10 Years at Stocker Preston

In March this year I celebrated 10 years of service for Stocker Preston Real Estate. Stockers has been and still is a tremendous company. In 10 years this company has evolved in so many ways and has steadily rode the waves of market falls and its booms! Employees have come and gone and many funny and interesting stories along the way.

When I started Stocker Preston it had just the 2 offices - Augusta and Margaret River. Then it opened its doors to Cowaramup, then merged with Dunsborough Professionals, opened Vasse (which closed down a year or so later), then Bunbury opened, and now Busselton this year. What began as a very humble and modest organisation has grown to be a powerful brand in the south west of WA. 

What I believe Stocker's do very well, and something which I have fought on and off along the way, is its systems. Sometimes you feel like it’s a systems overload, but I’ve soon learnt that those very systems can be lifesaving. Even my own team now works within a strict systems based office, so everyone knows what everyone else does - without question.

Stocker's also commit time and money into training their sales consultants above and beyond the annual mandatory CPD points. Bi-monthly the entire company’s sales consultants meet for a day’s training at the Busselton office function room. It is here where we share success stories, hear from well-known speakers within the industry and more importantly take the time out of our busy weeks to focus on our business, instead of being stuck in it chasing tail.

Besides all that, 10 years has earned me Long Service Leave!!!  Something which I have been planning for, for a very long time and counting down the months and days. It was first meant to be watching the Ashes in the UK and then wandering through a bit of country France. It then changed to going to Hawaii, then added on the states and Canada….and now it is 3 weeks in Broome in September!!! Why you ask? Kids.

My wife and I have always said, we will never let our kids impact our travels. They will come, they will be fine, and we will have a great time. Ha!! What a joke! When it came to planning the holiday seriously, and really imagining those long flights, all that luggage, a toddler who never stops when you ask him, and admitting that many experiences will be lost or diluted, as we will be chasing a toddler around wiping his runny nose and jigging a 7 month baby to sleep…we looked at each other and said, maybe we are not ready for that yet.

So Broome it is and I can't wait! Its been a big 12 months and we need it. So off we go for 3 weeks to get some sun, play in the sand and do my best to not think about real estate…maybe a just a blog or two.