South Africa has just come off the back of one of the toughest periods from a real estate industry point of view. Real estate practitioners were without any cash, without any resources, and without any way of serving their clients under Alert Level 5 and 4. And, just over a month later, RE/MAX of Southern Africa has hit a record sales month in the history of the company.
“Across Southern Africa, lots of real estate offices have closed, and lots of real estate agents have left the industry. Yet, RE/MAX, in the midst of the pandemic, has had a growth of 70 agents, it's had a growth in number of sales and in fact, it's hit a record month for the history of the company. South Africa is facing probably the toughest time it has ever faced economically in the history of the country – and RE/MAX just had a record sales month of 2.38 billion in reported sales in one month. It seems contrived to say congratulations and well done. I actually don't know how to put it into words. It's absolutely spectacular,” says Adrian Goslett, Regional Director and CEO of RE/MAX of Southern Africa.
While sceptics might argue that these sales could be expected as a result of the series of interest rate cuts has resulted in 50-year low and the pent-up demand. But, let's face it: South Africa at the moment is in an economic crisis.
“For me, these sales figures represent the grit and determination that is part of the RE/MAX spirit that never allows anything to get us down. I am so proud knowing that those who are on our team have the grit, the determination, the resilience, and the bounce back to be able to achieve something like this,” says Goslett.
“I'm really proud of all of our associates and staff for what has been achieved and long may it continue. Some of our offices have done three times their monthly average. Some agents are putting phenomenal numbers together. There's an agent in Pretoria that did 43 sales in six weeks. That's more than a property sold a day for six weeks,” he adds.
However, Goslett is aware that it's still a long year ahead and that tough times are still to come in September, October, and November when UIF and other economic relief starts running out. “We've already seen the virus and the numbers start ramping up and that's going to have an impact not just on individuals, but on companies as well. You can expect to see layoffs in different industries across the board. We need to continue to work hard and serve our clients as best possible to provide the best quality service and to ensure that we continue along this path, because I do see tough times ahead,” he cautions.
His advice to the agents in his brand is to always put the customer first. “In a service centric environment that we find ourselves, people want to know that you're good at what you do, they want to know that you can be trusted, and they want to know that you care about them. If you just hit the repeat button on those three things over and over again, well that's when you hit numbers of 2.4 billion rand in sales a month.”
“From me, from everybody in RE/MAX Southern Africa, in fact, from everybody at RE/MAX international, we send our network well wishes and congratulations for their success. I look forward to a bigger month in august,” Goslett concludes.
