Issue 3 // 2022
2 INSIDE Harcourts recognised as the finest in real estate – by our team, our business partners and of course, our clients. We have a huge opportunity in front of us. Themarket is certainly changing with significant uncertainty for us all – but these are the very times we excel in – when professionalismand strength aremost in demand and needed. With our roll out of industry leading websites, the transition to VaultRE gainingmomentum, the revamped H360 reporting and business analysis giving us even greater insights and the launch of the Harcourts Hub bringing it all together in one place, we will have the very best operating systemof any organisation in themarket. Put that together with the very best people – the individual effectiveness of the Harcourts team remains ahead of the industry – and you have an unstoppable force. For us all to achieve our goals and aspirations and truly live our very best life is the opportunity we all have right now in front of us. I can’t encourage you enough to embrace the people and resources around you – embrace the opportunity that is in front of each of us, be the best person that you can be and these next 12months will be awesome! I really look forward to sharing the journey with you all. My decision to semi-retire in 2019 has not worked out as intended! In fact, I have been an abject failure at retiring. What I have learnt over the last three years is that youmust wake up every day with passion and purpose. That being focussed and challenged, growing every day, is a critical part of me livingmy best life and being the best person that I can be. So, a change in plan and strategy was needed! The leadership rolewithin any organisation is a vital but challenging position. Leading theHarcourts Group is nodifferent andhas in fact expanded and grown increasinglymore complex as theGrouphas grown. With the significant commitment beingmade to improve our operating technology systems and the resulting roll outs, coupledwith the current global environment, this has never been truer than it is today. To increase the impact and effectiveness of our Harcourts leadership structure, I have decided to return full time towork in the Harcourts Group. I will be returning tomy former leadership position as Managing Director of the Harcourts Group, effective the 1st of September. Steve Caradoc-Davies has been doing a tremendous job andwill continue in his role as CEO for Harcourts International. He will work alongsideme to deliver the leadership, support and resources that will ensure our corporate teamcontinues to deliver on their responsibilities and that the wider Harcourts Group continues to grow and provide the very finest experience for our clients. The combined experience and energy will ensure Harcourts has the most committed, focussed, and effective leadership teamof any real estate group. One plus one definitely equals three. I believe this is a really exciting step forward for our Group, one that will ensure we achieve our vision of the Harcourts experience being Mike Green Managing Director, Harcourts International BACK TO THE FUTURE!
INSIDE Harcourts 3 ISSUE3//2022 10 On the cover: Introducing the Harcourts Hub, a place to access all things Harcourts. The Harcourts Hub is an intranet solution for everymember of your team to be connected, educated, celebrated and updated. It’s designed to save time and create efficiencies. Readmore on page 8. Editor Shaena Jones Designer Alexander Rumsey Studio Eighty Contributions communications@harcourts.net While every effort has beenmade to ensure that the information in this publication is accurate we recommend that, before relying on this information, you seek independent specialist advice. We acknowledge the Turrbal Traditional Owners of the land onwhich this publication is produced and Elders both past and present. 12 8 30 28 50 TABLEOFCONTENTS In the Family. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 The Hub. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 In Feature – PM.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 In Marketing.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 In Client Experience. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 In Technology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 International Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 In Finance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 New Zealand Update .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Australia Update .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 North America Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 South Africa Update.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Indonesia Update .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 In Rural .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 In Foundation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 In Commercial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 In Feature – GoP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 In Academy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 In View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 In Awards.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 REIP Nexus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
