Join a dynamic, service focused real estate franchise that delivers success to its franchisees.

Barry Plant – the red carpet brand in real estate franchising

The Barry Plant Group is Victoria’s most successful real estate franchise with offices throughout metropolitan Melbourne, the Mornington and Bellarine Peninsulas and regional Victoria. In early 2008 we opened our first office in Queensland on the Gold Coast. In October 2008 we opened a second office on the Gold Coast.

We measure our success not by the number of offices we have – but by the number of properties we sell. With fewer offices we sell more properties than any other real estate group in Victoria. But it’s not about being the biggest, we’re about being the best and offering the best systems and support to each and every office in our network.

There are three essential elements to our success as a franchise organisation:

1. We know what makes a successful real estate agency business. With a Head Office team with over 150 years of combined real estate success behind us and the collective experience of a group of market leading franchisees, we know how to make any business more successful.
   
2. Our network is totally franchised. That means that 100% of our effort is focussed on our franchisees, because quite simply, that is the only way we make money . . . through the success of our franchisees.
   
3. We work closely with our franchisees to implement individually tailored strategies to improve their business and maximise their market share and profitability. Every franchise will tell you that, but do they have the resources and the team to back it up? We have one highly experienced franchise manager for approximately every twenty franchisees . . . far more than most other franchise groups.

The key ingredients that build agencies capable of achieving industry leading results like this are:

• A respected brand
• Strong, strategic marketing of the brand
• Innovative USP's
• High quality franchisees
• Exclusive listing territories
• As of right” sales policy
• Proven replicable systems - you don’t have to re-invent the wheel
• Our "eight pillars for success" proven business strategy
• Business and consultancy planning
• Coaching and mentoring program
• Property Management consultancy, manuals and training
• Frequent and varied free training with courses constantly reviewed to reflect market changes
• HR and recruiting support
• Separate and exclusive branding for prestige properties
• A franchise support team that’s the best in the business
• The friendly culture of a boutique culture - despite our size

A well respected brand

The Barry Plant brand is very well respected in the marketplace.  And this is no accident. We expect every franchisee to deliver ethical, professional real estate services and ensure the integrity of every member of their team.

Telly Karadimos, Principal of the first Barry Plant office in Queensland, found the Barry Plant brand gained instant acceptance on the Gold Coast

"The Barry Plant brand has taken me from a brand new, start up office to writing a $100,000 month in just six months. Their training, systems and business consultancy is second to none. Why? I believe it’s because Victoria – in particular Melbourne – has the most demanding real estate clients in Australia. And this group is the best in that region. They bring a whole new way of providing real estate service to our market – and Queenslanders are loving it."

The Barry Plant strapline is “red carpet experience” but this isn’t just a marketing position, it’s a philosophy and we work to ensure that every client feels that they have truly received superior service. Our Service Champions training equips our customer service people with the skills to tactfully resolve those complaints that tend to accompany some real estate transactions and also teaches them to view issues from both sides.

Every Barry Plant office has achieved “Highly Recommended” status in the annual Australian Achiever Awards for Excellence in Customer Service – four years in a row.

In 2008 Spiro Drossos from the Barry Plant Doncaster office won the REIV’s Top Residential Sales Agent of the Year while the Barry Plant Point Cook office won the Top Residential Agency of the Year (10 staff or less).

Strategic Marketing of the brand

Our position as "the red carpet experience" has been very well received in the market place.  It’s memorable and delivers a message that promotes confidence. It’s also a theme that lends itself to great visuals.

Every year we run an eight month television campaign – usually producing new commercials every two years. In 2008 we extended our television presence to take advantage of the extraordinary audience numbers during the Beijing Olympics.

At the end of each year Barry Plant franchisees are given a schedule of the proposed letterbox marketing campaigns for the following year.  This includes at least 18 different drop cards to choose from, football fixtures, 12 month and 15 month fridge magnet calendars and of course a non sectarian Xmas card with a red carpet theme (this is also provided in a format that can be emailed). The franchisees go online and fill in their requirements for the year including where they want the drop cards delivered and then they can relax – all they need do is organise the distribution.  Of course, if circumstances change, these orders can be amended during the year.

Separate marketing campaigns with artwork for use in your local paper with matching window posters are distributed regularly throughout the year. We have an internet site for suppliers where all the visual guidelines, specifications and artwork files for Barry Plant are housed.

Every week our glossy weekly property magazine, Imagine, is distributed throughout all Barry Plant offices.

