Founded in 2012, Tall Poppy is working to create a fairer real estate market for all kiwis and is growing quickly in the bay of plenty. How? Focused on innovation in technology and business, award-winning Tall Poppy has made the industry sit up and take notice. The company has saved kiwis more than $40m in fees over the last seven years and has a 99.8% customer satisfaction rating. focus caught up with three local franchise owners about what it’s like to be part of a market disruptor.
Words: Millie Freeman
Images: Vanessa Laval-Glad
Makeup: Chloe Gray
Hair: Hair to Train – 2019 graduating stylists,
Shakyra Wade-Riedinger and Malaesaili
RACHEL MILLARD
A conversation with her real estate agent while buying a home in Omokoroa in 2011 changed everything for Rachel Millard. The buying process piqued her interest in the industry and when the agent suggested she ‘get your licence and join us’, she did. A few years later, in August 2017, she bought the Tall Poppy franchise for Omokoroa, covering Aongatete to the Wairoa River.
Changing careers wasn’t part of the plan when she and husband Martin packed up the family – twin boys, now 20, and a daughter, 16 – and moved from the UK in 2009. In fact, she had decided against returning to her accounting work, to focus instead on raising her children, growing vegetables and volunteering her time to the community.
But, as she says, “you inevitably go back to your core – 7-days-a-week and running!” And, even though the quieter lifestyle fell by the wayside, her get-up-and-go attitude, self-motivation and down-to-earth personality were ideally suited to the busy people-facing role of a real estate agent.
“It did take me out of my comfort zone initially, but when I’m in this role I love it. I’m driven by helping people, and when someone sees a house and falls in love with it, that’s my kick. I love being involved and making people smile.”
Before the call to sell real estate, Rachel got stuck into establishing the Omokoroa Community Centre, meeting a lot of people and making good friends in the process. She now sits on the Centre’s Trust.
“In real estate, people want someone they can trust. They don’t want to see someone big and brash because it’s not about the agent; it’s about getting people into a property they love. I don’t want to get someone across the line who will later regret their decision; I want them to go, ‘thanks for finding me that house’.
“We believe strongly in our values and I think we enjoy a lot of repeat business because people appreciate our honesty and integrity. Omokoroa has become part of me and I want to ensure we keep that going.”
Tall Poppy has now cornered a sizeable chunk of the Omokoroa market, between 50-70%, and Rachel says as well as her personal connectedness to the community, the Tall Poppy business model has a lot to do with the area’s success.
“The industry’s had to sit up and think about what it’s doing, because, from a vendor point of view, we’re very different. Our fees are much fairer, yet we still provide a higher level of service. We’re innovative and are always looking at what we can do next to improve our services and communication.”
Innovation, growth
“I have a full
“It’s really important for me to love what I do. I have no plans to give up and I don’t think I could. I’m looking forward to fostering and growing the team, and spending more time with my family.”
Rachel Millard
021 513 189
07 548 1617
rachel.millard@tallpoppy.co.nz
SUSAN NORTHEY
Susan Northey started in real estate in 2014 but had her eye on the industry a long time before that.
A joy of working with people and a natural affinity for sales prompted her to study for her real estate qualifications about six years earlier, but, in the 2000s, it wasn’t the right time to make the move.
Susan has a knack for monitoring change and looking ahead, and with the GFC approaching, she put real estate on the back burner while she forged ahead in a sales and marketing role with a Bay of Plenty media organisation.
She had just finished three successful years as Tauranga, Rotorua and Hamilton franchise owner of The Her Business Network, founded by fashion designer Anna Stretton. With her outgoing, friendly and professional attitude, Susan thrived on the opportunity to organise sparkling networking events for women, with high powered and inspiring talks from successful business people.
“Many of the speakers were my business heroes and being exposed to their experience and knowledge was amazing.”
However Susan always knew she’d love real estate because, she says, it’s not about selling houses it’s a passion for people.
“Real estate can really change people’s lives and I love being the person who can come in and make that difference for them. I still have that absolute excitement and enthusiasm for it as when I first started.”
Of course, she never thought she would own her own real estate business within five years! In fact, she says, the decision to buy into Tall Poppy was very easy. With business partner Michael Allott, she purchased the Tauranga Central franchise in July 2018, having previously worked for other local firms.
“I could see only opportunity. We’re big on service and small on fees and we love the fact that we can provide a full service – an even better service – at much less cost to the vendor!”
