Martin Cooper, of Cooper and Co, on Auckland’s North Shore owns one of the most successful Harcourts franchises in the world. When we caught up with him at the end of 2019, he talked about his positive outlook on life. Now he shares how it has helped him through the last five years.
Q: When we last caught up with you, how were you feeling about the impending 2020s?
I remember telling my staff 2020 was going to be “20 plenty”. There was some noise about things happening in China but who could have known what was coming? 2020 ended up becoming “20 plenty of drama”. We had a massive shift in the way we did business, and the way we lived.
Harcourts had a futurist come in from America to talk to the company’s leaders and he said with the pandemic gripping the world, we could expect to see an 80% reduction in sales and revenue. But I didn’t believe that. I could see that more than ever, people’s homes were the most important place to them – their sanctuaries. I felt we would see a resurgence in property, especially with people needing more space to work from home.
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The last five years have been interesting times, with the market going up and then down again, and we are still figuring things out. But I think there is a great future ahead.
Q: Are you a positive person by nature?
I try to be. I believe people overcomplicate their lives by worrying about things they can’t control. I saw this recently when I took a group of 20 people to climb Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. There was a lot of discussion in the WhatsApp group beforehand about it being -20 degrees at the top, and what if we die of exposure, and what about all the vaccines that are required, and what if we get altitude sickness, and what if we get mugged on the stop in Ethiopia? And then we got to Kilimanjaro and it was just about taking one step at a time to get to the top. All those things people worried about were meaningless.
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We had these Tanzanian guides and porters who had the most marvellous attitude to life, they were so positive. They would go ahead and welcome us with a song when we arrived and we wanted to sing something to them, so we decided to sing Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds. The Tanzanian people love reggae music and Bob Marley, and even though they didn’t speak English they joined in with the song. There we all were, in the alpine desert part of Kilimanjaro, dancing around in the dust singing, “Don’t worry about a thing, ‘cos every little thing is gonna be alright.” It was a marvellous moment.
It made me realise that yes, there are going to be things in life that blindside you but there is no point in worrying to the extreme about everything. We challenged ourselves by getting out of our comfort zones but we got through one step at a time. And it made me realise that most of the things I’ve put a lot of time and effort into worrying about never came to fruition.
Q: How do you deal with worrying things?
Everything in life is down to how you react to what happens to you. If you dwell on bad things, they grow. Dwelling on something manifests it, so I focus on the good things. If you put out good energy, that’s what you get back.
I’ve had a couple of court cases to deal with lately. One is to do with a former business partnership, the other is a misconduct case. In that one, during lockdowns the Real Estate Authority sent me a few emails saying they were investigating a case and they needed some paperwork. I said I would get onto it but I was overwhelmed with the noise of everything going on, I had a mental block and I forgot to do it. I said I was sorry and I put things in place, but I got accused of reckless behaviour. That case is still ongoing.
It’s not good when people are saying things about you that aren’t very nice but I’d rather have extremes of emotion because going through life in neutral would be boring. I’m strong of mind now and more philosophical as I get older.
Cooper and his partner Kim in 2018. “I see retirement as a place where I can have time with Kim, our children and grandchildren – we have 10.” Photo / Jason Oxenham
Now, I can wake up in the night worrying about an issue but I give myself a little lecture and remind myself it’s pointless lying awake. I tell myself to get some sleep and when I wake up I can get on with finding a solution. There’s no point in saying Poor me, the world’s against me.
If I’m really worried about something, I’ll do a ‘power worry’ for three minutes in the morning – lie in the foetal position and have a cry if I want to – but then I will spend the rest of my waking moments working out what I can do to get out of this negative space. I’m a lot more ruthless about attacking negative emotions than I used to be when I was younger and went through depression and anxiety.
Q: What caused that?
When I was 35 I moved from Dunedin to Auckland to go into the real estate business up here. I’d been selling real estate since I was 22 and I was very comfortable in Dunedin but I needed a challenge and wanted to move to a bigger market. So I bought businesses on the North Shore, and when I got here, I got my arse kicked. I didn’t know anyone, the market went quiet and we had a recession. I had bought a business that wasn’t strong and my money was going down and down.
I thought, What have I done? I spent a lot of time dwelling on the problem I had created rather than putting energy into the solution.
Q: How did you get past that?
I was able to get strong of mind again. I had good support and I worked on having a positive attitude. I did affirmations and exercise, I also made sure I got sleep and ate well. What you feed your mind is as important as what you feed your body. We put so much toxicity and negativity into our minds, but we have to take control and put out good vibrations.
Q: Cooper & Co has done very well – what’s the secret of your success?
Putting that good energy out there, and giving everyone in my team the best environment to work in that I can. I was the eldest of five kids and both my parents were very busy with their work [dad Warren Cooper was an MP and cabinet minister, including Minister of Foreign Affairs, mum Lorraine was a motelier]. From an early age I looked after myself and my siblings so I’m used to looking out for others. I get a lot of joy out of creating an excellent environment, and seeing our people doing well.
Staying positive is a central part of Cooper’s philosophy. “If you dwell on bad things, they grow. Dwelling on something manifests it, so I focus on the good things.” Photo / Fiona Goodall
Q: Did you always want to sell real estate?
I’d had a sales job at Fisher and Paykel but I had to travel around the South Island a lot, which made it difficult for me to play rugby, something I was very keen on doing. When I was 22 I bought a house and kept pestering the agent for a job. Eventually, he said okay. Being a commission-based job, I had to be good at what I did, and keep getting better to grow my income.
Q: Do you remember the first place you sold?
It was my first week in real estate, back in September 1983, and I was given a buyer to look after. I drove him around and showed him a few houses, including one in Macandrew Bay. He put in an offer, and the sellers signed it, for $34,500. I wanted to be composed and not show a lot of emotion, but when I got into my car I did a fist pump and said, “Yes, yes, yes!” I thought, Right, I’m going back to the office to skite!
Fast forward over 30 years and I was asked to assist with negotiations on a property overlooking Lake Pupuke after things had reached a bit of a stalemate. I got the signatures from the sellers on an offer of $6,140,000, and again I thought, Don’t show too much excitement. Back in the car, I did the fist pumps again and my first thought was, I’m going to the office to skite! How many careers are there where 35 years later you’re still getting that same buzz from closing a deal? I thought, My God, I still like this job after all these years.
Q: What’s the one thing that you think is vital for agents to understand?
The importance of listening. Pay attention to the client, and what they want. It’s about them, not you.
In the real estate industry we’re all trying to promote ourselves and it becomes about us and how great we are. We pat ourselves on the back a lot with awards. But when you are really successful is when you have listened to your client.
Years ago Harcourts had a connection with Disney, and we took some managers over to the Disney academy, where they train their staff. They said they want families to leave the park with two things on their mind – one is a desire to return, the other is a desire to recommend it to others. That’s what agents should be aiming for and I’m lucky, I’ve got so many “Disney” agents.
Q: What are you most proud of?
That after 40 years I’m still striving to keep improving, and that I have had the tenacity and commitment to keep focused. I’ve never given up.
Q: Where do you think you will be in five years?
I’m getting closer to the end of the runway of my active real estate career, and I intend to have a changing role in the company. I’ll be less involved with operational details and more involved in mentoring and coaching. I don’t see retirement as a destination for me, rather I’d like to spend more time with my partner Kim and our grandchildren – we have 10 – but still be engaged with my business interests for many years ahead.
I also think it’s important as you get close to the end of the runway, not to run out of steam and fall off. You should look at leaving on top – fly off the end of that runway.
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