Q. Why did you feel that change was necessary?

G. To take the business forward in the direction we had in mind, we needed a new image without boundaries.

Q. Why now?

G. The best time to make change is when the market is such that both you and your customers need a positive spin on things, a new lease on life, so to speak.  I felt that we were at risk of becoming ‘stale’ and we needed to take more control of the company’s direction.

Q. What made you decide on the name ‘Elite’?

G. Because it represents quality.  Quality of product, quality of staff, quality of service.  It gives our clients and customers an expectation that they will get something better.  That’s why we went for the diamonds in our logo as well, because they represent that distinction in quality.

Q. What do you say to those who suggest this is just ‘a colour and name change’?

G. It’s not just about a name, it’s about a whole new marketing direction, increased use of technology, better technology, better facilities, more training opportunities, an enhanced level of service, an enhanced level of skills and abilities.  From that point of view, our Clients and Customers can expect not more of the same, but they can expect better, without it being at a further cost to them.

Q. How did your team react to the change?  Are they all ‘on board’ with the new image?

G. It’s exciting for all of us and we’re very fortunate to have the full support and backing of everyone in that respect.  Before any image transformation can be successful, it’s imperative to have your staff on board with the change and being in sync with it. 

Q. What measures have you taken to improve the service and the quality of care?

G. I think the name change in itself commands you to go one step better.  There’s a certain element of pride in our team.  I mean, if you’re going to call yourself ‘Elite’ you have to step up to a higher level.  You can’t just rest on past reputations, you have to create a new one, and it has to be a much better one.

Q. What about the technological side of things? I’ve noticed there are some pretty innovative changes happening at Elite. Can you discuss them briefly for us?

G. Across the board, we’ve upgraded all of our technology.  From Sales Management to Administration, through to our entire property management team, every department has had a significant amount of capital expenditure to upgrade to the highest level possible in the market at the moment, with further upgrades planned.

We’ve completely re-developed our website.  No longer a ‘run of the mill’ real estate website, it is a very user friendly type platform, specifically designed for ease of customer use and to provide much more in the way of timely information.  Our website will be continually enhanced as we go forward to ensure the best information is easily access to all of our clients, both present and future.

To us, technology is not just a matter of building something and saying ‘OK, that’s done, we can forget it now’.  Every month there will be further enhancements to provide the best information, which is what technology is all about.

Q.  I noticed you’ve implemented QR Codes into your marketing; can you talk a little bit about how these work?

QR Codes are a relatively recent technology.  QR means ‘Quick Response’ which is exactly what it provides.  It’s basically just like a barcode, where you scan it (or take a photo of it) with your Smartphone, I-Phone or whatever technology you are using and it can instantly upload the information stored behind the code.

The beauty of a QR Code is that it enables you to be able to store technological information, entirely at the discretion of the person who put the information on the code.  For example, you may see an advertisement in a magazine with a QR Code.  This code could take you directly to the advertisers’ website, or to a site with more information on the product itself.  Or it could simply just automatically upload the company’s contact details straight to your phone.  In short – no more tearing our pages or trying to remember things!

Going forward you’ll be seeing them in our magazines, on flyers, brochures and sign boards.  Basically we’ll be printing them on every kind of marketing medium that we can.  It is an extremely fast way of getting accurate, relevant information.

Q. How important is technology, in particular, the social media aspects to the real estate industry?

G.  Critical.  Absolutely critical.  People are becoming very ‘tech-savvy’.  The world has moved into a whole new era of impatience.  We want everything to be done immediately, if not sooner.  The level of information that people are seeking now is significantly greater than it was many years ago.

These days, the majority of people will not make decisions without somebody else recommending or agreeing with the decision.  Whether it be family, friends or ‘virtual friends’, whatever the case, people want to be able to send information out to get feedback and opinions.  How often have you been planning to go out for dinner, only to ‘shout out’ to Facebook friends for suggestions on restaurants?  Or when a friend has posted a comment on the great service they received at one place, decided to try it out yourself?  Whether this is a good or bad trend is irrelevant, that’s just the way people are influenced these days.

The social media influence is going to become extremely significant from here on in.  12 months from now, people simply will not associate themselves with your business before they have ‘Googled’ information on you, checked out your website and sought more information and recommendations from friends.  In fact, forget 12 months from now, people are already seeking this information now!  Buying decisions, agency choice decisions, salespeople choice decisions, method of sale decisions – all of that will be heavily influenced by social media in the future and I believe, heavily influenced by the degree of high quality information, available to them on your website.