The RE/MAX 2016 Annual General Meeting, which was held on the 19th February 2016, this year took on a new format and was divided into two sessions: The first was a convention which saw the participation of two top international speakers and trainers engaged through the global RE/MAX network followed by the local Annual General Meeting which consisted of top management overview and insights acquired from 2015 and strategic direction for 2016.
A first in the history of RE/MAX Malta was an event built on the theme of Strength, carrying the promise of “I will find the strength to persist until I succeed”. Gil Li-ran, the first international trainer, spoke of building a “Mind of Steel” to achieve success within the real estate business and further. His motivational talk evolved on how to create positive energy, reliving past successes and believing in one’s own self. “Positive thinking can create life-changing results such as increased happiness, health and wealth” he said to more than 260 RE/MAX sales associates attending the AGM. He added that a Real Estate Sales Associate can only retain this strategic path if the mind is strong and adamant enough to cast away surrounding negativity.
Dario Castiglia, Regional Director for RE/MAX Italia spoke about “How to become a successful real estate agent and stay that way over time”. He identified 7 highly proactive strategies that a sales associate should adopt to enhance his profession. These strategies were tried and tested in other European markets and success rates and best practices were presented for each. “If you understand and implement the fundamentals and the 7 enterprising strategies, your level of success will exceed your expectations” he said.
The second part of the 2016 edition of the RE/MAX Annual General Convention hosted top RE/MAX Malta management personnel who spoke about the performance recorded in 2015 and identified the strategies for 2016.
Kevin Buttigieg, CEO for RE/MAX Malta outlined the 2016 business strategy and identified the challenges and opportunities that the company will face in this calendar year. He also revealed that during the first two months of 2016 the company is already experiencing Y-o-Y Growth. Whilst thanking the administration, associates, managers and franchise owners for their excellent performances, Mr Buttigieg encouraged everyone to remain focused, set their targets and be true ambassadors of the Maltese real estate industry now that the Industry has been recognised and is being acknowledged as a proper profession.
Jeff Buttigieg, COO for RE/MAX Malta gave a brief overview of the 2016 strategy for IT, Marketing and the Real Estate Academy. He said “Business year 2016 would be a year of further consolidation, growth and increase in market share. We will be investing heavily in technological resources as well as implementing new training courses based on the various needs for our team, multi- channel marketing strategy, as well as, re-solidifying and enhancing the company’s core values that are in line with our strategy”.
Other speakers at the Annual General Convention included Edward Agius, Letting Manager who gave an overview about the letting sector and Joseph P. Theuma, General Manager of the Group, who gave a review of the company’s performance.
In his presentation, Joseph P. Theuma, noted that the company increased market share in all segments, including but not limited to the first time buyers, second time buyers, rental investments as well as the luxury markets for all types of property and all geographical areas of the Maltese Islands. The highest recorded improvement of almost 90% was recorded on foreign investment and a distinctive demand was experienced in the commercial property sector. He concluded by saying “As witnessed by the company’s overall record result, 2015 was a year which proved that through the consistent hard work given by all the members of the RE/MAX Malta family we can continue to reach new heights. The industry has now come to recognise the brand as a market leader in our sector thanks to our high level of activity and backed by the professional quality of service.”.
The accomplishment of 109 top achievers was celebrated during a presentation of certificates which categorised performance in 5 groups: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum and the elite Diamond.
The 2016 RE/MAX Annual Convention hosted 11 carefully selected awards.
The Top Letting Associate measured by the number of transactions was awarded to Jeff Debattista.
Top Letting Associate measured by the number of property listings was awarded to Mario Caruana for the second consecutive year and Top Letting Associate measures in service fees generated was awarded to Gordi Felice.
In the sales market theTop Selling Associate for selling own listings was won by Philip Incorvaja. Philip retains his position for the second consecutive year.
The Top Selling Associate for service fees generated goes to Etienne Vassallo. 2015 was an exceptional year for Etienne since he moved from third place in 2014 to first in 2015.
The Top Producing Office measured by service fees generated went to RE/MAX Alliance Tigne headed by Gordon Valentino followed by RE/MAX Alliance San Gwann headed by Noel Agius and RE/MAX Real Estate Specialists Tigne headed by Mauro Sammut The Top Selling Office measured in sales volume went to RE/MAX Alliance Tigne headed by Gordon Valentino. RE/MAX Alliance San Gwann headed by Noel Agius placed second and RE/MAX Real Estate Specialists headed by Mauro Sammut placed third.
TheTop Producing Office measured by service fees per capita per day was won by RE/MAX Blue Harbour headed by Kevin Deguara. Within this group we had two other nominees: Re/MAX Real Estate Specialist Tigne headed by Mauro Sammut and RE/MAX Excellence Preluna headed by Steve Schembri.
The 2016 edition saw the introduction of a new award developed with the specific aim of showing true appreciation towards RE/MAX Malta loyal partners and family. This award went to Michael Galea from RE/MAX Gozo, Mike Bonello from RE/MAX Alliance, James Busuttil from RE/MAX Central, Kevin Deguara from RE/MAX Blue Harbour, Edward Agius from RE/MAX Letting and Joseph P. Theuma from Head Office.
The full agenda of surprises, successful positivity and awards were celebrated during a networking reception.