High quality Franchisees

We are not about being the biggest – but we are about being the best. Therefore we carefully evaluate all potential franchisees to see that not only do they have the experience, commitment and financial backing required, but just as importantly that they are a good “fit” for the group. That they have the character and temperament to co-operate willingly with our other franchisees. Not everyone who applies is accepted.

No franchisee has ever chosen to leave the Barry Plant Group and we are confident in saying to anyone reading this and thinking about joining our group, you can pick up the phone and call any of our franchisees for a reference.

Click here for office contact details.

Craig Cherry, Managing Director of The Loyalty zone survey group, is amazed at the loyalty and commitment of Barry Plant Franchisees.

"Congratulations on the excellent survey results you have achieved with our loyalty surveying we have been doing for you over the last 9 months. To have 78% of your franchisees rate you either 9 or 10 out of 10 on whether they would recommend the franchise to a friend or colleague is exceptional and the highest score I have seen in the franchise industry. Your franchisees love the support they get from Head Office and the training that is offered is also very popular..."

Glenn Hardman, recently opened a Barry Plant office in Torquay on Victoria’s Bellarine Peninsula.

"11th November 2008.

I would like to formally thank you for allowing Kylie and I to join the Barry Plant group.

It has been almost 3 months since I opened the office doors in Torquay and now having met the head office team, undertaken many training sessions and started to network with other franchisee’s I can honestly say we have made the right decision.

Having been a franchisee of Ray White previously, I feel it is only when you have experienced another group that you can truly appreciate what you have on offer.

As you may recall Mark Lynch fought incredibly hard to ensure my office was branded Barry Plant. His energy and persistence was excellent along with his belief that Barry Plant was the right decision for us, and he was so incredibly right.

Should you have any franchisee that is hesitant on coming on board, I would be most willing to discuss my previous experiences with them and the incredibly experience of joining the Barry Plant Group.

Once again, thank you."

Glenn Hardman,
Principal
Barry Plant (Torquay)

Exclusive listing territories

As a Barry Plant franchisee you will have an exclusive territory with defined boundaries within which only your office can list properties for sale. This means you won’t be competing with another Barry Plant office in the next street for listings. You can confidently spend money marketing in to your exclusive area, knowing that your office will reap the rewards from your expenditure and exposure.

Because Barry Plant offices are not competing against each other, our franchisees freely share information, strategies, skills and valuable market intelligence with other office owners.

“As of Right" sales policy

Every sales person across the entire Barry Plant network is actively encouraged to sell any property listed by any Barry Plant office. This means that we can genuinely provide potential vendors with a far bigger pool of buyers than real estate groups where properties can only be sold by the office that listed it. It also means that a property has a greater chance of being sold and for the best possible price.

The best training program in the industry

We provide a full suite of training courses – from entry level sales through to Leadership training – and we repeat our sessions every six weeks to eight weeks.  Training serves three purposes; it equips people with the skills to be successful agents, it helps attract and retain your staff and it also builds friendships and promotes networking amongst all the employees in the Barry Plant Group.

The majority of our training is free and is regularly reviewed and updated to reflect changes in the market or legislation. Our current in-house training program includes:

• Leadership Training Program
• Managing the Sale
• Relationship Based Listing
• Boot Camp
• PA Training course
• Getting that Appraisal and Prospecting. 
• Conducting a successful listing presentation
• Achieving Higher and Higher Commissions and More Advertising
• Sale by SET DATE ®
• Auction Workshop
• Signature Property accreditation
• Customer Service Champions
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM) training.

We also have several large group training events a year.  Kickstart, which is held early February, is a full day event for all sales and property management people in the group.  Usually held at the MCG, the day is full of expert presenters whose sole purpose is to impart the skills and motivation for the year ahead.  While our mini-conference, held in the second half of the year is a weekend conference where Principals, sales managers and talented sales people have the opportunity to hear from our own top performers and then talk to them one-on-one in a relaxed atmosphere.

Property Management

No franchise fees applicable

We don’t charge a franchise fee for Property Management, however we realise that a flourishing Property Management department is the basis of a successful residential sales business.

As a group the Barry Plant network manages nearly 20,000 properties and employs hundreds of people who are directly involved in property management.

