26 Sep The industry’s ‘big chestnut’

You can either be fearful about technology or you can embrace it let it help you grow your business.

Topic – The best and worst of growth

Mentor – Megan Jaffe

• Embrace technology
• Learn from the community
• The bottom of the cliff strategy

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Transcript:

Kevin:   And, we’re talking growth this week with none other than the Growth Queen herself. I hope you don’t mind me calling you that, Megan. Megan Jaffe from Ray White Remuera. I just made that name up as we’re going along, but it seems to me to be so fitting. We’re talking about growth in your business.

Kevin:   Yesterday we talked about the considerations you needed to have. Let’s talk a little bit more about that … some of the considerations you had to take into account with people and processes.

Megan Jaffe:   Oh absolutely. And good morning. And I’d much rather be called or labelled that name than some of the other possible names, thank you.

Kevin:   Well, you said to me off-air, and we haven’t recorded it, that Michael Sheargold said something nice to you, so I thought, well, maybe I could find something nice as well, so we’ll go with Growth Queen.

Megan Jaffe:   Well, thank you. I remembered that one. It was Trailblazer.

Kevin:   Oh yeah, well, you’re that, too. Yeah.

Kevin:   Megan, can we just talk now about the considerations, particularly around people and processes and technology that you took into consideration?

Megan Jaffe:   Well, that is one big, thorny chestnut today, right across the industry, because the impact of technology and the access to information is so easy today. I think … We think, it’s absolutely brilliant. A lot of people are fearful, but you have to leverage technology. You have to leverage the access to information, because the power of buyers is so strong today that we have to leverage technology, so that’s awesome.

Megan Jaffe:   We, here, don’t see disruption. We see it as opportunity for transformation. Our business is a business of customer service, giving great service. So, leveraging technology has enabled us to develop a powerful platform with better processes and systems so not only can we give efficient service, but more important, we can give effective service in a really timely manner, so you can tell that we’re pretty rapt with that one.

Kevin:   Mm-hmm (affirmative). Indeed. Can we talk about what you’ve learned about people? Because, listening to you over the last couple of days, it’s very much about the people in your business. What have you learned? Is there anything that sort of stuck out for you as, “Wow, this is just incredible?”

Megan Jaffe:   I have learnt so much about people. Not only salespeople and the team inside the business, but of course and most importantly, working with the clients, the customers and our community. You know, we sit in such a privileged position. We can very quickly build trust so that they’ll share things that you normally wouldn’t share when you go to the doctor in your first 15 minutes. So, we’re in a deeply privileged position of trust. What I’ve learnt overall, and a real key thing that’s coming through with people’s commentary is what is our relevance today in the real estate industry, with all of this technological age that’s coming through. Well, we’re in the service age. And rather than focusing on relevance, we’re actually focused on significance. Not relevance.

Megan Jaffe:   So, it’s an ambulance not at the bottom of the cliff strategy, it’s higher up so that we’re very important to people and their lives. So, coming inside the company, with how we hire and who we work with, the people choices are critical. The attitude and energy and skill that they have becomes so much more vital for us to consider when we’re hiring and as people, we have to work so hard on ourselves, and support each other as we do this.

Megan Jaffe:   I think today that people need to be quite courageous. This is not a business for the faint-hearted today, ’cause you’re on a global platform and there’s so many of the inverted commas kind of disruptors that can actually take some of the traditional jobs that made a salesperson relevant. So, I’m fascinated, because as people, you can do so little and you can hide down in a cave, or you can absolutely blossom working together and embracing these things that are coming through. And the neat thing is, our people are embracing technology and better process for better service and they’re developing as people, which is critical, and just flourishing and growing in what they describe as another buzzword, around looker, which is a volatile, ambiguous, unpredictable, and confusing world.

Megan Jaffe:   So look, this is all good news as far as we’re concerned. It’s exciting.

Kevin:   Very exciting. And a great journey that you’re on. Like any journey, it never really finishes. You continue to grow, don’t you? We said earlier in the week that what you’re looking for is sustainable growth. You achieved 10% last year, I believe. Is that right?

Megan Jaffe:   Yes. 10% on our figures last year, and I was really proud of that, because it was tough market, and not everybody had their head around it. But, it was like getting people on to the lifeboat. We pulled most through and then we had a few that had little life rings on them, and we hauled them in, too. So, we’re all there, and we’re on the climb again.

Kevin:   That growth that you achieved … that 10% … 10% on last year. But, you had to have growth just to keep up with the market, didn’t you?

Megan Jaffe:   100%. So, that’s the bit I don’t think people consider, especially when you’ve got so many people chasing around your ankles once you’re doing okay. And it’s not because we’re out promoting ourselves. We actually don’t like promoting ourselves. It’s ’cause one conversation. One relationship at a time. The guys are doing the best they can.

Kevin:   Great talking to you, Megan Jaffe. We’ll be back again tomorrow. We’ll talk about some of the actions that leaders need to take in a growth strategy. Megan Jaffe. Thank you very much for your time. We’ll talk to you in the morning, Megan.

Megan Jaffe:   Pleasure. Thank you very much.