RAISING THE BAR - (L-R) Ray White South Australia CEO Matt Lindblom, Ray White Group national head of performance Tim Snell, Ray White Quakers Hill principal Josh Tesolin and Ray White national relationship manager Angus Mead.
RAY WHITE members from across the state packed the Adelaide Pavilion for a sales training day headlined by star Sydney agent Josh Tesolin.
At just 26 years old, Mr Tesolin, selling principal of Ray White Quakers Hill has already amassed an impressive collection of awards and accolades. In 2021, his first full year in business ownership, he won the coveted award for Top Principal for number of sales both in NSW and ACT and also No. 1 Internationally for number of sales. The superstar principal also sold a record-breaking 350 homes alone. No one single agent at any agency in Australia has ever sold that many properties in one year.
This year, Mr Tesolin won RateMyAgent’s No. 1 agent award for a third year in a row while Ray White Quakers Hill also ranked third nationally for top agency of the year. His 2022 goal is to win top Ray White principal in NSW & ACT for GCI at 26 years old and be the youngest to do it with an average sale price of $900,000, not $4 million.
Mr Tesolin and his team have achieved more than 50 per cent market share in their blue collar base of Quakers Hill in western Sydney.
Mr Tesolin spoke to a room full of the state’s top principals (pictured above with Ray White Group Head of Performance Tim Snell) about his experience moving from a small boutique agency to becoming a business owner.
“I knew nothing about starting a business but I always say what you go through, you grow through,” Mr Tesolin said.
“One of the most important things I took with me from being an agent was you need to recognise and reward your people - culture is everything. When you treat your staff well, they stay with you and they perform.
“It may not seem like much to you but if you reward your staff it’s everything to them.
“And when they are having trouble, often they can be scared to talk to their principal because they don’t want to let them down. But you have to have an open relationship and be there for them.
“At the end of the day, you have to show people and your staff that you are there for them and will back them. You want them to do well because when they shine, you shine.”
Mr Tesolin’s biggest tip to agents and selling principals was to prioritise prospecting and always be transacting.
“Don’t say you’re too busy, if you want to be good in real estate you need to be constantly transacting. Especially in areas like Quakers Hill where you need to make four to five sales to equal one in Double Bay. Transactions are key,” he said.
“I am lucky enough to have an understanding family and I am driven to achieve my goals. They know this and have found a way to join my business so now it’s a family office based on family values.
“Frequency builds trust, the more you talk to a prospective vendor or owner, the more they are going to talk to you. The more people who are seeing you, the more calls you get.
“With my prospecting, I do everything possible. Why only take one slice of the pizza when you can have the whole thing?”
Ray White South Australia CEO Matt Lindblom said the sales training day provided some valuable insights for the network.
“It was great to have our network of business leaders, sales members, property managers and administrators come together, network and be present for such valuable content,” Mr Lindblom said.
“Possibly the most exciting opportunity for the Ray White network is our NurtureCloud technology which gives our agents such a competitive advantage, as our digital business development executive Dan Gray explained.
“But the absolute highlight of the day was Josh Tesolin, he’s the clear market leader in his area, who provided invaluable advice and energy to our principals and sales team.”
Sales agent Brandon Pilgrim (pictured above right with sales executive Damien Fong) from No 1 South Australian office from the group, Ray White Norwood, said his team were able to level up in 2021 by sticking to the basics.
“Over the past year, I added a salesperson to the team and kept the focus on running the same foundation processes we have always done, even when the market was good,” Mr Pilgrim said.
“We made sure we were calling back everyone, taking advantage of every lead and going back to the basics.”
Top 2020-21 South Australian principal for settled commission, Peter Kiritsis of Ray White Woodville said it had been great getting together with fellow Ray White principals at the event.
“We bounced a few things off of each other and I'm actually going to implement a few things that I've sort of not focused too heavily on previously,’ Mr Kiritsis said.
“I've been doing this for over 20 years now and the energy and enthusiasm that comes out of a 26 year old, Josh Tesolin, is just remarkable.”
