Six years to success: How Georgia Mikic went from cold calls to client loyalty in Canberra

Six years after getting her start in the Canberra real estate market, Georgia Mikic is blessed with 85 per cent of her business coming from repeat or referral clients.

But when she started in the industry, things weren’t quite so rosy.

Mikic had not long finished high school and moved from Sydney to Australia’s capital city with no contact network. 

Nervous but determined, Mikic walked into her local real estate agency to ask for a job.

“I knew I always wanted to work in property in some description,” the Bastion Property Group agent recalls.

“I didn’t really know what that looked like. I wanted to be an interior designer like my uncle, but then I realised I wasn’t creative enough in that way. I needed a job so I walked into my local real estate office and asked for one, and they said, ‘Sure, you can start in two days.’”

Before real estate, Mikic had worked in retail and at McDonald’s, which she says gave her a good grounding in working with systems and procedures.

Like many others, Mikic began her real estate career on reception while she studied and obtained the required credentials before becoming a sales associate and then a standalone agent about four years ago.

“I didn’t really know anyone, so I started getting listings by just getting on the phone,” she says.

“I just called and called and called and called until my calls turned into appraisals and my appraisals finally turned into listings. Things were pretty difficult for the first little bit – it was a lot of hard work – but once it all started to come to fruition, it was really good.”

Mikic advises other real estate newcomers to leverage their company’s database and call past clients, previous appraisals and open home attendees to offer advice and see if they would like an updated estimate on the value of their home.

Another strategy that proved fruitful for the young agent was running colouring competitions timed with events such as Christmas, Easter and Halloween.

“I’d run colouring competitions in my local area to gather data and to keep in touch with people that way,” she explains.

Once she had a few sales under her belt, Mikic built her reputation on a simple philosophy – leaving a positive impression on people.

“The number one thing my parents taught me, and that I’ve done in real estate as well, is to do what I say I’m going to do,” she says.

“It sounds really simple, but a lot of people say they’re going to do something and then they don’t do it. When you follow through, it leaves a positive impression on people. So that’s what I try to do, be a good person and do what I say I’m going to do.”

Mikic reveals that real estate hasn’t just brought her sales success; she also met her husband, fellow Bastion agent Antony Damiano, through the profession when she was hunting for her own property.

The pair now form a dynamic sales team and joined Bastion Property Group about a year ago.

Mikic says they each have different strengths and work together to provide their clients all-encompassing support during their selling and buying journey.

“I’m more level-headed and he is more hustle,” she says. “We work really well together and bring different strengths to the business.

“About 85 per cent of our business is referrals or repeat clients. We don’t do much cold calling these days, which is really nice.”

As well as focusing on providing genuine service, Mikic says she and Damiano have learnt to recharge their own batteries by taking regular breaks and not talking about real estate once they get home each day.

“In the early days of our career, we didn’t place enough importance on taking some time off, and I think that’s where people get burnt out and become fed up with the industry,” she says.

“It took a little while to get used to doing this, but when we arrive home in the garage, we finish our calls and don’t come upstairs before they are done.

“We always try to be there for our clients when they really need us, but it is also important to know when enough is enough so you can wake up the next day and show up as the best version of yourself.”

Looking forward, Mikic says that continuing to provide her clients with honest, genuine advice and the best service will remain her unwavering priority.

“I’m not always looking for the next best thing,” she says.

“I always want to keep doing a good job, no matter what I’m doing.”