Feature Question: What Are the Qualities You Look for When Hiring?

Recruitment is a key aspect of running a successful agency. So what are the right qualities employers should be looking for in an agent? Here are your thoughts!

When seeking additional team members in all areas, it is critical they work on the same ethical basis as we do; we are here for the benefit of the client and the enhancement of their experience with Timms Real Estate.  We want all clients to be clients for life, and this means building a sales team focussed on more than just the transaction. Team members need to have the same ‘vibration’ as we all do, have their own unique smile, can do attitude and see hurdles as challenges to be met with kindness, intelligence and humour.

Anyone that has promised to join my team must align with my personal & business values; always customer-obsessed, work hard & achieve and humble in everything we do. These qualities and standards are so important to me as it shows the heart & drive of an individual to grow as an agent, as a team and always be seeking to find the right solution for the customer. The real estate game is an ever changing landscape, so it’s really important that a team member has a focus on personal growth, is extremely adaptable and open to change. 

When I look to add somebody new to our team the first thing we try and judge is, are they a good person? By that I mean are they respectful, do they say thank you, do they listen and are they easy to get along with? If you are nice, I feel like you are 2/3 of the way there already. We also look for people who are coachable. It’s extremely important to have a learn it all mentality. One of the other big things I look for is Initiative. It’s a really big thing for me to have people that just can’t figure out situations by themselves and take a bit of control of their own destiny.

We look for innate qualities such as attitude, character and drive… you can’t teach these things. I believe they’re part of an individual’s DNA. The energy of the team is critical to its success and you have to make sure that anyone you bring into it will complement the synergy. The skill component of the role can be taught and if the candidate possesses these qualities, they will put in the extra effort required to quickly upskill themselves. Look outside the industry, look for people that have excelled in hospitality, retail and customer service roles, get them on board and systemise them.

Self-motivated, driven, well mannered, well spoken, trustworthy, general interest in real-estate and a desire to learn. It’s so important that my team are like minded individuals who all live and breathe real estate like me. It’s my brand and my reputation that they fall under, so I expect big things from my team members – however I’m eager to teach and for them to learn – with the idea that they will step up to be a standalone agent in years to come. I don’t have time to babysit – I need to know the person we are adding to the team can bring an element we currently are missing and I can trust to leave to their own devices and value add in every aspect of the transaction; not only to me but also to the clientele.

I look for a number of different qualities in people when growing my extremely fast paced and high performing sales team however, the only way to truly see if someone is the right “fit” is when they are physically working in the role. Generally speaking though, they need to have a high level of energy, enthusiasm, empathy, understanding, a positive “can do” attitude, be open to learning/coaching as well as an inspiring presence. These qualities will naturally filter through to their interactions with clients and other team members which is a necessity in such a dynamic industry where you need to think and adapt quickly to the unpredictability of each transaction and the ever-changing market conditions.  To be successful in this industry long term you must be ALL IN with no plan B, so a passion for helping people, a genuine interest real estate and the endless pursuit for success and growth on both a professional and personal level is also essential.