If you’re a BDM in Australia and New Zealand today, you already know the market has shifted. Landlords are asking harder questions, stock is tighter in a lot of areas, and the old “smile and dial” approach to business development just doesn’t land the way it used to.

After 14 years in this industry and 4.5 years running RISE, coaching and training hundreds of BDMs, here is what I am seeing come up again and again right now.

1. Confidence to have the fee conversation

Landlords are more price-sensitive than ever, and a lot of BDMs are getting caught comparing agencies on management fee alone. The fix isn’t a better discount. It’s the ability to quantify the value of professional property management so the landlord understands exactly what they’re paying for. This is where our Value Stack style approach changes everything. Instead of justifying a number, you’re demonstrating a return.

2. A repositioning away from “salesperson”

Landlords, and even other agents, still picture the BDM as the person chasing new listings. What BDMs need is a shift in how they walk into a room. Not as a salesperson, but as an Investor Relationship Specialist advising on portfolio performance. That reframe changes how you’re received before you’ve said a word.

3. A repeatable discovery process

Too many BDMs are still winging their first conversation with a prospective landlord. What’s missing is structure. A proper discovery framework means the conversation surfaces the landlord’s real pain points first, instead of jumping straight into a pitch nobody asked for.

4. Turning database relationships into new managements

With stock levels tight, cold prospecting is harder to make work than it used to be. The BDMs getting results right now are mining their existing database and referral network.

5. A simple daily operating rhythm

Most BDMs are still juggling property management admin alongside business development, or trying to fit growth activity around a full desk. What they need isn’t more motivation. It’s a simple daily structure, something like a Grow/Move/Build rhythm, so growth activity actually happens instead of getting pushed to “next week.”

6. Data backed conversations with landlords

Landlords are asking harder questions about rental returns and market performance than they used to. BDMs need to walk in with data, insight and a clear recommendation, not anecdotes. That’s the difference between sounding like an advisor and sounding like you’re guessing.

7. Retention, not just new business

Portfolio churn is real, and landlords switch agencies more easily than they once did. BDMs are being asked to hold onto existing managements as much as win new ones. That means relationship and retention skills matter just as much as acquisition skills right now.

If you’re a BDM reading this and more than one of these hit home, that’s normal. The industry has changed and the skill set needs to change with it. This is exactly the work we do inside RISE, one conversation, one habit, one framework at a time.

https://calendly.com/risewithsarahc/rise-with-sarah-cincotta-your-growth-discussion