4 INSIDE Harcourts OFFICES NewZealand Hobson Partners – Harcourts Grey Lynn Harcourts Grey Lynn is in an exciting Auckland city centre location. This full-service agency with local experts Steven Fang and Cobe Guo leading the charge, say they plan to “provide outstandingmarketing and always put people first.” Their success to date is built on the values of providing exceptional customer service, honesty and integrity in all dealings, teamwork at every level of the business, continuous innovation tomeet changing needs and being an employer of choice by attracting talented people fromdiverse backgrounds. Grenadier – Harcourts Cashmere The broad appeal of this vibrant suburbwas one of the key reasons behind Harcourts Grenadier’s decision to open an office in Cashmere. The newGrenadier office is run by MelanieWebb, who hasmoved on fromamanagement role with the hugely successful Grenadier City office. Combining Robert McCormack and Andy Freeman’s expertise, with Grenadier’s sophisticated training systems andwealth of world-class tools, make this a compelling opportunity for both new and established agents. KevinDeane Real Estate (KDRE) – Harcourts Putaruru Andrea and Kevin Deane have extended their reach into rural Waikato by opening a satellite office in Putaruru. Since 2002, when they established the Kevin Deane Real Estate Limited brand and started Harcourts Morrinsville, Kevin and Andrea have built a specialist teamand used their expertise to sell residential, lifestyle, rural, commercial and rural economic properties across Cambridge, Morrinsville, Matamata and the Greater Waikato area. Grenadier – HarcourtsWigram The Christchurch suburb of Wigram is what’s commonly referred to in real estate circles as a ‘hot spot’. A bustling community complete withmodern homes, popular businesses and a host of key amenities, made it the obvious choice for a newoffice. Under the leadership of business owners Sarah and HamishMcLeod, who have owned Harcourts’ Halswell since 2017, together with Lin Ma, comes significant real estate experience and in-depth knowledge the industry whichwill be invaluable for theWigramTeam. “It’s very exciting to be the first real estate office inWigramSkies and be able to provide the excellent client service and results Grenadier is known for”, says Sarah. Coromandel Beaches Realty – Harcourts Cooks Beach The newest jewel in the Coromandel Beaches Realty crown is the Cooks Beach office which opened on 1 April this year. With vast experience and local real estate knowledge about this very special corner of NewZealand, experienced owner David Frewwho alongside his experienced team led by Dayle Candy, have a passion for the Coromandel and a determination to provide a premium real estate service across the region. Cooper &Co – Harcourts Silverdale We have a newoffice and teamon board in Harcourts Silverdale. This area of Auckland has seen rapid growth in recent years and a Harcourts office is an exciting venture. Having been part of RayWhite – Millwater until July this year, the office and looks great in the Harcourts shade of blue. Acquiring TeamSingleton in the takeover and engaging former General Manager, Northern Region TimGlatt to leadmanagement in the office; this team is one towatch in the future. WELCOMETOTHE HARCOURTSFAMILY IN THEFAMILY
INSIDE Harcourts 5 OFFICES Australia Harcourts Property Centre, Wellington Point, Queensland The Harcourts Property Centre continues to grow, adding a renowned office inWellington Point to their team. Director SamDevlin, said this acquisitionwas yet another addition to the growing teamat the Property Centre. TheWellington Point office was purchased fromRayWhite Principal IanMarshall, a stalwart of the industry whowill stay on as leading salesperson under the Harcourts Property Centre banner. The acquisition includes Ian and his teamas no one knows and understands this area like they do. Ian is an icon of real estate in the Redlands, June is a prominent local identity, and the entire sales, propertymanagement and administration team have a wealth of knowledge in the area that can’t be replicated. Harcourts Property Centre, Noosa, Queensland The Harcourts Noosa office has become the latest to join the collection of offices known as Harcourts Property Centre - Noosa, opening their rebranded doors onMonday 1 August. Noosa office owners, Nathan and Kellie O’Neill, are looking forward to being a part of the team and commented that the systems and support in addition to the Harcourts culture are the things that attracted them. Harcourts Property Centre owners, SamDevlin and Aaron Brooks, are looking forward toworking closely with the teamat Noosa. Nathan and Kellie are well established in the Noosamarket with a huge depth of relationships in the community and Aaron and Samwill bring the scale and energy of the powerhouse Harcourts Property Centre business. Harcourts Langwarrin, Langwarrin, Victoria Harcourts Langwarrin has officially openedwith business owners Jamie O’Halloran and CameronMiller-Randle excited to be adding the new location into their Harcourts business. Jamie says they chose to bring Harcourts to Langwarrin because they saw an opportunity to bring a widely-known global brand to the area. With a focus on customer service and community values Harcourts Langwarrin teamare sure to hit the ground running andmake a difference in the local area. IN THEFAMILY South Africa Harcourts Graphite, BluffPeninsula Harcourts Graphite services the vibrant andmulticultural Bluff Peninsula. Flanked by theWarm Indian Ocean on the East and the Bustling port of Durban on theWest, the Bluff offers amultitude of properties that will cater to a variety of buyers. The Bluff is a self-contained, well established, and secure area, that caters for its close andwelcoming community. Our professional team with decades of combined experience, led byWayne and Anthony, are excited to be part of this community and to offer them the services of an innovative and international brand, as they deserve to be serviced by the best. Harcourts Nambithi –Winterton Harcourts Nambithi –Wintertonwill be servicing the Central Drakensberg, Bergiville, Winterton and surrounding areas. It is known for accommodating tourists as well as locals and offersmuch in terms of holiday, investment and retirement opportunities. With Drakensberg being one of the Natural wonders of the world, there is no shortage of tourists flocking to see the snow-capped mountains in the winter, beautiful, lush greenmeadows in the summer and lots of fun activities in the area. The Harcourts Nambithi -Winterton staff are well known to the local community. They are long time locals with good ties to the community and have always strived to achieve their best in an ever-changingmarket.
