WHY YOU NEED A PROPERTY MANAGEMENT COACH

If you find yourself saying, I’ve tried everything and nothing is working to grow my property management business, then it might be time you tried something completely different. Like working with a coach. I was lucky enough to interview one of the biggest names in property management coaching. He has walked the walk and is now talking the talk. Denniz Yousef grew 745 New managements in three years. If you want to find out how well stay tuned. Denniz Yusuf is one of the most prominent Property Management coaches in the industry. Through his business inspired Growth Training, he offers a myriad of coaching courses, books, and mentoring programs, and they are only too happy to share their secrets to property management growth.

 

HOW HE BECAME A PROPERTY MANAGEMENT COACH

‘So I fell into coaching. I just like I did falling into real estate. As you know, you know, probably 85 to 90% of the people that are in real estate fell into real estate as well. It was never a plan of mine. I’m not sure what did you plan to go into real estate? But was that something that you do when you’re at school? Did you want to go into real estate?

I sold a fruit and vegetable business, applied for a property, and ended up being the leasing agent… moved into BDM, did really well at it… listed, you know, 900 plus properties in four years and thought, well for fruit, I can do this. So I started BDM coach back in 2013. My anniversary is very, very close, actually. That’s coming up. Because it was in April in May 2013. Now I’ve got two directors, we trained in 12 countries, we travel around to five countries around the world, teaching people how to grow their businesses, but it’s not just about growth. It’s also about putting the right systems and procedures and mental health is a big thing, especially in the last couple of years. As you know, the resilience of property managers is unbelievable. There’s myself, Darren Hunter, and Michael sands that we are inspired growth training.’

 

THE DREAM TEAM OF PROPERTY MANAGEMENT COACHING

 

You each have your own sort of forte or specialty. That really complements what you guys are doing in the training and coaching side of things.

‘Yeah, it does and it’s nice to hear that that’s recognised. We don’t try and tread on each other’s toes. We really do have our own unique specialties. You know, Michael is also a growth coach alongside myself. He had 650 properties in four years, starting from zero property management only and he had one and a half staff as well so he knows the right systems and procedures, and Darren obviously, he is probably one of the most sought-after trainers in Australia. He’s been well known for years, I used to attend his training. Now he’s my business partner. It’s really funny because I used to train Michael, you know, so between the three of us, it’s great. We cover running businesses, owning them, streamlining them, growth, and social media, Michael, at the moment couldn’t make this podcast, because he’s actually at Social Media Marketing World, we have coaches. So he’s actually over there learning about as much as he can, so we can on teach that.’

 

WHY DO YOU NEED A COACH?

 

For so long now, we’ve actually complained… we’ve whinged that there’s that lack of support, training, and coaching in property management. Then you guys sort of came along, you were very early adopters of the training and coaching and mentoring, I guess, in this industry. What are some of the benefits of coaching and yours in particular?

Deniz said: ‘Yeah mentoring, I’ve got to say, it’s possibly my favourite thing. It’s the hardest, as well and it’s the toughest. It’s probably one of the specialties, that’s not spoken of enough. We all know, that mental health is obviously something that’s tough. As much as you’re a coach and a consultant, and you’re teaching people how to grow their business or whatever. It’s those calls after hours. There are so many people, when they’re having their issues, they don’t know who to call, or they’re in a rut, and they don’t know what to do. When you’re coaching them, and you’re in regular communication with them, you know, that they’re doing things tough at home, or in the workplace, or whatever. So those constant messages to those people. Let’s say I was mentoring you, Kylie and I know that you’ve got a tough week ahead… I’m going to send you a text after a couple of days “Hey, Kylie how are you going? I hope you are doing well” So you all of a sudden feel… wow, there’s someone there that’s watching over me and helping, that’s a benefit to you, right? Because you’re going through something personally, because I know that from a coach’s point of view, if I can make sure that things are okay, in the best possible way, in your work environment, culture, whatever it is, or at home, that you’re going to perform better and you’re going to feel better about yourself as well, to me, I’d rather see people happy, then get extra listings.’

 

PERSONALISED APPROACH TO PROPERTY MANAGEMENT COACHING

 

Your coaching method is a very personal approach. It’s not a cookie-cutter, it’s not one-way suits, all different people. It’s very much about you taking on board what their actual client needs?

