Ray Mitchell | Agent of Excellence Interview

Ray Mitchell | Harcourts Rototuna, Hamilton
Agent of Excellence FY2020

With many years of experience in the real estate industry, Ray Mitchell has a wealth of knowledge. We talk to him about his early sales experience, his inspiration and more.

What are your morning rituals?

My day starts the night before – most of it is planning and preparation. We have a saying in the team, what has a plan gets done. Typically, 5.30 am is the start time, and if I have time, I’ll shoot to the gym. Then it’s getting the kids ready. Generally, my first job of the day is on the phone with vendors.

What was your first sales job?

It was back in the early 2000s; I remember being a young, energetic lad. Door knocking in Howick for Harcourts– I remember getting about 20 doors down and wondering if this was really what I wanted to do – you get a lot of ‘no’s’, so you’ve got to be consistent and persistent.

What’s the best piece of professional advice you’ve been given?

The saying, ‘What got you here today isn’t going to get you there’  (find the book here). You can look at this in many ways, but what I take from it is if you change your activities, then you change your result. So, if I’ve got a goal I want to meet, I have to change my activities to reach that goal.

Who inspires you?

My kids inspire me, they have health needs, and I am there to support them. We went away recently to the beach and being in the sea and the waves with them gives me my why.

What do you love about being a real estate agent?

Every day, every meeting, every vendor and client that we meet – there is always a challenge in it, and the challenge is to create that journey for the client and the team. We foster a really good team relationship here too.

What is your biggest career fail?

An embarrassing moment was setting up an open home – putting out my flags and putting everything together and then realizing I'm actually at the wrong house. My phone started ringing because everyone is at the other house.

What do you love about realestate.co.nz?

It’s the support along the way. You pick up the phone, and things are sorted straight away. Our clients pay good money for good advertising and so to have that great service is amazing.