BERESFORDS ESTATE AGENTS
In early 2023 Steve was approached by Beresfords Estate Agents after a recommendation from an existing client. At the time they were looking to invest in their people, and more specifically in their management team, and were looking for ideas around a programme that could be delivered to all 40 of the senior management, whilst also involving the Directors.
After much deliberation, Steve and Jon thought it prudent to offer the business the opportunity of a taster day of content of what they thought would work best for the group. The day was received extremely well and the feedback from Mark Lawrinson, the Operations Director, and other senior figures from within the group was immense.
A scoping day was held with Steve and all of The Beresfords Directors, and they settled on a year-long Leadership & Management Course that was to include 7 different modules, including How to build a high performing team, Coaching and Performance Management and how to complete effective appraisals. At the time of our new website going live we are mid-way through the programme, and all of the feedback has been exceptional.
Mark Lawrinson was kind enough to offer this testimonial
“We recently engaged Steve and Jon to deliver a leadership and management programme over the coming year, and as part of that programme they have delivered 3 days around increasing fees for all of our listers. In three short weeks we have noticed a marked improvement in both fee levels and attitudes from all of those attending the course. Without exception, all of our management team have embraced the training, and I can highly recommend the services of SJM Consultants.”
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.