Susan says the innovative use of digital technology is one of the things setting Tall Poppies apart from other agencies. Most notably, the company makes huge cost savings through effective and highly efficient social media marketing, rather than print advertising, as well as clever use of digital video communication tools for keeping in touch with clients.
“I love movement and change and development, so a big factor for me in choosing to come to Tall Poppy was because they’re always looking ahead
Currently Susan and Michael have four other agents in their team and are steadily building the Tall Poppy brand in the Tauranga region.
“We want to build slowly. We’d rather have a small, effective team with agents doing really great business and all rowing the same boat together than a large competitive team with a few high-flyers.”
Susan is also grateful to have the support of other women franchise owners in the Bay. “We all get along
so well. There are no egos in the way, and we’re fortunate to have a model to support that.”
Naturally, she still has to rely on herself to run her own business and continues to put emphasis on upskilling herself because, as she says, “things change and there’s always something new to learn.” She has completed the Post Graduate Diploma in Management Studies at Waikato
That attention to detail started way back in the 80s when Susan started her career in hotel management. Having worked in Auckland for a number of years, thriving on the excitement of the people-focused hospitality industry and the crazy, unsociable hours, she re-settled in Tauranga with husbandPhil and their two children, now 20
and 13. Susan is a Tauranga local, having completed her schooling here, and appreciates the rapid growth and change within the area.
“There’s not a lot of downtime in real estate so I’m very lucky to have my family’s love and support and the amazing support of the wider Tall Poppy team.”
Susan Northey
027 576 0499
susan.northey@tallpoppy.co.nz
JANET O’SHEA
Despite being in real estate since 2005, Janet O’Shea did not anticipate the phenomenal increase in business she has experienced since buying the Tall Poppy Tauranga South franchise in 2017.
She’s never been as busy, and the natural nurturer, enabler, extrovert and all-round people-person has been in her element. But it’s also been one of the most challenging times of her life.
Setting up a new business, building a brand and a team, trying to find the right people, dealing with family health issues, on top of moving house, has added up to emotional overload at times but she never considered giving up or getting out.
“I don’t think there’s ever an easy time to take on a business, but with everything else going on in my life, I was occasionally at the point of not knowing how to get through it all. At times I had to call my husband Pete and say you need to come home. He’s been my absolute rock and I couldn’t have done this without him.
“What I love about being part of Tall Poppy is that there’s no hierarchy. We’re all one big family, so if you need a hand, they’re there and they’ll ask, ‘what can we do to help you?’ That support has been incredible.”
Putting the team front and
“Selling is about relationships and trust, whatever business you’re in, and that’s why the Tall Poppy model resonated with me because it’s the people I care about. Real estate is not about houses; it’s about building relationships and helping people through difficult times. I’ve laughed and cried with people in their lounge rooms, and I’ve put myself in their shoes, but I also believe it’s my role to tell them what they need to know, not what I think they want to hear.”
It’s this straight-up, friendly personality that has proved so successful for Janet’s business but she says you
“I see myself as an enabler because people ask for my knowledge and my guidance so they have the information to make the right decisions. I get joy out of making lifelong clients and friends and of knowing that I’ve done a great job for that person. I love to help people and make them feel better about themselves.”
It’s something she’s been doing all her life. Prior to starting in real estate, Janet worked in
She got into real estate to get more flexibility, freedom and better lifestyle choices to fit around being a working mum with young children (her two sons are now 23 and 20), and despite still putting in long hours, she loves the flexibility of working from home, where she can put on her gumboots to feed the chooks and then swap to heels for her business day.
“I’m like everyone else with a busy life where sometimes things go pear
To help share the load she has recently appointed a PA, and her team of six spans Tauriko, The Lakes, Pyes
Pa, Greerton and Gate Pa (Oropi, Maungatapu, Hairini and Welcome Bay are shared with Susan Northey’s team). Starting out in real estate can be tough but she tells her team that persistence to keep going and consistency will get them there in the end.
“I get referrals daily, but I have put in the hard work to get to this point. I started out by building my profile in the area where I lived. Sales people often talk about their database; well I have a trust account – it’s about building up a pool of people who trust you.”
And, of course, being able to offer vendors the Tall Poppy service, systems
Janet O’Shea
021 872 072
07 571 3036
janet.oshea@tallpoppy.co.nz
