to help me with the finer detail of Agency and setting up was a no brainer for me. I was originally due to partner with an ex agent who had to pull out at the last minute, so whist I had complete faith in my ability as both a business man and a salesperson, that assistance and guidance of Steve was essential.”
PARRYS FINE & COUNTRY ABERGAVENNY
Steve was approached by Parry’s partner Heather Cook after a recommendation through another training and consultancy business.
Heather was looking to bring one of her existing employees into the management team of the business and asked Steve to guide and mentor Ben, as well as looking at business strategies and how to increase sales levels and revenue.
Steve worked within the business, taking the weekly sales meetings via Zoom, and visiting the office for 3 days each month. He would also take weekly sessions with his new mentee, as well as guiding and advising other members of the team.
Ben Watkins is now a fully-fledged partner in the business and often refers back to the sessions he had with Steve, referring to them as “having his tyres pumped up”, a rather strange analogy, but we think you know what he means!
Steve worked with Parrys for 18 months and still retains a great relationship with Heather both inside and out of work.
Heather said of Steve back then:
“I started working with Steve during Lockdown and really benefitted from his ideas and suggestions.
Steve’s very direct in his approach and will challenge our way of thinking. If we don’t agree he will consider our point of view and prompt discussion.
Steve is currently working as a mentor with one of our team who is new to his role and in his early days of leadership. He has been great in helping to build his confidence as well as working with generic leadership skills and more specific agency skills.
He is always prepared and always has a great sense of humour”
HENRY ADAMS ESTATE AGENTS
Henry Adams Estate Agents are a successful, multi office business based in and around Surrey and Sussex.
Gareth Overton, the Residential Managing Director has worked with Steve on a number of occasions, and approached him in early 2023 with a conundrum around training requirements.
Whilst Gareth wanted his Managers to experience a number of specific training days around Leadership & Management, he deemed it important that the rest of the sales and lettings front line team were also involved in one way or another, and sort advice from Steve.
After much deliberation it was decided that each team member would be party to two days of intense training around the specifics Gareth required. Due to numbers, the negotiators were split into two groups, and the managers in a separate group, and 6 days of training were delivered over 2 months, each in blocks of 3 days, a day for each group.
The managers were treated to two session around ‘How to Build A High Performing Team’ and covered topics such as Effective Communication and understanding the different personalities in their teams and how people react differently to certain situations. We covered Coaching, and how to get the best from their people, how to carry out proper one on ones and appraisals, and how to manage difficult situations around Conflict Management. Effective time management was also on the agenda, and all in all it was a full on two days of learnings, but also of interaction amongst the group and a lot of fun.
For the Negotiators the emphasis was around how to deliver knockout customer service, build brand loyalty, and how to maximise earning potential through cross sales.
What was important though, was that we were able to cross over on a number of topics and issues, meaning the Negotiators had a thorough understanding of why the mangers were introducing new techniques and handling issues in a very different way.
The feedback from both the hierarchy and the delegates was excellent, and we had managed to balance and deliver on Gareth’s requirements. He has since sent ten of his Listers on Steve’s and Jon’s Fees Days, and has reported a marked increase in fee levels attained since.
Gareth has also being kind enough to recommend the services of SJM Consultants to a number of other agents in his network.
KEYSTONES PROPERTY
Ian Dobrin, a friend and business associate of Steve’s, approached him in mid 2023 with an introduction to Scott Jay, the owner of Keystone Property in Romford.
Scott runs a successful agency, having started from scratch in a serviced office after being disillusioned with the way the agency he was working in that time, was being operated. In the last ten years, Keystones has gone from strength to strength under Scott’s stewardship.
Scott doesn’t suffer fools, and I knew straight away that he knew what he wanted, and in what timescales, but just needed help in getting things moving forward and assistance in setting up” said Steve after their initial zoom call. A two-day consultancy was arranged and Steve packed his bag and headed to Romford.
Scott’s vision is to create a HUB style offering, and slowly further build his presence moving slowly outwards from Romford and building new territory. For this he will need some very committed, driven and hungry Associates, whilst also ensuring these people are working compliantly, legally and within the parameters of employment and tax laws.
This is where Steve’s expertise can help. With his experience around recruitment, and his new ‘Recruitment Hub’ targeting those wanting to go down the self-employed/associate route, and his Directorship with The TMS Group, strategic partners in the self-employment engagement platform, all basis are covered.
Scott and Steve discussed packages, marketing, strategy and much more and we are looking forward to the launch of the Keystone Hub in the coming months.
Watch this space!
