As the first point of contact for new landlords, Coronis Group Business Development Manager Alexandra Gonsalves is responsible for appraising properties and assisting landlords with their transition to Coronis. Alex manages the contracts, organises the marketing, and assists investors with their wealth creation goals. 

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Alex was awarded Coronis Business Development Manager of The Year in 2019 and 2020, and she was nominated in the 2020 Real Estate Business Awards for Top 10 Business Development Managers of the Year.

WILLIAMS MEDIA spoke to Alexandra Gonsalves about her career.

What decided you on Property Management as a career?

As soon as I started as a BDM in 2016, I realised it was my niche within the industry.

I started at Coronis Group as an administrator, but I wanted to earn more income, so I transitioned into sales and became an agent. After a year of sales, I decided to move into property management instead and become a BDM.

The BDM role offered more flexibility and gave me the freedom to work or not work on weekends if I chose to. I love how dynamic my role is and I can’t imagine doing anything else. Working with some of the best property managers in Australia really helps me when speaking to clients as I know they will receive world class service.   

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What different roles have you had at Coronis?

I’ve had quite a few roles at Coronis, which is the great thing about the size of the company. I joined Coronis in 2014, worked in administration for 12 months, then moved into sales for 12 months, but I didn’t love that role.

My leader and I decided I should try the Business Developer role and 6 years later I am still working in the role and love it! Looking back over the years I really appreciate the support and guidance from my leaders who helped me get to this point of my career. 

How is Property Management helping you achieve your life goals?

Working in Property Management as a BDM means that I have uncapped income potential. What I put into it is exactly what I get out of it and that’s what is so great about real estate. During 2020 I had some ambitious goals which helped me to stay focused, stick to my ideal week structure and focus on prospecting and nurturing my clients. I was able to tick off all those goals and I am now working on purchasing another property with my partner Jordan.

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Another great thing about working as a BDM is the flexibility, I don’t have to work a 9 – 5 job, nor do I have to be in the office at set hours. Most mornings I am up at 5am to ride my horses. The flexible role has also allowed the flexibility to foster dogs, usually this doesn’t impact my work but if needed while a new dog is settling in I can base myself from home. 

While changing roles within the business I was really able to develop myself as a person, becoming more resilient and determined each time. A big goal for me is to wake up each day and live a life that I love. Coming into work I get to be with a bunch of legends everyday and whilst we work hard we certainly laugh harder! This environment is conducive to a positive mindset and certainly contributes to me being able to hit my goals.

The skillsets and resilience I have developed from changing roles have helped me in all areas of my life and helped me develop as a person. A big goal for me is to be happy and live a life that I love, so the fact that I have complete autonomy, work with a bunch of legends who make me laugh, and get all the support I need contributes to that.

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What advice do you give landlords?

My advice depends on the individual circumstances and personal goals of my clients clients and helping them get the best out of the market. For example, I have several landlords who were affected my the pandemic, some are pilots and needed to move out west to get work during the pandemic. We had to align their property plan with their new goals (renting out the property for 24 months).

I work with all my landlords to ensure their property meets a market standard, based on years of feedback and knowing what tenants generally seek in a home. Investing a little money where it matters most can create competition in the market and push the value of the home up. 

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With growing recognition in the industry and a number of awards, what makes a good Business Development Manager?

I think a great BDM has to have grit, a great structure or process to follow, listen more than they talk, genuinely care and have a strong work ethic. If you want to succeed, you can’t really get around those things.

There is more to being a BDM than signing a listing and marketing properties. More often than not our clients are looking for someone to assist them with their wealth creation strategy, not just get a tenant in their property. So being able to offer them educated advice like where to and how to improve their property to increase their rental yield is a required skillset.

The other important thing that helps set up a BDM long term building a database, so utilising your company’s buyer enquiries or past sellers/ buyers helps too. We’re very fortunate at Coronis to have a large database between the team so you’re not starting from scratch with your prospecting or client relationships. 

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What advice do you give to new Business Development Managers to achieve success?

They need to have grit, be great listeners, be structured and have a strong work ethic. The first year will be tough, especially as you get used to making 60+ phone calls a day, prospecting, learning the scripts, and building your pipeline but if you stick with it, you will grow as a person and as a BDM and it will get easier.

Coming from sales, I was fortunate enough to have the discipline and a ready to go pipeline, however for someone starting in the industry with no experience I’d suggest finding a company with an established training program for BDMs where you can learn everything you need to know about property management, legislation, scripts, how to structure your week, how to market a property and yourself, lead generation and ongoing training.

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Coronis has established a great BDM cadet program over the past two years and I’ve seen people with no prior experience kick some huge goals in their first year due to that training. Our Growth Leader Fiona Nichols trains and helps the cadets and BDMs. She has over 15 years’ experience and her job focuses purely on BDMs, keeping us accountable to our goals and organising our weekly training. Fi is always looking for ways to improve our marketing and lead generation so if you can find a leader like that who is invested in you and your future, that is also essential to achieving success.

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What personal hobbies/interests outside of real estate do you enjoy?

I really enjoy my time with my horses and fostering dogs. I’m literally the person who messages her boyfriend and says I’m bringing home another dog. I’ve always loved animals, I grew up on acreage and started riding from the age of 6.

I enjoy training in show jumping and dressage with my two horses, there is a lot of discipline and commitment that goes into it.

Otherwise, I love going to the beach with Jordan and the dogs, hiking up Mount Coolum and travelling to two new destinations each year. In the past year explored Cairns and last month we went to Tasmania enjoying all the wineries and beautiful scenery!

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