In 1976 real estate agency Mark Wilson and Associates began trading in Warrnambool. The business strategy of putting the customer’s best interests ahead of their own has assisted in the longevity and success of this family owned and operated real estate agency. 40+ years on and the Wilsons brand continues as an institution of the city landscape.
As a true family owned and operated business, Mark’s sons have spent time learning the trade. Jackson started with the business straight out of high school and worked there for 14 years before relocating to Wilsons Real Estate Geelong as a partner with Mark’s brother Guyon and his son James. Lucas spent 12 years in the industry as a salesperson and has now returned to join in partnership with Mark after three years working in the marine industry.
For Lucas, the time away from the family business gave him a new perspective on small business, customer service, sales, and in particular online and social media marketing.
Lucas said ‘I was very excited to be presented with the opportunity to return to the industry, this time in partnership with Dad in the family business – we’ve always worked well together and held similar values and ideals’.
Lucas is using his experience to refresh the ‘High touch, not high tech’ traditional customer service model used by Wilsons. He said the new direction was combining the two to maintain old fashioned values while embracing the forefront of modern marketing – ‘Add to this an office obsession with training in sales and negotiation skills, and we present a winning team to the marketplace. Your marketplace.’
One of the many secrets to business success for Wilsons has been a focus on hiring the right people to fit into the Agency’s culture. Ongoing training of all staff members (including Mark!) both internally and through the finest industry
training organisations fulfils their customer first approach.
For Mark, the message is simple “With Real Estate agents as a profession consistently ranking in the bottom 10 percent of consumer opinion according to Morgan Research, it made sense to adopt client-benefit-based systems instead of traditional agent-benefit-based systems”.
“Being Warrnambool born and bred, reason number 13 on this document is very close to my heart. We actively support our local community through sponsorships and support of local clubs, charities and individual causes, so when you employ Wilsons as your agent, not only are you investing in the best possible result for yourself, but by extension, you can also feel wonderful about the fact that you are supporting your local community.”
If you are considering selling, leasing, buying or renting your home, contact the team at Wilsons – 03 5561 2777.