To support this important sector of our industry we provide the following:

• An expert consultant who provides help and advice, mentoring and auditing of Property Management procedures
• Accreditation for Property Managers
• Extensive in-house training
• Quarterly Property Management newsletter for landlords
• Steering Committee with a combined 150+ years of experience to provide guidance, innovation and recommendations
• Comprehensive manual of systems, procedures and standard letters
• A rental guarantee promising a high level of red carpet service
• Promotional marketing material
• Negotiated benefits through industry suppliers

Proven business strategies

We provide a full consultancy service for every office. Our Franchise Managers are well credentialed hands-on real estate professionals who will help you implement our "Eight pillars for success". These are sound business practices that work.  Those offices who implement them succeed, while those offices who don't usually find it more difficult to achieve the same rates of growth. We usually find that if a previously successful office is losing ground, a review of their business will find that they have stopped doing one or more of the Eight Pillars.

We have a proven track record of building businesses. The diagram below indicates growth of offices from either joining our group, or from re-organising their business to implement the Eight Pillars for success.

Boronia	Bundoora
Emerald	Noble Park
Point Cook	Reservoir
Wantirna	Werribee

Systems to succeed

When you become a Barry Plant franchisee we'll help train you and your staff, provide sound business advise and supply you with the systems you need to increase your profit. We'll allow you to focus on what you do best - sell real estate. We'll provide you with manuals and support in areas such as new office set-up, sales team operations, employment, workplace policies, OH&S, marketing, Customer Relationship Management and Property Management.

Providing the best technology
Barry Plant has formed a strategic alliance with PortPlus, a web based software company specialising in leading edge technology for the Real Estate sector.

The PortPlus system provides a single point of data entry for both Management and Administrators; by entering property information once, PortPlus simultaneously updates the our corporate website, local office websites, and many other real estate portals such as realestate.com.au. This information can then also be used by the office to produce reports and offline print material and track client communication. The system is designed to ensure you have access to your information anywhere, any time, on just about any computer with an internet connection.

PortPlus designed and built the Barry Plant website; providing not only a slick, easily navigated property marketing tool, but also providing each of our offices with the ability to customise their own office site and build their local presence.

Advanced CRM software
We have worked closely with PortPlus to customise an easy to use yet comprehensive, real estate specific Client Relationship Management system 'Client Manager'. Completely web based, Client Manager tracks every contact made to both buyers and vendors, be it via SMS, letter, or email; this information is stored for life (can never be deleted). It send letters, emails and SMS’s to your entire database with just a few easy clicks of your mouse. Client Manager allows agents to become more ‘time rich’ with preloaded, automated “Business Rules” carefully created by Barry Plant (to reflect our training), reminding the agent of events such as reports due, authorities expiring and anniversaries. Management can have instant access to reports; information that often was time consuming to produce is now ready in just seconds.

We’ll continue to work with PortPlus to ensure that we provide our franchisees with the very best and latest technology tools to use to improve their business and maintain our position as market leaders.

Events that build the culture

We never underestimate the value of the camaraderie within the Barry Plant Group.  Big as we are, we have the culture of a small boutique network.  Because our offices don’t compete with each other, everyone is prepared to generously share their knowledge, lend a hand and network freely.  This often happens naturally as a result of so many people attending our training courses, but we also arrange several large events each year where people can get together and enjoy themselves.  The sense of family means that we have far less turnover of staff than other groups.  People want to stay with us. And we want to keep them.

Awards night
Our annual Awards for Excellence are held in July and attract over 600 people to celebrate the top performers in our group.  High achievers from sales, property management, administration and of course the most successful offices are all given their due recognition. 

Principals Conference
Every year – usually in June – Principals from all offices attend a conference.  Traditionally held one year in Australia and one year overseas, the true value of these conferences is in the time out from your business to network with your peers.  The five days are filled with business sessions, group team building outings and social networking events. 

End of year party
Our end of year party is always a huge success with nearly 700 people dressing up (we love a theme) to party.

Family picnic
This is when Head Office puts on a party for the families of all Barry Plant employees.  It’s our way of saying thank you for putting up with the demands of the real estate industry.  There are presents for all children, Santa Claus, BP Bear and the fairy, food and games (for parents too).

Awards Night
The Diamond Club is an exclusive coterie of high achievers.  It’s those individuals who (last Awards year) wrote over $500,000 in commission. These people are treated to a range of exclusive events throughout the year – to celebrate and acknowledge their value to the Group.

Interested in joining us?

As you can see we’re not just a real estate brand you put on your office and carry on as usual.  We expect you to commit to our ideals, our training, our systems, our values.  In return we’ll provide you all that you need to make your business even more successful.

We want to provide you with fun, enjoyment in business and PROFIT.

Interested? Then call Mark Lynch on (03) 9840 9555 or 0419 559 840 for a confidential discussion. Or (email) him.

To build a successful real estate agency you need experience – the red carpet experience