13 June 2019

Clients choose commission as innovation winner backs new structure

| John Thistleton
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Will Honey

Innovation Excellence: Will Honey, principal of Independent Tuggeranong. Photo: Supplied.

Imagine picking your own figure for the amount of commission you pay on the sale of your home?

Such an offer has come from the leading Independent Tuggeranong, which is going out on a limb from June 1 and for the first six months of the new financial year.

Principal Will Honey admits this is an experiment. And he has backed himself and his team to the hilt, based on their ability to deliver an exceptional selling experience.

“Depending on the sale price of the property, a commission range option will be available, based on a percentage of the sale price which the seller gets to choose,” Mr Honey says.

“They will decide where the commission figure sits within that range, influenced by our service performance, and the result.”

While terms and conditions apply, Mr Honey is confident that clients will find the process of selling their home so easy they will be fair in their estimate of what the agency’s services are worth.

“This really is putting it back on us. We are very confident in what we do, and in our business model structures, and the team we have on board to help deliver,” he says.

“So, we are saying to home sellers, look, you decide where you think our service fee should sit, once it is all said and done.”

Across Canberra, these days commissions on sales vary anywhere between two and three per cent of a home sale price. Mr Honey says in this instance though, the final figure could be below benchmark commissions, dependent on what Independent Tuggeranong’s vendor chooses.

In a competitive environment, Independent Tuggeranong believes going beyond the call of duty is standard practice for them. “Agents, including myself and people in my team have mown lawns to get properties ready for presenting to the market. Going in and doing a spot clean for settlement to make sure an incoming buyer is happy at settlement, organising for and paying for locksmiths when keys have been locked inside properties, there are lots of different examples,” Mr Honey says.

“But in our opinion, that is just part of what we do. We are there to support the sellers and buyers through the whole process. We have to be there to problem solve. If we are not solving problems, we are not really adding value,” he says.

This is why the option is now available for vendors to make a decision on what commission they should pay. “We believe that from a range of commission once we have sold the property, once they have experienced our service, that they will be impressed enough to put it at the top end of that range.”

Independent Tuggeranong recently progressed through the state and territory’s Real Estate Institute of Australia awards to win the National Innovation Award.

The coveted award recognises their approach to the traditional real estate business model, which places clients at the pinnacle.

Mr Honey and his team of agents and support staff designed their unique office structure with clients front of mind.

“Whether they are selling their home, or buying their home, our client wants an easy, end-to-end sale or purchase,” he said. “So, as a team, we sat down and looked at the customer’s experience from start to finish, and it was clear that our structure needed to change to ensure their experience and results are at the forefront of everything we do. Consequently, we are leading our industry,” he said.

Operations Manager Jarryd Kirchner is Mr Honey’s right-hand man. A registered agent, Mr Kichner now oversees a seamless passage on the back-end side of all Independent Tuggeranong real estate transactions.

“Everyone is considered a team member here,” Mr Kirchner said. “We work together to sell a property and manage the entire transaction, it’s not all down to just the one agent – everyone pitches in and helps. That way, nothing gets missed, and it’s smoother for our clients,’’ he said.

This is a sponsored article, though all opinions are the author’s own. For more information on paid content, see our sponsored content policy.

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