6 INSIDE Harcourts Kelvin Wong In-house Legal Counsel, Harcourts New Zealand Kelvinmoved to NewZealand fromMalaysia with his family at a young age. He received his LLB from the University of Auckland and later obtained a Post Graduate Diploma in Business fromMassey University. Prior to joining Harcourts, Kelvin practiced at several law firms in Auckland and the United Kingdom specialising in Property and Commercial Law. In addition, he has a deep passion for music and holds three Diplomas in Piano Performance. Renee Wilkinson ExecutiveAssistant toManagingDirector andChiefOperationsOfficer, HarcourtsNewZealand Renee joined the Real Estate industry in 2014 and enjoys the fast-paced nature of the industry and the fact that no day is ever the same. Most of her career in Real Estate has beenwith Harcourts Whangarei where she started as a BDM in the Property Management teamand then progressed to EA for the Business Owners. Renee has worked for a couple of other Real Estate brands but feels that Harcourts is the brand that best aligns with her values. Yash Gor Academy Multimedia Designer, Harcourts International Passionateabout hiswork, Yash joinedHarcourts as amultimediadesigner for the Learning&Development team. Pursuingadegree inFilmandLaw, Yashwanted tobranchout fromhis experimental freelance career andestablishhimself ina corporate setting. His roleat Harcourts involves filming, editingandmanaging videobased resources for Harcourts Academy andHRETC, alongwithbackend facilitation formarketingandwebinars. However,most of his time is spent pitching “youknowwhatwouldbe fun?” ideas toeveryonearoundhim. IN THEFAMILY WELCOMECORPORATETEAM North America Indonesia Harcourts Carolinas, Columbia, South Carolina Harcourts super-agent Tara Morawski is partnering with The Green Group’s ChadWidtfeld and Justin Green as they open the first Harcourts office in South Carolina, Harcourts Carolinas. Harcourts Carolinas is a premier full-service real estate agency specialising in residential sales. Wholly focused on people and their community, Harcourts Carolinas continually strives to build better relationships with clients frompast, present, and future. Harcourts Bogor Raya, Bogor, West Java A huge welcome to the 21 teammembers at our newHarcourts Bogor Raya office. Bogor is one hour south of Jakarta the capital city and it is an old city known for its MICE, agriculture, and education asmain economic pillars. Both Bachtiar Pangestu and Joyce Cecilia have a combined 23 years of sales experience and know the city well. The teamwent through the process of business planning and the introduction to both Harcourts and Panin Group. The Grand Opening ceremony took place on August 6thwith a great success. OFFICES
INSIDE Harcourts 7 Amanda Landreth Business Operations Manager, Harcourts South Australia Amanda Landreth joins Harcourts South Australia as Business Operations Manager following her extensive work history in a wide range of industries, including real estate, small businesses, government departments andmultinational organisations. Amanda will work with Business Owners to provide support to ensure their businesses run smoothly. With over 20 years real estate experience, Amanda is excited to bring her knowledge and learnings to her role at Harcourts. Karin Leggat Property Operations Manager, Harcourts Western Australia Originally fromSouth Africa, Karinmoved to Australia in 2011 to be closer to her sonwhere she completed her Property Management registration. Working for her previous employer for over 10 years in a variety of roles Karin says she’s learnt fromsome of the best. Having been nominated for Property Manager of the Year twice Karin is a wonderful asset to the Harcourts Western Australia team. Karin strives to be honest, loyal and kind and is excited for her Harcourts journey – supporting and developing the Property Management business inWestern Australia. Sam Lawley Performance Coach & Business Development Manager, Harcourts South Australia Joining the Real Estate Industry in 2015, Sambrings his vast experience to the table delivering our ‘Sales - The Harcourts Way’ programmes and tailored coaching to Harcourts offices across the South Australian network. Fascinated by the industry’s nature of being hyper-competitive and ever-changing, Sam is passionate about helping agents, beginners or veterans, improve their versatility, service levels, and grow their businesses. Sam joined the Harcourts Network inMay 2022, and says themost rewarding part of the opportunity he has with Harcourts, is towatch an agent take something away froma coaching session, implement it into their business, and in turn take their career to the next level. Troy Hillier Business Performance Manager, Harcourts Queensland Troy has an extensive agency background andworks closely with the network to support the individual ambitions of our businesses. With a focus on improving performance and growingmarket share, he assists with business planning, recruitment, and the implementation of cutting-edge systems and structures. Kellie Duncan Migration Support Specialist, Harcourts NewZealand With a background in Property Management and Business Development, Kellie is keen to bring her strong relationship building and customer service skills to her role. She is a systems and processes focused individual with a passion for property whichwill help to excel in her role as amigration support specialist. IN THEFAMILY WELCOMECORPORATETEAM Demi Gane Academy Trainer, Harcourts Victoria Born and raised in Tasmania, Demi has recently relocated toMelbourne and joined Harcourts Victoria as the newAcademy Trainer. Having beenwith the Harcourts network for the past eight years in a variety of positions, Demi brings a wealth of real estate and brand knowledge to her new role. Honouring a number of industry led qualifications, including a Diploma, Demi embraces every opportunity to grow and innovate the real estate industry and is excited to connect with the network.
8 INSIDE Harcourts IN FEATURE HARCOURTSHUB THENEWHOMEOF ALL THINGSHARCOURTS! We are thrilled and excited to bring you the newest release in the Harcourts technology strategy as wemove away fromHarcourts One and introduce the Harcourts Hub. A place to access all things Harcourts, the Harcourts Hub is an intranet solution for everymember of your team to be connected, educated, celebrated and updated. It’s designed to save time and create efficiencies. The Hub has been developed to have a simple user experience, designed with quick reference buttons tomake finding things simple and easy. Like Google, searching for documents or other materials in the new and improved Harcourts library will bemuch easier, as its system is equipped with intuitive search functions. You will have simple access to every trainingmodule, online and offline events, each piece of network news and all the ‘how-to’ guides you could need to run a business. As data can be shared onto the Hub it will streamline the use of other Harcourts platforms such as H360, making themaccessible to all users. With a direct feed fromH360, the Harcourts Hub will be regularly updated with stats on sales, managements, listings and appraisals, so that you can get a quick snapshot of exactly how you’re tracking as you go. News and communication will also be centralised into the Hub providing an environment that allows content to be delivered relevant to your role, interests, and location. So, instead of receiving reams of emails fromdifferent divisions, you’ll log in to Harcourts Hub for everything you need to know about our company, your business and this industry. The Harcourts Hub single sign-on feature allows you to access many of our third-party applications with the click of a button rather than having to remember several different logins, again saving you time. The inbuilt referral systemalso allows you to refer clients quickly and easily to other people within the Harcourts Network. Finally, but no less important, the Harcourts Hub has been built to enhance and promote our wonderful Harcourts Culture with quick references to teamanniversaries, birthdays, searchable throughout the Harcourts network not just your own team. Harcourts Hub will allow teams, offices and franchises to personalise their own home page to include – regularly accessed documents, own teamevents or training calendars, teamnews and muchmore. With a successful and warmly received launch in South Africa, we are excited to launch the Harcourts Hub throughout Australia and New Zealand later this month. So, keep your eyes and ears peeled for more information!
