Candice Cattell – Stone Real Estate Sydney – Interview Date: November, 2016
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A proud partner at Stone with 17 years of real estate experience to her name, sales consultant Candice Cattell is committed to exceeding her clients’ expectations. Candice has an exceptional track record for producing outstanding results, and one of her greatest assets is her intimate knowledge of the Northern Beaches market. Also paramount to her success are her meticulous attention to detail, drive and determination to achieve nothing less than the best for all of her clients. Specialising in the Manly beachfront area, Candice lives locally and knows the area like the inside of her own home. Her innate understanding of the local market provides a solid basis for her already finely tuned negotiation skills. Candice believes that her vendors and buyers deserve her undivided attention, which is exactly what they receive. As a result, she delights in an impressive auction clearance rate and a consistently expanding market share. A highly respected individual and a top-performing sales specialist, Candice has an honest and professional approach. She works with a dynamic team, ensuring exceptional service and constant communication for her clientele. In order to consistently achieve leading sale results, Candice focuses on correctly pricing a property based on thorough research and recent sales. She then ensures perfect presentation of the property and cleverly markets it to appeal to a wide range of potential buyers, employing a sales method that best suits the home and current conditions. Above all, Candice loves her work. She takes pride in her achievements, finds enjoyment in dealing with all of her clients and strives to provide a sales or purchasing experience unsurpassed by any other agent.
How long have you been in real estate sales and what were you doing previously?
As soon as I got out of school I went straight into real estate sales so I have now been in the industry for 19 years. I have always had a passion for sales as I have a huge competitive drive to achieve the absolute highest price and I also love constantly meeting people and getting to know their stories, life experiences as it is just so interesting and you find that you are actually learn something new from each new client. You will also find in real estate that it is such an emotional experience for your clients so I enjoy taking on the sort of nurturing role where they feel that they can talk to me about anything, even personal problems and I can just listen and provide a bit of a shoulder to cry on or laugh with if they need which is nice as I feel that for that point in time I am helping make a difference in someone’s life.
Why real estate sales?
I love the excitement of it! It is always so fast paced and you are constantly challenging yourself. Sometimes my colleagues tell me I’m dreaming if I expect to achieve a price even close to what I’ve advertised on a property and I make it my personal mission to prove them wrong and I always end up getting a price even higher than any of us could have imagined. The negotiating stage is so exhilarating and because I always seem to develop such strong relationships with my clients I am so passionate about making sure I so not quit until get every last dollar for them and so when you get a price beyond their wildest expectations it is such an amazing feeling and such a rush!
Why have you been successful?
I feel that I have been successful because I establish strong long lasting relationships with my clients and always go above and beyond to ensure that I achieve them an amazing price and they have an stress free experience that makes them feel confident and positive about moving onto the next chapter of their lives. You need to take time to understand each individual person and understand their circumstances and past experiences as each client is completely different from the last and it is once you have this understanding you can shape the way that you will conduct your campaign and how you can go that extra mile to ensure that you exceed their expectations. Pretty much all my business is now either repeat clients or call in’s from people that know me in the area and have heard good things, I am also the most recommended agent in Manly on ratemyagent.com so it really shows how important it is to get great prices but even more importantly make sure each vendor has an amazing experience in working with you as it definitely pays off in the end.
Do you run a PA?
I have two girls that work for me one is a buyer manager and prospector and the other deals with all the administration. We have a meeting every morning so we are all completely on top of what is happening with each property so our vendors will always be able to get in touch with a member of the team and have their queries answered immediately.
What advise would you give a real estate ROOKIE just starting out?
Pick up the phone!! When you start out the phone is your best friend. The more calls you are making the more people you come into contact with and you can then work on building relationships and developing your client base. You also need to see rejection as a chance to better yourself rather than letting it get you down. Still to this day I will call back a person that decided to go with another agent and just very politely ask for their feedback in order to see if there is anything that I could have done differently and let them know that I am always happy to help them in any way even though they have chosen not to go with me for their sale. Unfortunately rejection is just part of the game but you just have to use it to inspire you to succeed for your next listing appointment.
How to your manage your work/life balance?
It is really hard to manage this and I am lucky to enough to have a team behind me to help with this balance but I think you have to take some time away from having a phone glued to your ear 24/7 so I like to take an hour from about 5-6am and to exercise and just unwind by listening to music. It is nice as it is generally too early for people to start calling and so I feel completely off-line. I generally start taking calls from 7.30-8am and then continue to take calls until about 6.30pm which is when I take my son out for a fun activity and then we sit and have dinner together and I will generally (unless it is urgent) come back online around 7.30 – 8pm when he goes to bed and catch up on calls/work that needs to be done.
What changes/challenges do you see coming in the real estate industry?
I think with this hot market there are always so many new people coming into the industry so I think the biggest challenge is finding ways to stand out from everyone else and how to continually reinvent yourself. I know at Stone we have just introduced a virtual tour which is a real life 3D tour of a home – it is seriously like you are walking through it on your computer and we are the only company in the area currently doing this, just as an example. We also load our profile video’s onto these little video books that we drop off to clients prior to meeting with them which I think is a great way of getting your message across before you even sit down with them.
What part of the business is the most fun for you?
Definitely the negotiation stage as it is honestly such a thrill especially when you can push a buyer up to a level which you know will absolutely blow your vendor away and then when you get to call your vendor and surprise them with the news it is such a great feeling!
Do you have a mentor/person of influence in your business?
I think all my colleagues here at Stone influence and inspire each other every day. We are such a strong team who are always sharing our stories & ideas to help each other get listings. I honestly couldn’t ask for a greater group of people! I also speak to Peter Gilchrist in order to get some tips for running my business and get innovative ideas on how to market myself and I try to listen to Tom Panos daily in order to get me inspired and also as a bit of a pep-talk before going into big listing presentations