Bianca Denham, Head of Performance and Recognition at Ray White, writes that more sales are typically made between the start of spring through until Easter.
Two big spikes of activity intersected by a very large slow down over the summer holidays.
It’s interesting to watch the way agents move through the year in terms of energy and output.
While in theory, there is no reason for such significant ebbs and flows in activity, it is repeated almost without fail, year on year.
I am a massive advocate of prioritising a work / life balance but understand that at times it’s very difficult in this industry and if you allow it to, the job will take every hour you have.
The festive break allows busy agents the ability to have a free pass without scrutiny, we seem to have struck an unspoken agreement as an industry that it’s standard for everything to hit pause from the tail end of December, through a large majority of January.
But how many stop to think about the hit to your bottom line? How many agents are actually only working a 10 month year without it being intentional?
What’s interesting is that across Australia and New Zealand we have seen our company appraisal numbers decline by about 25 per cent month on month.
It seems odd when we are in peak spring selling season and at the start of our busiest selling period.
Wouldn’t agents want to keep a consistent flow of appraisals coming through to keep stock levels high all the way through until April?
What seems to happen is that by the time we get into October, agents have an almost myopic focus on selling stock to clear the decks and create space for a break.
That’s all well and good, but if you haven’t restocked to start the new calendar year with momentum, unfortunately we see many agents not making their first sale until February of the new year.
What the best agents are mindful of is ensuring they list now to launch in the new year so that they minimise loss of momentum and keep sales occurring 12 months of the year.
A significant date to consider is the Australia Day long weekend.
Are you an agent who has completed new year campaigns and has sales on the board before this weekend, or are you waiting for this date to pass before launching new year stock?
If you’re the latter, I would suggest that your more proactive competitors will beat you every time when suggesting getting a jump on eager new year buyers who have considered their ideal purchase when the market gets moving after the Christmas / New Year week has concluded.
What the real estate portals tell us is that when most 9-5ers are off over the festive break, they spend quite a bit of time browsing real estate, views over this period are really strong and our best agents are using this window to launch property either in the week between Christmas and New year, or very early in the new year so that keen purchasers can compile their shopping list while they have more time than usual to browse and buy.
People being off work also affords a great opportunity to connect with them, whether a cheerful festive phone call or doorknock to drop off a Christmas card.
If you completely shut down your client nurturing activities over the summer months, you’ll be leaving your business vulnerable to the more ambitious and enthusiastic agent who allows time for these critical activities to continue year round.
Lastly, the thing to address if you are an agent who limps over the finish line on December 21 is why so many of our industry simply can’t muster the energy to work at a high rate during the summer.
It’s usually because they’ve failed to allow sufficient time to re energise during the year.
We work in a performance based industry, it’s incredibly task-burdensome and most agents are running their businesses on too few resources.
If you look at Elite athletes, they don’t train at maximum velocity year round, they work in phases ranging from high intensity (for much less time than you might think), more manageable strength and fitness training and finally they schedule regular periods of rest.
An ‘I’ll take what I can get’ mindset, based on scarcity, usually underpins this type of behaviour.
Agents who have a structured business that allows a consistent flow of stock in and stock out year round have greater confidence, make less short-term decisions and are usually more effective at the listing table because they don’t have a fear based perspective of needing to win each listing at any cost.
How can you set up 2025 to allow for regular moments to recharge?
How do you fuel your mind and body throughout the year for peak performance?
Here are your action items to consider as we move towards the end of the year:
- Make sure you keep turning up for your call sessions. You will need stock after the summer break!
- Make sure you keep booking face to face appraisals, the slower period may make it easier to catch up with busy professionals who are work focused during the rest of the year.
- Consider your schedule of when you can list property either side of Christmas. What is your last launch date and when will you release your new year stock?
- If you are leading teams, think about how you can keep your associates and support staff focused during this period. If you allow them to slide into underperformance during December and January, are you extending the burden of your cost base?
