RECORD NUMBER OF NEW SALES CONSULTANTS ATTEND WAKEFIELDS TRAINING ACADEMY

A record number of new brokers attended Wakefields' in-house real estate training academy this month.

Fifty eight. That's a large number of real estate broker interns who took their (remote) seats for Wakefields' Training Academy session on logbook training. It's the largest group ever. With the buoyancy of the property market, the lowest interest rate in 50 years, and the banks' openness to extend home loans, life as a property consultant has enormous earning and lifestyle potential. 

Nicole Brown is Wakefields' Training Manager. She's young, enthusiastic, and highly experienced.  Being a qualified advocate working in the real estate training sphere for 11 years, she has a crystal clear understanding of the profession, what qualities are needed to succeed, and how to deep-dive into the qualifications needed. And she loves what she does: "I really do love it. Watching a new broker come through the training as an intern, see them grow in the profession and make a success of themselves in this career, is really satisfying. And I see it all the time."  She adds, "From those new consultants who commit to working in the property world, Wakefields' Academy has a 90 to 95 percent retention rate - that's high."

Fifty eight brokers took their seats at Nicole's Logbook training session. That it was held remotely, clearly didn't deter anybody - if anything, it was appealing. This initial training course is a comprehensive one-day presentation, and sales consultants then have a period of a year in which to submit their logbook to the Estate Agency Affairs Board. During that period, they also have to complete their NQF4 training: "I tutor and guide them through that at our Training Academy," says Nicole. "Each intern agent has a mentor, either a branch manager or a full status broker, and they get full assistance with all legal documentation." Nicole adds, "The requirements to become a full status sales consultant can be viewed as daunting, but post-training, most broker interns say how different it was from what they expected - they enjoyed it, it wasn't as overwhelming as they thought it might be, and the way we've structured it at the Training Academy made it really accessible. I hear this time and time again."

And it goes beyond that. The good foundation provided by Wakefields' in-house training, together with the company ethos of solid, ongoing support for all interns, means consultants have the best chance of succeeding in the profession. As Nicole says, "Hence the 90 to 95 percent retention rate of interns, who become fully fledged and successful real estate consultants!"