Ray Ellis explains to The Real Estate Conversation why First National was the only real estate network in the country to be awarded a 5-star Canstar Blue rating for customer satisfaction. 

Q: How could a cooperative real estate network be the only one to achieve 5-star Canstar Blue ratings nationally, using a business model that arguably gives it less control than a contemporary franchising system?

Ray Ellis: First National Real Estate was founded 35 years ago on the premise that its members would work together and support each other to grow their businesses and train their staff. That expectation continues to this day and, as a result, our best property managers and salespeople play an important role in First National’s professional development programme. 

This means the best in the industry are in First National and they share their skills amongst our network. Beyond a training session, they know they can pick up the phone and call anyone, anytime, without any additional cost. 

In essence, our emphasis isn’t on celebrity or style, its on substance and outcomes. This Canstar Award reflects that outcome.

Q: Why do you think First National won the Canstar Blue award for ‘overall satisfaction’?

RE: I believe our agents are more inclined to work together to help achieve the right outcome for customers. I regularly witness our members, even from opposite sides of the Tasman, going out of their way to help get documents signed or put people in contact with each other. Not being a franchise means the approach is cooperative rather than competitive. This results in greater consistency of service across Australia and NZ. 

One of many examples is the most recent floods in Brisbane. With hundreds of families in rental properties distressed or homeless, and with some of our own Brisbane offices underwater and cut off from their staff, First National called on its property managers to roll up their sleeves. Volunteers answered the call from all over Australia, pulling on gum boots and wading through hundreds of homes to urgently produce condition reports, re-home those who had lost everything, and dispense advice, safe drinking water, as well as a shoulder to cry upon in some circumstances.  

This is customer service in action, not a marketing slogan.

Q: What does the award mean going forward?

RE: It’s always pleasing to be independently recognised, but an award such as this also reinforces the importance of continued focus. Nobody in real estate can afford to rest on his or her laurels. The profession has never been more competitive.

However, Canstar Blue’s ‘overall satisfaction’ award is encouraging because it shows First National Real Estate is on the right track, with an appropriate balance between sales and property management performance goals as well as the things that are of the most importance to customers, like communication for example. 

Communication is the keystone of everything First National does. Our property managers use powerful, integrated property maintenance systems, plus they leverage the network’s expertise sharing and discussion groups via our intranet. Our salespeople, likewise, benefit from exclusive First National systems that deliver sophisticated customer relationship management.

See also:

Best opportunity in years for first-home buyers

Keep on the right side of the law with rental property

The impact of investors on rents