INSIDE Harcourts 9 IN FEATURE ONE PLACE TOSIGN INTO EVERYTHING; CRMTHROUGH TOON-DEMAND TRAINING ONE PLACE TOACCESS ALL TRAINING, NEWS, EVENTS, TEMPLATESONE TAILORED NEWS FEED FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL RELEVANT TO THEIRROLE AND INTERESTS ONE PLACE TO COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR TEAM ONE TAILORED NEWS FEED FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL RELEVANT TO THEIRROLE AND INTERESTS
10 INSIDE Harcourts IN FEATURE LET’S CELEBRATEOUR DEDICATED&HARDWORKING PROPERTYMANAGEMENT TEAMS NEWZEALANDUPDATE It has been an exciting time on the event circuit for property management in New Zealand. The Harcourts Annual Property Management Activate events scheduled for the beginning of the year were finally held in June in four locations around the country. The events were attended by over 200 Harcourts property managers, business development managers, business owners, managers and administrators. Allison Mooney spoke at each event with her presentation ‘Pressing the Right Buttons’ which was well received as the team learned about different personality types and howwe can relate to each other and our clients in the best possible way. Representatives fromMBIE/Tenancy Services spoke at the events about howwe can work together for the betterment of the property management industry, as well as internal speakers/panellists and support fromour valued business partners. Harcourts property managers are enthusiastic learners. We are proud of the high attendance at our Activate events. The Real Estate Institute of NZ (REINZ) championed the firstever National Property Managers’ Day with events in Auckland, Christchurch, Queenstown andWellington, providing an amazing opportunity to connect propertymanagers in conversation in each region to recognise and celebrate their hard work and dedication. I co-hosted the event in Auckland to great success, and led out the concept that everyone should celebrate and be celebrated locally even if they couldn’t attend one of the larger events, which was well received and the entire campaign generated some exciting social media activity up and down the country. #nationalpropertymanagersdaynz Jodine Clark Head of Property Management NewZealand jodine.clark@harcourts.net A full (and engaged) roomat the Property Management Activate programme held recently in Auckland. REINZ Property Managers’ Day event, held in Auckland. Social media tile featuring the team fromHarcourts Cooper & Co. Facebook post showing the team at Harcourts Tauranga, celebrating Property Managers Day. Facebook post showing how the Harcourts Timaru teamcelebrated Property Managers Day.
INSIDE Harcourts 11 IN FEATURE AUSTRALIAUPDATE In the last quarter across Australia, our Property Management teams have been very busy with their clients as well us upskilling, training, and celebrating their success. We also welcomed Inspect Real Estate, EBMRent Cover and Bricks and Agent as new property management business partners. Here is a snapshot of what we’ve been up to. • HX PM breakout session - sold out half day session with a strong focus onmindset and process. Robyn Moore was our amazing keynote speakers with a standout session fromDavid Bowie (not the rockstar!) onmanaging wellbeing at work • Victoria PMX 1 day PM conference - another sold out session with a strong focus on wellbeing. Keynote speakers were Peter Brewer and Benny Button. We also shared an insightful leadership interviewwith Irene Green • Thank a Property Manager Day – this was celebrated around the nation with flowers, gifts and lunches: much well-deserved pampering took place! • PM The Harcourts Way – our updated two-day best practice PM course was launched for those new to Harcourts or new to the industry • BDM The Harcourts Way – we also launched our revamped oneday growth course full of prospecting ideas and scripts to handle all situations • Legislation Masterclass – we continued to deliver these interactive and challenging workshops to ensure all Harcourts Property Managers are performing at the top of their game We are also excited to be releasing the propertymanagement component of the newHarcourts HUB over the next month, full of updated forms, letters, checklists and over 250 videos! Karmen Costigan Head of Property Management Australia karmen.costigan@harcourts.net
12 INSIDE Harcourts IN MARKETING HUGE SUCCESS SINCEHARCOURTS WEBSITES LAUNCHED Since launching the Harcourts websites in Australia inMarch and New Zealand inMay, we’ve seen huge success and are excited to continue growing our online presence and expanding our reach. Our goal is to provide an efficient and convenient way for our customers to connect with us, to help grow your business, and generatemore leads. We’re committed to providing the best possible experience for our users. HIGHLIGHTS • 3,140,000 unique visitors (that’s 1 in 10 people in AU&NZ!) • 5,100,000 visits • 12,555,000 page views • 4,841 new appraisal leads • 43,000 listing enquiries RECENT DEVELOPMENT Thewebsite teamaims to be responsive to the needs of our our business owners, agents and propertymanagers. We’ve been constantly monitoring feedback andworking to improve the experience and functionality of thewebsites andwe really want our newwebsites to be a valuable resource for thosewho use it. Between launch and the first week of August, our development partners at Website Blue have delivered 823 individual improvements, enhancements and new features, particularly for agent websites. Some notable ones include: AGENTWEBSITES (right) • 6 NewAgent Headers • Full customisation of pages with the ability to add asmany as you need • Video support via Vimeo on agent pages OFFICEWEBSITES • Simplify the number of menus allowing visitors to stay on your office site • Newoffice footers to keep your visitors on your site for longer • ‘Our Team’ updates with ability to order & search teammembers MULTI OFFICEWEBSITES • Office location search • Location landing pages • Cross-location featured teamblocks • Instant lead alerts sent to you viaWhatsapp • Social media assets • Digital marketing playbook tomake themost of your website’s features The new tier, Agent Pro at $99 per month, will give you access to the website builder to completely customise your ownwebsite. ANNOUNCING