My guest on this episode, Darren Hunter, is an expert in fee maximization. Just as importantly, as you’ll hear him describe in great detail, he understands the mindset challenges that need to be overcome to effectively implement fee maximization. For much of this conversation, we go behind talking about that implementation into the mindset of the company owner and staff members.

Darren started as a property manager in 1989 in Adelaide, South Australia. He went on to become a state property manager with a well-known Australian real estate brand, for which he impressively managed 28 other property managers over 18 offices spread over a third of the country.

For the last 11 years, Darren has been a full-time professional property management trainer and consultant. He runs the PM Power Nuts & Bolts Webinar Series, which addresses some of the topics we’ll cover in this episode along with many others.

Much of our focus will be on that question of mindset, which I mentioned at the beginning of this introduction. Darren, we learn, struggled for a couple years because of his own low self-esteem and poor confidence. From there, he learned about the law of the fee lid, which says that your mindset and level of belief determines your fees, and you cannot do any better than what you believe you’re worth.

It’s natural to be hesitant about raising fees over fear that you might lose business. In this episode, Darren also goes into important depth about why losing some business through fee maximization is actually a good thing, and he and I use several examples to illustrate this point.

You can find Darren here:

DarrenHunter.com

Darren Hunter on LinkedIn

@darrenhuntercom on Facebook

@darrenhuntercom on Twitter

By email at [email protected]

 

Show Notes

[01:59] - Darren gives us a glimpse into his background in real estate. He then shares two stories about what happened when he raised fees. Despite a couple of objections, he reveals, the profit margin doubled.

[08:44] - Brad and Darren discuss fee increases, and the lesson you can learn from this: “Would you lose $10 to make $10,000?” Darren then talks about the “autopsy” he does of lost business after fee increases.

[10:24] - Brad would rather lose an owner than a staff member, he says, and gives an example of what he means.

[11:31] - We hear what Darren does in terms of changing people’s mindsets. He talks about the law of the fee lid. He and Brad then discuss justification, or points of difference, as well as discounters and pricing structures.

[16:23] - Darren elaborates on what Brad has been saying about giving something of minimal value rather than discounting the management fee.

[19:13] - We learn more about the mindset in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. Darren then uses Texas’ gun laws to illustrate a point about Australian culture. He then gives examples of tenant protection laws.

[25:30] - Darren digs deeper into the mindset questions he’s been talking about. He also talks about why the majority of owners will stay through a fee increase, which has to do with peace of mind.

[30:14] - We hear more about peace of mind among owners, and how that affects whether to raise fees.

[30:59] - There are five types of clients you shouldn’t increase fees with, which Darren lists here. He then gives an example of justifying a new fee.

[37:34] - Darren offers another story about a company he’s dealing with, this time in Oregon.

[39:58] - Darren talks more about his current time in the United States, including where he’s going next.

[42:27] - We learn more about Darren’s services. He suggests going to his website, and discusses the webinar series he offers: PM Power Nuts & Bolts Webinar Series. He also mentions his online store and his knowledge library.

[45:12] - Brad talks about having zero tolerance for not paying rent on time, and discusses how American fair housing laws apply to this. Darren then responds by sharing his stance on zero tolerance.

 

Links and Resources:

DarrenHunter.com

Darren Hunter on LinkedIn

@darrenhuntercom on Facebook

@darrenhuntercom on Twitter

By email at [email protected]

Points of difference

PM Power Nuts & Bolts Webinar Series

Darren’s online store