?Up At Night? is an ongoing series of interviews with small business owners. I am celebrating interview #10 with Tony Joe and Susan Froher of ?Tony Joe and Associates. The goal is to tell a story in which other small business owners will find encouragement, ideas, and confirmation that what they are experiencing is shared by others!
These interviews are about extending our sense of community as small business owners.
Tony Joe and Susan Froher of Tony Joe & Associates
Everyone I work with or interview holds a unique place in my mental filing system, and sometimes in my heart. For Tony and Sue it is both. And what makes Tony unique is a quality I found in him right from the beginning: he is one of the most committed and generous men I have worked with. His willingness to tackle head-on issues preventing him from taking the next big step in his life and his profession are remarkable. Once we agree that something needs to be done, no matter how stomach-churning, I can count on Tony to take care of it.
Tony?s generosity is known throughout his community. From his work with the Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness, to his leadership as vice-chair of the Victoria Dragonboat Festival Society Tony finds more ways to support his community in a week than most people do in a year.
Susan is every bit the leader in their business that Tony is. Her grasp of financial and operational details combined with more energy and focus than most of us got handed out, are remarkable. Susan has that relentless forward-looking focus that is so hard to find in business-owners and entrepreneurs. With some business owners it can take months or years of repeated ?re-focusing? before a commitment to make a change is fulfilled. With Susan, it is seldom more than a matter of days.
As a team Tony and Sue are remarkable. They complement each other perfectly and move through their world with a confidence and open energy that is a pleasure to be a part of.
I am always a fan of my clients? businesses. But with Tony and Sue, it is beyond that norm. Their years of experience, their relentless insistence that things be ?done right?, and their non-stop giving back to their community make me ask, ?If you live in Victoria and aren?t buying or selling your home with Tony and Sue, I would really like to know why.?
This is my second interview working with photographer Kurt Knock.
Tony & Susan, where did you get started?
The structure we started was unique in that we?weren?t?a partnership, or just a large group of agents sharing an office and admin costs. The structure we adopted was that of a lead listing agent and a team of buyer agents, and an office administrator. That was new around here.
That team approach suited me well because it early on enabled me to focus on my strengths and delegate the rest to other team members.? I also think there is a lot more in this kind of structure for my?team-mates?than there is in a more traditional ?office? of Realtors who are really not doing much more than sharing administrative costs. What we have had since 2004 truly is a team.
Susan: I started in 2005. I got ?hired? by one of Tony?s team-mates. The only problem was that person never cleared it with Tony! So when this person was let go I was out of a job!
Tony stayed in touch over the next two years. Then when another position opened up on the team in 2007, I got a call! I have been part of Tony Joe & Associates ever since.
Tony: I have been in sales pretty much right out of high school.? I sold steaks at the Keg, sold vacuum cleaners door to door (I learned a lot on that job), and sold cars. As a car salesman I bumped into a Realtor who brought his car in for servicing. He told me I should get into real estate. I was 19. I started with the Century 21 training program at the time and I loved it.
Susan: I got into it just because it was a job. I had done lots of sales. Everything from fish to photocopiers. I started to work for someone but never had a desire to be a Realtor. In fact when I lost my job with the first Realtor, I?didn?t?just jump back in? I kind of went ?now what???
What I love about it now is that I am always busy, and always busy helping people get to where they want to go in their lives? and the parts I don?t enjoy are solved by being part of a great team!
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What is your biggest challenge right now?
Susan: Consistency. The market and the community are see-sawing so much.
Tony: For me it is responding to how prospects are found. Before the internet people called for information on a listing and you had the chance to engage them in conversation and begin a relationship. This would start both a possible life-time customer relationship, and at that moment, the steps towards conversion and close. Ads in print worked. Now there are no more drive buys, no more calls. Everything a buyer might want to know is on the Internet. Buyers can do all their research there, and by the time to connect with you they have already made most of their decisions.
The challenge is to find new ways to connect with people? connecting with your community and building relationships sometimes long before anyone is thinking about buying or selling a house.
On the plus side it is a lot harder to hide behind being a ?big name? or behind flashy advertising.? So much of what people want to know about homes is on the Internet, the house is just a commodity. So the relationship matters more than ever if you want to make a difference.
What do you see as your greatest opportunity right now?
Tony: New ways of making connections. Social media, more and more face-to-face opportunities, and becoming increasingly engaged with my community.
Susan:?We are also re-committing to tending our database of past customers. And tending to those customers! Increasingly too, we are making financial management, especially managing our cash flow, a priority. The rises and falls, the annual curves, have to be planned for.
Tony: During the dips in those curves, we are increasingly seeing them as ?opportunity time? rather than ?down time? We spend so much of the year working flat out on business, we are welcoming the periods when we can take a breath, focus on our past customers, and focus on taking the time for people in our community.
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What do you see as your greatest success?
Susan:?we have spent a few years getting there, but having a functional team that really gets stuff done. We are working on streamlining the administrative side and already seeing the magic in that.
Tony: Yes, really having committed to systems. We are seeing the benefits of consistent follow-up on our database. This is crucial. Those constant touches through the sales process and afterwards are important.
Susan: In the team we have in place and the systems we have committed to, Tony is able to see his ideas becoming a reality.
Tony: That we are at a point in time when we can free some of my mental real estate to lead the team. Sue and my team are taking stuff out of my brain and getting it done. I thought I was good at a lot of things, but it turns out I suck at them and realizing that is a huge success for me. I have no more desire to juggle everything that has to be done.
We have realized that once you have a team and systems functioning on this level, you can?t go back an more.
What concerns you in the business environment right now?
Tony:?I?m?not concerned.?I?ve?been here before. I just see this as a challenge and an opportunity to weed through the noise and find those who really needs us right now. In this economy there is a greater need than ever for professionals who really know what they are doing to help people buy and sell their homes in a challenging economy. That is great for us. I know?I?m?less effective with less motivated clients, and this economy is creating a lot of motivation!
I guess I am concerned about the reduction in credit limits under the new mortgage rules. We are definitely seeing people shut out of the market who would have qualified in the past.
What?s next for Tony Joe & Associates?
Susan:?We are looking at some options around profit sharing and performance-based pay for team members. Having reviewed the way we work, we are also looking at switching the focus in our office from administration with some marketing on the side, to administration with a primary marketing focus. With the great computer-based tools we have, and a new commitment to systems, we want to shift seeing the office as a cost?centre?to being a revenue driver.? We really want to see how far we can push that.
Tony:?More mental real estate I can give up!
Susan:?We have a small business, so the admin/marketing position has so much impact on our success. Previously we had no clean or obvious way for admin to impact the bottom line positively. But by really looking at the way we are doing things, committing to maximizing our systems, and looking at sharing the wealth in new ways, we want to change that.
Finding the right person for that job is easier when you know what you are looking for. And we have a clear sense of what we are looking for.
Tony: We are in another era of development in our business where we are working to become even more sustainable. We are becoming more efficient, moving towards a low-paper office, and finding better ways to communicate.
We want more time for our family [Tony & Sue have 2 young children]. The kids are getting older so priorities change, but at the same time we can?t cut back on the work that needs to be done.? I want the best of both worlds!
All photos:?Kurt Knock Photography
I work with business to redesign their futures. I help them become what their owners first?dreamed them to be? Want more out of?your?business??Contact me.?From my home base on Vancouver Island, I provide planning and coaching support to businesses across Canada.
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