TEAMPROWEBSITES This is a new subscription tier specifically designed for groups of agents working in teams. There’s a number of new content blocks that will be available including teammember grid blocks, team listings blocks displaying the listings of the whole team, not just an individual and profile pages for each personwithin the team. TeamPro+ at $195 per month, will also have the added benefitsmentioned above in the Agent Pro+ tier. NEWPRICINGANDPACKAGES We’re always conscious of the fact that a one size fits all approach isn’t an ideal solution. Every business and agent is different and as suchwe have a range of subscription options and features available. AGENTWEBSITES Current and new agent subscribers will be able to take advantage of a range of new features that will bemade available to them to supercharge their websites, digital marketing and service offering to their clients for $145 per month. Agent Pro+ will include a range of new features including: • Enliven AI chat bot • Regular new content blocks • Marketing domain name • HomeLive - Live video streaming to your website for open homes, tours, auctions andmore
INSIDE Harcourts 13 IN MARKETING Daniel McQuillan Digital MarketingManager digitalplus@harcourts.net AUTOAPPRAISAL (above) Launched in Australia inMay, and coming soon in NewZealand, our Auto Appraisal tool has been amassive hit with vendors. The tool allows visitors to your website to enter their home address, including their details and an indication onwhen they’re thinking of selling, and present to thema customisedwebpage about their property. The information on this page includes an auto valuation (if you choose to turn it on), the sales history of the property, sales within 5km in the past 12months, demographic information and heapsmore. Naturally, this is optimised for lead generation, with call to actions sprinkled throughout the page to encourage them to get in touch. To date, we’ve had 1,631 visitors fill out the auto appraisal form, representingmore than $21,855,400 in potential GCI for our network. MAKING THEMOSTOF YOURWEBSITE You’ve got a great looking website – now you need to tell the world (or at least your local market place). Whilst our websites are optimised for SEO, they’ve been built from the group up for digital marketing. There’s huge opportunity at themoment for offices who are wanting to run paid social and paid search campaigns. The website is deeply integratedwithMeta (Facebook & Instagram) and Google Ads, allowing you to run campaigns specifically optimised to target audiences who click on the “Get Property Appraisal’ button on the Auto Appraisal tool, or the ‘Enquire’ button on a listing page. We’ve seen offices run appraisal lead generation campaigns achieving warm leads for around $35 per lead, and converting them into sales with $13,400 worth of GCI. SNEAKPEEKOFWHAT’S TOCOME: • Direct, native integrationwith Rate My Agent • Auto Appraisal for NewZealand • NewTeams Pro+ subscription Tier • Templatedwebsite options • Inspect Real Estate ‘Apply’ button • Enliven AI Chat Bot • Updates to resources function • Ability to save searches and like listings • New content blocks (below) If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the Digital Plus team.
FOUR SHORT QUESTIONS… ONE BIG IMPACT! That’s the newHarcourts CX Programme, powered by RateMyAgent The newHarcourts CX Programme, powered by RateMyAgent, will be available to all offices soon. In developing the newprogramme, we have listened closely to the needs of business owners, managers and agents, both in terms of survey timing and the questions we ask. The newHarcourts CX Programme is based around only four questions, two asked at unconditional and two at settlement: Question 1, Unconditional Survey: Rate (agent’s name) skills and knowledge (clients award 0 to 5 stars, where 5 is excellent) Question 2, Unconditional Survey: Tell people about your experience. Describe (agent’s name) market knowledge, communication and professionalism (clients provide a testimonial which can be used for marketing) Question 3, Settlement Survey: How likely are you to recommend Harcourts (office name) to a friend or colleague? (clients award score on a 0 to 10 scale, where 10 is extremely likely) Question 4, Settlement Survey: Tell us a littlemore why you gave this score? (clients provide key details of any issues they’ve encountered) Armedwith the responses to these four short questions we’re able to: • Gather a high volume of verified testimonials, nothing better to drive new appraisal requests. • Deliver star ratings that can immediately appear at Google Reviews (thanks to RateMyAgent’s Google integration), driving both visibility and search optimisation. • A Net Promoter Score for office and agents – the currency of client satisfaction that allows us tomeasure howwe’re delivering the finest experience in real estate. • Key insights that can help us identify every little opportunity to constantly improve our service delivery. And that’s it – four short questions delivered across two surveys. Very simple, but very powerful. Alistair Wright Harcourts Client ExperienceManager alistair.wright@harcourts.net IN CLIENTEXPERIENCE 14 INSIDE Harcourts
INSIDE Harcourts 15 Leonard Donaldson Chief InformationOfficer leonard.donaldson@harcourts.net 2022 is an amazing year of positive change for the Harcourts technology suite. We have finishedmigration of all Harcourts branded offices in Australia fromH1to VaultRE. The project’s focus has now moved to Nutrien Harcourts and NAI Harcourts Australia, while we continue towork with The PropTech Group to enhance VaultRE to be match fit for NewZealand. HDigital +Web the newNational, Office, and Personal websites for Australia and NewZealand continue to be enhancedwith newproducts and features being introduced. NZLC in Aucklandwas an exceptional event where the new Interfirmdashboard was released in H360. Last but not least, we have started rolling out the newHarcourts Hub into both NewZealand and Australia. Everything we’re building and rolling out helps our people domore, and better. Aligning with our aim to deliver the finest experience in real estate. We’re replacing existing technology and delivering a world-class systemof talking technology that provides clarity, connectedness, and