Laguna Real Estate
Olivier Miller
Olivier Miller has been working in real estate in Queensland for 30 years and is Owner and Principal of the four Laguna Real Estate offices. She specialises in prestige and waterfront properties and is currently the highest sales performer within the Laguna group. Olivier and her team’s passion and commitment have earned them a number of distinguished awards, including the 2013 REIQ Large Residential Agency of the Year.
Olivier also finds the time to author a weekly column in the local property magazine and is favoured by market analysts for Noosa and the Sunshine Coast for her insights and property predictions.
When my husband Mitch and I moved to Noosa in 1979, we were very interested in buying property here and that’s when I caught the Noosa property bug. I thought it would be fantastic to become a Real Estate Agent and sell property in one of the most beautiful locations in the world.
I invested two years in a real estate course at Nambour and qualified to become a Fully Licensed Agent. I was then approached by Rob Morley and his business partner Ron Sgro of Laguna to join them as their rookie Sales Agent at their new office on Noosa Sound. I have been at Laguna ever since.
I revelled being in the real estate business. I loved listing and selling properties and enjoyed all the success that came with it. I have made lifelong friendships since I became an agent. I lived and breathed real estate so much that I drove my family and friends crazy.
I learnt very quickly that it was all about the listing and achieving the best possible outcome for my sellers.
I enjoyed a great referral base and rose through the ranks at Laguna under the mentorship of my boss Rob Morley, who I eventually bought out when he retired.
I was determined to build and grow Laguna into one of the best agencies around. Today we are one of the largest and most successful independent brands on the coast with four offices, 600 properties under management, 40 staff and we are consistently selling more properties than any of our competitors.
Honesty, hard work, good communication skills, product knowledge and empathy go a long way in this business.
Every listing and sale impacts greatly on both the buyer and seller, and if you earn your clients’ trust, odds are they will tell a friend or a family member. Referrals are one of the greatest ways to become a successful Real Estate Agent. Laguna thrives on referrals – it is one of the reasons we have been in business so long!
My team members are my greatest asset and they deserve a lot of respect. I believe each and every member of my team is a vital link to Laguna’s success because without their input, chinks appear.
I value their input and tell them so, and as a result enjoy very low staff turnover. A lot of my team have been with me for 5–10 and up to 15 years, and some have returned after testing the waters elsewhere. We welcome them back with open arms. We interact wholeheartedly with our community and constantly raise money for our nominated charities. This interaction builds healthy relationships within our team – it is a fantastic bonding exercise. We also enjoy great social interaction outside office hours and some say we have the best Christmas parties ever!
Without a doubt, online marketing is having an enormous impact on our industry. So here at Laguna we are embracing it full throttle. Our size allows us to afford the latest and most expensive technology, and as well as having our own in-house marketer, we also have a full-time IT Consultant to keep us up to date with the latest trends.
Most buyers are very tech savvy and use their smartphones to interact with us. We can match buyers to properties before the listing is even advertised and constantly send out property alerts to everyone on our database. Keeping in constant contact with buyers and sellers is paramount.
We are very aware of the impact social media is having on real estate, and as a consequence, we have one person delegated to oversee this department and now have the largest following on Facebook in the area. We strive to be market leaders and embrace the new technology with great enthusiasm.
Firstly, DON’T CHASE BUYERS – let them come to you. It’s all about having the stock. If a retailer doesn’t have anything in their shop to sell, they won’t attract a buyer, the same thing applies to real estate. So the first thing I always tell my newcomers is real estate is always about “winning the listing”.
Secondly there is no point having the listing if you don’t have a decent marketing campaign. We need to advertise to let the world know about the property. A healthy marketing budget goes a long way in helping a sale.
Thirdly, first-class open homes are usually where you interact with the most buyers and sellers. Here at Laguna we do multiple open homes during the week – which usually results in the property selling in fewer days.
At Laguna we love working and playing in our beautiful backyard and are proud of our significant contributions to our community and charities that have seen us raise over $700,000 in the past seven years. We love giving back! Our mission statement is “To deliver excellence in real estate”.
We are also very proud of our REIQ Excellence in Real Estate Awards that have seen us nominated as winners on several occasions. Our latest coup is our nomination in two categories for the National Real Estate Business Awards to be held in Sydney in June. We love mixing with other successful agents from all around Australia; this is where you usually pick up some exciting new ideas that keep you on top of your game.