HOMES are sold and bought through the relationships Cam Smits builds with his clients.
Ray White Swan Hill principal Mr Smits was named an Alan White Elite Member for 2023-24 for reaching the top 3 per cent of Australasian Ray White agents – an achievement that encapsulates more than the final number of houses sold.
“It takes thousands of phone calls to stay in touch with everybody, looking at the rough numbers that comes to about 400 appraisals across the year.
“And then everything sort of pyramids down, so 400 appraisals gets us to about 100 listings, which gets us to the about 75 sales.
“The results are based on how many relationships you’ve maintained throughout the year and then the end goal is to help as many people as possible through to a sale,” Mr Smits said.
Having achieving Alan White Elite status a second time, Mr Smits said he was more fulfilled earning it outside of the COVID market.
“Although it was still nice to be acknowledged through that COVID period, which was unusual, this one was a little more fulfilling because it was normal market, it was harder to achieve,” he said.
The achievement gives Mr Smits access to national Ray White connections and learning opportunities to push the Swan Hill team further.
“The real benefit is that one on one, where you’re mixing and talking with other Elite agents, especially if from other regional areas and picking their brain on how they’re doing things or what they’re doing differently in the market, or how they help with customer experience change, and what are they doing to make it easier or better.
“There’s the opportunity to take your emerging sales people with you, so then they get to see a difference and work out how we get better, this is the journey,” he said.
Mr Smits shares his achievement with his staff, who enable him to focus on building client relationships and make the selling and buying process easier.
“I can’t do it without Sarah, our sales administrator, who processes all the contracts and deals with all the solicitors and fires up all the finances, and then Sarah our junior sales agent runs around doing building pest inspections and Mick, who does openings and buyer work – you just can’t do it on your own,” he said.
In the years since opening the Swan Hill office, Mr Smits has prioritised modernising the local housing market to make the sales process more transparent and user-friendly.
“My dad’s side of the family were all builders, carpenters, all that side of housing trade, so I still have that background of knowing that it’s food, water and shelter – they’re the three core human needs.
“Everybody has that basic human need, and we’re just here to help, so we try and use that experience to help people navigate it a bit better.
He said he encouraged the conversations that council and the community are having to diversify the housing entering the market and open new land for development, to ensure buyers’ and renters’ needs are met.
“We’ve got a shortage of critical workers in town, so nobody can get staff and when they get staff there’s nowhere to live.
“We seem to be stuck in this chicken-and-egg situation, so hopefully we can help be part of that solution along the way.”