‘Absolutely. It’s like we come on board as a business partner. You know, every single business is different. Every single person is different. It’s like every landlord, there’s no one presentation, you got to adapt to so many different variables. So that personal approach to me is the most accessible. Yes, there’s a system that we have in place, right… It’s like, there are different real estate offices, but they all are different in different states, different territories, and different countries. You know, so the personal approach to me is something that I love. I saw an article, the book cover of the elite magazine, and it talks about, I saw the front cover it said tic-toc, you know, and it had video messages, I’ve been training about video messages since you are capable of sending a video message. So, it’s great that finally all these other avenues and trainers are coming on board saying video messages because it’s a personal touch. Video is personal. This is personal. We’re doing a video recording as well as a podcast recording, right? Because people like to watch people. And if you can have that personal approach with your clients, you’re going to get a lot more success as well. So I do that with my clients.,’ Deniz added.

 

COACHING TRANSFORMATIONS

 

It’s not just the businesses that you transform in coaching and mentoring, it’s the people’s lives you help change too. I think for me personally, that is one of the most one of the best parts of working in this space. Yes, you give business and strategy advice, but it’s the personal achievements, growth, and the changes that you see in people that I really think to make this rewarding.

‘There’s nothing better than someone ringing you up, or sending you a text saying thank you. It’s not about an award they’ve won. It’s not about something that they’ve achieved well in the workplace, but it’s just that thank you. Sadly, I’ve had people wanting to quit their jobs, and they’ve been in suicidal positions as well, you know, but the biggest reward I had was actually receiving a message from a lady that I hadn’t spoken to in about nine months. She had left the industry and she said Dennis, I was in the hospital. I tried to take my own life, but all I could think of was you telling me, you can do this, you can achieve this, I see so much in you, you are natural at the game. She said, I just felt like you’re on my shoulder telling me not to do it, she rang me up and I was crying. You know, I was crying, so I wasn’t even coaching her. But it was just stuff, you don’t realise that some things that you do say, can actually help people in their deepest and darkest moments, we don’t know what people are going through. So always be mindful of what you’re saying. So that, to me was the most touching, being invited to people’s 40th Birthdays, 30th Birthdays, and stuff like that, that aren’t in the industry anymore. It’s very touching as well, you know, invited to christenings, birthdays, like their kid’s birthdays. That’s pretty special. You know, you’re touching people’s lives and you know, influencing them. I’ve got a lady who left the industry and she’s working in the plumbing industry, she uses the strategies for real estate growth in her dad’s plumbing business. You know, I’ve got a builder in Perth doing the same thing. So it’s just all these nice little things that you know, those personal touches from people is rewarding.

What about some tangible results? What are some of the transformations that you’ve seen either business owners or BDM in?

‘Yeah, there’s a few. I appreciate that people post “Wow, Dennis, thank you for pushing us to win this” But in the end, they do the work. We’re just the guides. So, it’s nice to be recognised. But I don’t like putting on social media that “Wow, this is Sarah, who I trained… you know, I wouldn’t have done this without you, Dennis” I appreciate that. But you’ve never seen my post “I trained Sarah, Sarah is the best” because I feel like we’re just like the guide at the 10 pin bowling alley with the rubbers as coaches. They’ve still got to pick the ball up, they’ve still got to have the focus, they’ve still got to put in the arts. As an example… Sarah, you know, she’s quite new to BDM and she’s listed over 260 properties in 12 months, which is massive numbers, you know, and she didn’t want to pick up the phone, didn’t want to do anything. But, you know, I had her doing those 200 calls a week. I’ve got another client by the name of Shana. She’s a raving fan of ours and I love coaching her. She was listing two to five properties a month. And now she’s listing over 20 properties a month, you know, so again, it comes back to the push the shove, and that mentor that comes inside of it as well. So you know, she’s got some great stories, you may also be talking about Mel, who won an award with the first national group in Sydney, I didn’t even know she was up for an award. I get a message at 11 o’clock at night. So, and it’s lovely, I love them sharing their wins. Because when you’re in real estate, as you know, you can’t tap on your neighbours’ real estate office to say “Hey, I listed 20 properties, what about you, how are you going” because they just get cranky at you. So, it’s nice that the real estate industry is coming together, and they can share their wins. That’s what I love doing is getting people to share their wins.’

 

SITTING ON THE FENCE ABOUT WORKING WITH A COACH?

 

I wish I had coaching. Back in the early days when I was floundering around starting my business. There weren’t a lot of coaches around. There were a lot of legislation coaches around but there weren’t a lot of you know, growth coaches or even you know, property management coaches talking about time management or other skill development, negotiation, and dispute skills. What do you say to somebody who’s sitting on the fence thinking, will this work for me? Won’t it work for me? Do I need it?

‘Yeah, great question. Now, I’m going to put this into the scenario of your family because your son is doing really well in football. Your son is one of the best players in Australia? Let’s be honest. It’s like 1% make the top league in the Australian Rugby League right. Now, how many coaches has he got?’ said Denniz.