centralisation tomake your operations smoother, cleaner, andmore cutting-edge. VaultRE is the endorsed specialist customer relationshipmanagement (CRM) system that allows Harcourts teammembers to domore, and better. This leading systemallows teammembers tomonitor every aspect of their operation froma single page, fromany location, in real time. Ultimately, VaultRE will help teammembers to list more, sell more, rent more. HDigital+Web delivers world class national, office and personal websites. Built fromthe ground up focused on providing the best contentmanagement systemallowing Business Owners and Agents to create a beautiful web presence. Delivering a platformto showcase you, your business, and your vendors properties. Readmore on page 12. Harcourts Hub is the home of all things Harcourts, built for team members as the central location for all training, newsletters, events, templates, and resources. It will replace H1 for news and information, resources, and library content. Readmore on page 8. H|360 collates data frommultiple sources to help our business owners, property managers and agents see the story of their business performance in live graphs, dashboards, and rankings. These indicators show our teammembers how they’re performing in real time, so they knowwhere their opportunities are, and can grow through relevant training and support on Harcourts Hub. This business performance dashboard is a source of live, smart data that will help teammembers set and hit targets. H|360 gives us the capability tomake decisions based on intelligence rather than intuition. As well as performance KPIs, the Hub also gives every teammember access to a full CX dashboard - showing their own NPS, star ratings and testimonials. Enjoy! THEHARCOURTS TECHNOLOGY SUITE, HELPING YOUDOMORE, ANDDO IT BETTER! IN TECHNOLOGY
16 INSIDE Harcourts There’s a saying that themore things change, themore they stay the same. It’s true that there is a huge amount of change in the worldwe live in, and that the pace of change increases. But at the same time, somany things stay the same. Our business is about people. It’s about connecting with our clients, understanding their needs, really caring about howwe can help them, and then delivering the best solution possible in themarket that meets their needs. Whenwe do this well, with care and professionalism, then we deliver the finest experience in real estate. Putting people first has never beenmore relevant than it is now. And it’s what we do best at Harcourts. Doing thismeans investing time with people – time we need to buy out fromour busy day. We’re excited about the enhanced tools and systems that we’re rolling out to the Harcourts Group. Invest the time in learning to use these new tools. They’ve been designed to help you bemore efficient, cope with greater volume, and domore, better. Their purpose is to give youmore time to spend onwhat matters most - developing relationships with people. Connecting. Making a difference. It mattersmore now than ever before. Something else that remains the same is the fact that in everymarket there are always opportunities to grow your business. Sure, we have to adapt. Change our strategy. Sharpen our skills. It requires action on our part. These changingmarkets present huge opportunities for us - if we’re courageous enough to take them. Let’smake sure our business plans will get us where we need to be. Lastly, another unchanged reality is that Mike Green remains embedded in the very fabric of Harcourts. Somuch so, that he’s realized he’s got a lot more to give us! Mike is coming back as the Managing Director of the group and I’m looking forward toworking together with him inmy current role as CEO of Harcourts International. These are exciting times for us all. There is change that we need to embrace. But we also have the chance to build onwhat sets us apart andwill never change – our values, our culture, and our ability to build relationships that matter. One Team. We’ve Got This! Steve Caradoc-Davies Chief Executive Officer, Harcourts International steve.caradoc-davies@harcourts.net INTERNATIONAL UPDATE INPLACEINTERNATIONAL
INSIDE Harcourts 17 5HELPFULMORTGAGE TIPS FOR A RISING INTEREST RATEMARKET Australia www.mortgage-express.com.au NewZealand www.mortgage-express.co.nz Rising interest rates and a higher cost of living havemany homeowners in Australia and NewZealand looking for ways to stretch the budget a little further. Withmortgage repayments going up, there’s no better time to think about spending less and savingmore. Here are 5 helpful mortgage tips for a rising interest ratemarket. 1. Check howyourmortgage is structured Current rates on themarket vary and they’removing quite a bit, so it’s worth checking what type of loan you’re on and that you’re getting the best deal available to you. Contact your lender if you’re not sure, and if you do need tomake some changes, talk to your mortgage broker or adviser for helpwith restructuring your loan. 2. Pay fortnightly instead of monthly If you’re not already doing so, switch to fortnightly repayments. Not only will you save on interest bymakingmore regular repayments, but you could also pay back your loan faster as you’ll bemaking two extra repayments each year, with 26 fortnightly repayments instead of 12 monthly repayments. 3. Use an offset account An offset account is a transaction account linked to your home loan that you canmake deposits into or withdraw from. Money paid into your offset account reduces the balance of your home loan and the amount of interest you get charged. So you save on interest charges. 4. Cut back on spending With inflation at its highest level in close to 30 years, cutting back on spending is a tough one. Start by scrutinizing your budget. Then track your spending. Reduce and cut back where you can. And clear high interest debt as a priority. 5. Get help fromamortgage professional Book a financial health check to get a clearer picture of the impact rising interest rates will have on your budget. Find out if refinancing to a better interest rate is an option. And compare home loan deals to see how yours stacks up. IN FINANCIAL
