The old adage ‘when life gives you lemons, make lemonade’ has paid dividends for DiJones Real Estate – recognised as one of Australia’s top agencies during tumultuous 2020.
Despite overwhelming challenges across the property sector during the coronavirus pandemic, the team’s dedication to refining and consolidating their business and brand led to them scooping the Residential Agency of the Year in the 2020 Annual REA Excellence Awards.
DiJones Real Estate chief executive officer, Dean Mackie, said astute business nous and an agile outlook allowed DiJones to thrive during the troublesome year.
“In life, where there’s adversity, there’s often lots of opportunity,” Mr Mackie said.
DiJones Real Estate chief executive officer Dean Mackie says opportunity comes out of adversity. Picture: Diprose Media
“Our business went through a lot of change and transformation in the year or two leading up to COVID so we were really match-fit.
“I had just come back from Thailand raising money for some orphanages there and I landed back right when COVID broke. I thought: ‘How are we going to deal with this?’ At first you worry and you wonder how’s this all going to play out, but at the heart of it if you focus on what you can control, the rest is just noise.”
Mr Mackie took lockdown as an opportunity to critically assess the business systems and functions, with customers central to the focus.
“So we busily got into it: [we thought] ‘let’s up our communications, let’s understand what’s going on, let’s understand what’s going on in our clients’ lives but also agents’ and our team’s lives’,” he said.
“We were already on this pathway of activity-based workspace so a lot of our staff weren’t really desk bound at all, so that meant our team could become mobile really quickly.”
Highlights of 2020 for DiJones included an innovative centralised database that analyses behaviours to help elevate customer experience, a 92% retention rate for agents, the growth of the brand from six offices to 11; and an average listing value of $1.92 million.
An average listing value of $1.92 million was a highlight for DiJones in 2020. Picture: Getty
Nathan Gallagher, REA State Sales Manager for NSW and ACT, said the COVID pandemic had pushed the sector to think outside the square, forcing many agencies to reassess the way they operated.
“COVID gave everyone a university degree in life we never knew we had to take,” Mr Gallagher said.
“Uncertainty became the staple diet for everyone, but it taught the industry to focus on the process and let go of outcomes or goals that had no foundations. Those that did have come through this window stronger than ever.”
The post ‘Match-fit’ real estate agency thrives despite COVID pandemic challenges appeared first on realestate.com.au.
The old adage ‘when life gives you lemons, make lemonade’ has paid dividends for DiJones Real Estate – recognised as one of Australia’s top agencies during tumultuous 2020.
The post ‘Match-fit’ real estate agency thrives despite COVID pandemic challenges appeared first on realestate.com.au.