Property Academy guru Peter Knight has made an unusual revelation in a new podcast – he’s told of his link to tennis ace Roger Federer.
In the latest episode of The Home Stretch – a podcast from the Guild of Property Professionals – Knight speaks about over 40 years of experience within the property sector and what he thinks the key traits are to be successful.
Starting his career as a negotiator in 1979, Knight worked his way up the ranks, working as a sales manager at Barratt Homes and eventually becoming a director at Jackson Property Services. In present day, he is the Founder of the Property Academy, Best Estate Agent Guide and EA Masters.
“I believe that the most important trait an agent needs to have to be successful is coachability. In other words, they are prepared to adapt and learn new and different things. This was true when I started and perhaps even more so now” says Knight.
“I would say the second most important characteristic for success is to be savvy, and the third is curiosity. Estate agency is about people and will always be about people, and I think being curious about people and what is going on is a trait that can be powerful. Work ethic is another arrow in the quiver of success, and perhaps the final one is confidence that comes from success and being able to draw on that and utilise it. These are the attributes I look for in people today and I would like to think that I had some of them in the early stages of my career.”
In response Guild chief executive Iain McKenzie says that there is another trait he would add to the list, to be a self-learner.
“I have spoken to agents who find certain aspects of job such as valuations mundane, and my question to them is what is your conversion rate? Because if you are winning instructions, great, let them be mundane, but if you are not winning instructions you need to self-learn and do something different” he adds.
Knight and McKenzie go on to discuss several other elements around what agents could be doing to better themselves and increase their number of successful instruction wins, which includes that link to Federer…
To hear this conversation in full, visit The Home Stretch podcast.