18 INSIDE Harcourts It also feels like we are celebrating our culture and our people more than ever. This year, we are delighted to introduce a new level of recognition to the Harcourts network, known simply as ‘Titanium’. We are thrilled to advise that Cameron Bailey, Harcourts Gold - Papanui is the first ever recipient of this recognition. Congratulations Cameron, we are proud of all your hardwork and dedication, and it is great to be able to recognise your achievements in this way. We have recognised some of our people who are stepping aside or away from the Harcourts business after bright and shining careers. Nick Langdon, stepped away fromHarcourts business ownership after working his way to through the ranks, into business development and then onto ownership. Having been the Managing Director of six very successful offices based in Orewa, Snells Beach, Warkworth, Matakana, Silverdale andWhangaparaoa, Nick and his co-business ownersmade TandemRealty into an astonishing success. Nick describes himself as someone who is progressive, a believer in pushing boundaries and as a straight talker. We couldn’t not recognise the scale of Nick’s support and advocacy for the Harcourts Foundation. Nick and the entire teamat TandemRealty, enabled somuch positive activity through donations through the Harcourts Foundation, to groups, clubs and other community projects in the north of Auckland. As someone who throws himself into every challenge, nowhe gets to throwhimself intowhatever’s next with his wife and family. NEWZEALAND UPDATE It’s been a busy time in the Harcourt’s calendar as we have celebrated the first set of quarterly awards and successfully hosted our New Zealand Leaders, Franchise Owners andManagers at the Harcourts NewZealand Leadership Conference in Auckland on 9th - 10th August. The action-packed conference was an opportunity for our leaders to learn, grow and develop, using the experiences of the past to ensure we are “match fit” to continue to grow into the future. Many of our people have heralded the event as the best NZLC to date and I think this comes down tomany things including the vast array of talented andmotivational speakers alongside the opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals during a dynamic time in themarket. Whatever the reasons, it was excellent to use this event as an opportunity to drive our business forward for the short tomid-term future. INPLACENEWZEALAND A selection of speakers at the NewZealand Leadership Conference. Nick Langdon celebrating success with some of the TandemRealty team
INSIDE Harcourts 19 Lou Newman has been a business owner, manager, auctioneer and over the years has probably in some way helpedmost Wellingtonians achieve their real estate goals and dreams and is still selling today. He has a great circle of friends, is a keen sportsman, has won numerous lawn bowls accolades and is heavily involvedwith the Mt Victoria Bowling Club. On behalf of Harcourts we appreciate everything you have done for Harcourts over your 45 years. Thank you to each of you, for what you have done and continue to do for Harcourts and our industry for more than four decades. You are inspirations to us all. Stuart Pescini, after over 30 years with Harcourts has decided to take a step back in our industry. Stuart started his real estate career as a sales consultant selling residential and lifestyle property, then hemoved into management and Business Ownership of the Harcourts TeamGroup offices fromParemata through to Levinwith Eliot Falconer and the late Mick Robbers. Inmore recent years Stuart has beenmaking the daily commute to Palmerston North, and through the support of Business Owners Richard & Justine Jensen and themanagement team they have built a great business and lead an exceptional team. Stuart and his wife Robyn live just outside of Levin and over the years Stuart has given somuch back to his local Horowhenua community and is amember of Horowhenua Business Hall of Fame. Stuart is always willing to share his business knowledge and expertise and over the years has done somuch to help and support people throughout their real estate careers. Our next long service recipient has been part of the rich blue fabric that makes up Harcourts for 45 years, and it’s fair to saymany of us weren’t even bornwhen he started his real estate career with Harcourts. Bryan Thomson Managing Director, Harcourts NewZealand bryan.thomson@harcourts.net INPLACENEWZEALAND AuctionUpdate The Harcourts ‘Bledisloe Cup’ which is seen as the pinnacle of Harcourts Trans-Tasman Auctioneering, and also the key to internal auctioneering bragging rights, was held on-line on 29 July. NewZealandwas in good hands with Darryl Harper (Harcourts TeamGroup Realty) and Ned Allison (Harcourts Grenadier) looking resplendent in representing the senior (open) divisionwhile Sandra O’Brien (Harcourts Gold) and John Phillips (Harcourts Grenadier) showed the highest of standards in the novice division. Proving what an auction powerhouse Grenadier is, Ned Allisonwon the open division competitionwhile John Phillips took out the novice division. Shane Cortese, Harcourts NewZealand National AuctionManger, said “It was a pleasure to present the Bledisloe Cup trophy to our very own Ned Allison. There’s a bit of a story behind the trophy. It was recently found on the bookshelf of a past winner and so upon the find, it was taken to Ellerslie Jewellers who gave it some love, attention and silver polish to bring it back to all it’s original magnificence.’ He added, “We are verymuch looking forward to the trophy staying on this side of the Tasman for as long as that other Bledisloe trophy has.” LouNewman. Stuart Pescini and teamenjoying each other’s achievements 1. Why did youdecide to joinHarcourts? I love the real estate franchisemodel somy husband and I decided to approach Paul Wright andMike Green regarding bringing the Harcourts brand and franchisemodel into China. They loved the idea and helped us open an office in China in 2006. I’ve beenwith the brand since. 2. What’s your favourite thing about being aHarcourts team member? I love the culture and networking opportunities in Harcourts. When I was working with a competitor, everyone was just doing their own thing. You’d list yourself; you’d sell yourself and there was no teamwork. In Harcourts, we work together to achieve the best results, together, for clients. 3. What do you enjoymost about being in the real estate industry? Originally ismoney driven, now I feel satisfiedwhen i can achieve great result for my clients somuchmore than their expectations, quite often changed their lives as they can now afford a better life. I felt i amnot only a real estate agent but a very import role player in client’s life. 4. What activities have led to your success? Resilience, hardwork and teamwork. Now I have a teamof seven including a P.A. We all work hard together, andwe have the same belief that “time is the best proof for whom to trust”. Superstar Profile LinMa Senior Sales Consultant, Harcourts Grenadier - Wigram
