Kon Stathopoulos is sales manager for McGrath Estate Agents in Sydney's eastern suburbs.
How did you get your start in the real estate business?
I’ve just moved into real estate with the move to Sydney [from Melbourne] 12 months ago. I’ve had strong experience in sales for over 15 years. I started off as a telemarketer for a company called Neopost Australia, which is a mail and logistics company, at a very basic entry-level position. Neopost is a French-owned company and they’ve got annual revenues of over 1 billion Euro. After four months as a telemarketer, I moved into a sales executive role and then was managing a geographic position for new and existing business. So I started there when I was 19, and I was filled with ambition. I was promoted from a sales manager to a national manager role and then to a group sales manager role for the entire Australian business. Why the switch to real estate? For me, real estate has always been in my DNA, I purchased my first home at 22 and my second one at 29, both in Melbourne. I got to the point where I wasn’t being challenged and I thought, ‘Where do I go from here?’ The Neopost responsibilities were to manage revenue and profit and to manage their entire Australian sales team, which included culture, strategy, training and recruitment, but I knew I needed to find a role that provided me with learning and development as well as career growth. Ironically McGrath was a client. I saw a sales manager role that McGrath had advertised on LinkedIn, and it was at their flagship office in Edgecliff in the eastern suburbs, which happens to be Australia’s largest residential sales office. We do over a $1 billion in residential sales per annum and I’m managing a sales team of 50 agents. When that opportunity came I grabbed it.
What do you like about working at McGrath in Sydney?
After meeting the people in the business, the core values that were important to me—learning, training, customer experience, integrity and transparency—were exactly the same, so it was a great fit. The appeal was that John’s considered a thought-leader amongst real estate in Australia, and I wanted to be aligned with the best in the business. It was the entire business with John McGrath, the entire recruitment process that I went through, that appealed to me. What’s a typical day for you in this role? I have sales meetings, one-on-one meetings and coaching and mentoring with agents. I’m at auctions on the weekend so I’m out and about doing home inspections with my team. There’s a lot of hands-on support that we give our agents. The learning and development aspect for us is key.
What do you love most about the job?
I love people, and I love the ability to be bale to connect with people and help people in their careers. For me, and anyone wanting to transition into real estate sales that’s currently in a client-facing role in sales, real estate offers learning and developing new skills as well as enhancing the current ones that you have. It provides a lot of flexibility, no ceiling on earnings and a lot of fun. I think that’s what attracts a lot of people to the industry.
Does it take time to get your head around the market if you're new to real estate?
It depends on the individual and I guess it depends on the support structure that a business may offer. We have an in-house training department that helps fast-track real estate careers.
What are the biggest issues facing the real estate industry?
From my experience, the biggest issue we have is finding really good quality real estate agents that are engaged and want to provide amazing service to their clients.
What do you look for when hiring?
Work ethic and commitment to their craft. The best operators are continually working on their skills and their business, and they still enjoy it.
Where do you live now?
I’m in Balmain in the inner west. I’ve kept my properties in Melbourne and I’m now looking for a property in Sydney.
If money were no object, what would your dream property be?
I love Sydney so anything that’s facing water is my dream property. I’m a big fan of Bronte, Tamarama.