Maybe a dozen.

‘A dozen and they’re calling him they’re pushing him this at the other end. He’s already the best in his field. So why would someone not want to look at having it and he’s the best in his field because he wants to continue improving now as someone who’s new to the industry. You know, of course, the best of the best are still having coaches, we have about six coaches amongst us, and we’ve got other coaches. So, if you are looking at it, and you want to really make a career out of it, get a coach, because the best still have coaches, you know, I too, would have loved to have a coach. In my game, I can imagine how many I could have listed. If I was pushed, being self-motivated, helps. But yes, get a coach because it’s more about guidance, support, motivation, and help. It’s not necessarily about a kick in the backside. We need more support.’

 

NO MAN’S LAND FOR BDM’S

 

It can be quite lonely sometimes when you’re a BDM because you’re not quite part of the property management team and you’re not quite part of the sales team. So, it’s nice to have somebody that you can celebrate those wins as well.

‘Huge, the property managers don’t like BDMS, because they’re creating more work for them. You know, it is the celebration of wins is really important… set many goals, I got a client in New Zealand, every 10 properties they list, they go and buy a record for themselves a vinyl because that’s a win, that’s like a little mini goal we put in place. When they get to 50, they’re going away for the weekend with their wife. Having these little celebrations. Every time I walked into the office, and I’d go hey, I listed another one, I’d get moans from the property managers. You know, it is a very lonely job. You’re right. So it is really important to have that person that you can high-five and celebrate with.’

 

BEST PROPERTY MANAGEMENT GROWTH ADVICE

 

‘Yes, stop. Like, seriously, just stop everything that you’re doing and just strip back, think if you were starting your job on the day, because what can happen, you can get bombarded with distractions, all the emails coming through a complaint, whatever it is… just stop. And think when you first started in real estate, what were the first five things that you did for your growth strategies, and it could have been okay, I just picked up the phone and started calling current clients and started connecting with people, block in some times and non-negotiables. I’m doing this with an agency in South Australia at the moment, I’m feeling a little bit bombarded. So I’ve just stripped everything back and taken all the responsibilities away. And we’ve just blocked an hour away for current client calls just to get the basics right, an hour away for social media, an hour for calling some private owners, an hour in networking, and we’ve just stripped the job back, get back to the basics and get those flows happening. I’ve got to say they’ve got to be self-developments really important, even if it’s just reading a podcast going and grabbing a coffee, and just stripping back. You know, getting back to those basics. I do the same thing. We all get bombarded in life. So I’ll switch off for a period of time and then I go back to basics. I start calling my current clients to get those happy calls happening. You know, get yourself motivated again.’

 

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT ADVICE

 

‘ I just purchased the Shane Warne book, obviously with the sad passing of Shane Warne thought I’m going to get back and read that book again. It doesn’t have to be industry-related. There are so many podcasts for real estate. I mean it’s Biograph training, we’ve got six channels for people to listen to, you know what, there’s your one there are so many podcasts that we’ve got out there for people to listen to, but I like to have motivational podcasts that I listen to audibles as well. Never lose a client again is one of my favourite all Time audibles to listen to by Zoe Coleman great book, but Shane Warne and the Virgin story from Richard Branson’s, another one that I’m reading again, and John Howard. I love John Howard’s book. It’s amazing. It’s thick, it’s solid. He was a great leader for our country. You know, a lot of people hated him, but that’s politics. But even the opposition recognised him as a great leader.’

 

LESSONS FROM GREAT LEADERS

 

‘I do actually, and it was interesting, it’s never losing a client again, and he was talking about how he had 15 minutes to pitch to a huge SEO firm. He used to sell advertising. And he had 15 minutes to pitch for the business. For the first 10 minutes, they spoke about golf, and they talked about golf, because he had pictures of the golf course when he walked into the CEO. And basically, he ended up only having five minutes to pitch for the business, he thought that it missed it, you know, so you had the presumption that it missed it because he only had the five minutes, he posted him a golf ball to say thank you for the meeting, a personal touch, right? He ended up getting the business over all of these huge marketing companies, because he had this. The lesson behind it all is the personal touch. It was the high value low costs, no doubt all the other companies may have sent him a set of golf clubs or a 12-month subscription at a golf course. But he sent him a golf ball, low cost, high impact, so that that there for me, and that personal touch just confirmed a lot for myself in how I run the business.’

That Property Mum has launched a coaching and mentoring program. So, if you are a business owner, property manager, or BDM and you are feeling stuck, overwhelmed, and frustrated, and wanting to quit or give up, then it might be time for some help! There is no shame in asking for help, heck we’ve all had to at one stage or another.

MORE INFORMATION HERE