20 INSIDE Harcourts How the year has flown by! It seems like only yesterday we were all together in the Gold Coast for our incredible HX. To call it an amazing two days hardly covers how fantastic HX 2022 was, not only was it exciting to be back together. It was inspirational. A significant feature of HX2022 was the speakers and panellists. Ranging fromkey real estate experts like super-agent BobWolff and his excellent and accessiblemessages, such as: ‘There is no secrets to real estate, only clues. Figure out what works for you and just keep doing it’; to Tina Sander’s powerful presentation focusing on ‘life-quakes’ those pivotal moments of change that shape your future; through to closing keynote speaker Saroo Brierley’s special life story, and hismessage of perseverance. We had two solid days of amazing stories of hardship, determination, and success. It’s not easy to get up and talk about what you do and how you do it. Amassive thank you to all who did. And a huge thank you to all those who came along, participated, andmade the event the success that it was. The togetherness that we celebrated and solidified at HX has given us the strong foundationwe need as a team tomove forward into this softening of themarket we are beginning to see. Tome, this shouldn’t be seen as a negative, but as an opportunity for Harcourts to build further upon the fantastic two years we’ve just had. It’s an opportunity for us to double down on the basics as real estate specialists and really drive our values as our strength. Connectionwith people is the cornerstone of who andwhat we are at Harcourts. Connection creates opportunity, and opportunity creates success. What we are seeing in themarket andwhat we are being presentedwith is not just in the sales arena. Multiple rent roll transactions have occurred in the past months with plentymore chances out there for acquisition. Now is the time for our BDMs to ramp up on themarket calls, as days on themarket blowout. Listing volume is the key commodity in a slowingmarket. Themore listings you have themore buyer/seller connections youmake. We recently capitalised on this by running our ingenious National Appraisal Drive – Game of Phones. The drive saw an extraordinary number of appraisals and listingsmade over the period of a day, with offices and individuals taking part in the battle to be named champion. You can readmore anbout this on page 24. I look forward to updating you on the second part of the drive which involves turning those appraisals into listings to be sold across a massive twoweekend auction event in October. Inmore exciting news, we are getting closer and closer to the launch of the Harcourts Hub! Harcourts Hub will be our one stop shop for everything an agent, business owner, property manager or administrator ever needs to be a productive, growingmember of the Harcourts team. Harcourts Hub will house everything the CRM doesn’t. It’s such an exciting time for Harcourts. Yes, it does require some change and disruption to the status quo, but the end outcome is going to be absolutely worth it. We’re dedicated tomaking your lives easier, and having the right tools is the first step. Stay tuned – launch day is imminent! And, as always, One Team–We’veGot This! The future is brighter inblue! Adrian Knowles CEO, Harcourts Australia adrian.knowles@harcourts.net AUSTRALIAUPDATE INPLACEAUSTRALIA
INSIDE Harcourts 21 What an incredible quarter we have just finished in North America! Our new format of taking our Quarterly Awards on the roadwas coordinated by our teamat Harcourts Hunter Mason in Redondo Beach andwhat a fantastic job they did. We had 80+ people in attendance at a venue by the water withmesmerizing views and hundreds of others tuning in to the live stream. We had a record number of agents receive awards for the quarter with a lot of new faces receiving awards for the first time since being with Harcourts. This goes to show the incredible drive and tenacity that we are continuing to see fromall our agents across our North Americanmarketplace. A huge congratulations and thank you goes out to Courtney and Tony Self, our Harcourts Hunter Mason business owners, and their team for putting together such a wonderful event and celebration. Without all their hardwork and preparation, we would not have been able to have the event that we did. Our new format for the awards has received very positive feedback from the network andwe are looking forward to continuing with it in the future. We are also excited to announce the opening of three newoffices to the Harcourts North America network; Harcourts Elite, Harcourts Silverton and Harcourts Carolinas. Harcourts Elite in Salem, Oregonwill be headed up by Nick Ayhan, Harcourts Silverton in Silverton, Oregon will be headed up by the teamof Valerie Boen and Korinna Barcroft, and Harcourts Carolinas in Columbia, South Carolina will be run by the teamof Tara Morawski, ChadWidtfeldt and Justin Green. This is big for us as an organization as we continue to look at constant opportunities for growth and cannot wait to see the outstanding results that each of these offices will bring to the Harcourts family. Another exciting tool that we have been able to launch out to our agents was the release of our newHarcourts Lists service. This platform will give our agents the ability to use our geo-target mapping software to obtain the contact and title information of property owners within a specific location to further enhance and support their prospecting efforts. Ben Brady CEO, Harcourts North America ben.brady@harcourts.net NORTHAMERICA UPDATE INPLACENORTHAMERICA
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