Antony Lorenz lives and breathes his business. With almost 50 years in the industry and no signs of slowing down, the 68-year-old claims he has never worked a day in his life despite being on call and ready to respond to clients 24/7.
Having started his career at Lewis & Partners in 1966, setting up his own firm Baker Lorenz in 1972 and expanding that to 40 staff before selling to Dunlop Heywood in 2001 to create Dunlop Heywood Lorenz, a 200-strong agency, Lorenz believes he has a unique perspective on the benefits of being truly niche.
“I have experience from both sides of the fence when it comes to larger firm and smaller firm tactics,” he says with a knowing smile. He believes there is a great opportunity for the smaller firms right now, with major corporates becoming increasingly nervous about the mega firms and increasingly attracted to the smaller, niche players.
Kathryn Sowter, Lorenz Consultancy’s head of professional, agrees. “Where clients benefit from niche firms, as opposed to big, is that they know that they have got one point of contact,” she says. “And, because of the nature of our size, there is never going to be a situation where we don’t know what is going on.”
Mayfair-based Lorenz Consultancy was set up in 2007. It employs just eight people but counts major corporates such as HSBC, Barclays, Sky, Bonhams and The Moving Picture Company among its clients, providing services including agency, rent reviews, development advice and dilapidations.
For Lorenz, life in a smaller firm has to be about providing a dedicated service. Always.
“If niche players are to survive against the mega firms, then they have to be doing a better job,” he says. “Doing the job better is not turning up at the office at 9 and leaving at 5.30, it is being dedicated to the business you are in 24/7. If the phone rings at 11 o’clock at night, you are back on it at 11.05. You are living your life to service your clients instead of coming in to earn your living.”
Working all hours of the day – even on holiday (Lorenz expects employees to respond to queries within 12 hours) – might not sound like the perfect work/life balance, but for the veteran of real estate, it is the only way to success.
Networking, properly and at every opportunity, is key, says Lorenz, who is out “hunting” several nights a week, heading out into the jungle even when he does not feel like it for fear of wasting a business opportunity.
“I socialise and build on the socialising side. Once you know an enormous amount of people you get introduced to even more. Once you have a big network of people around you, everybody you meet knows somebody who you would like to meet,” he says. “The definition of going to a cocktail party and networking is not giving time to anybody you know. Work the room for new people… and make sure they look wealthy. It is a hunting game.
“My motto is: If it’s work, you shouldn’t be doing it. And you’re probably not very good at it,” he adds bluntly. “The bottom line is if you run your business as a hobby and the money is a by-product, you will find there is no work, it’s just looking after all the people around you and doing your best for them.”
That duty of care is not just to clients. While Lorenz expects full commitment from staff, he also makes sure he is available as a mentor at any point of the day or night and is committed to turning his staff into experts.
“The learning curve here is steeper,” he says. “I pull in kids in their 20s and within two to three years they will know as much as a grad who has been at a big firm for seven or 10 years. They are thrown in the deep end immediately. Everyone has me listening to their calls, watching their e-mails, correcting them, helping them 24/7.”
He adds: “The most important thing about team leadership is to make the people around you better than you are. Delegate upwards. Throw people into everything that they can cope with, knowing that if they need any help they can come back to you. Expand people’s brief, expand their abilities, expand their skills, expand how well they do. There are too many bosses who don’t do that for fear of losing people.”
But finding those people can be troublesome, adds Lorenz, as there is a “massive fear barrier” to overcome when it comes to small firms.
Sowter, who joined the Lorenz Consultancy in 2008 after 12 years at CBRE, agrees. “It’s a leap of faith,” she says. “You know you are coming out of the perceived comfort of a corporate environment where you have a lot of people around you and you are a small cog in this massive corporate machine and all of a sudden you fear that the things that you don’t know will be exposed because there is no one else for you to palm stuff off on.”
For Sowter, it has been worth it; for Lorenz, it is clear that life is the Lorenz Consultancy.
“I come from a family of workaholics, so I come from a legacy that won’t stop,” he says. “My mum used to come home at 8pm and bath us, get us to bed by 10.30 and then go back to the factory [to work] from 10.30 until 3am, getting up to take three kids to school for 7.30 six days a week. We came up through a work ethic family. The greatest lesson I have ever learnt is work ethic. If you are lucky enough to have that, whatever you are doing, you are going to do well.”
Lorenz on leadership
• Delegate upwards
• Employ people you think can learn quickly
• Share your knowledge
• Encourage and support staff
• Work dynamically 24/7
• Share your profits
• Service your clients as if they were yourselves – run every single transaction as if it is your own.
• Network religiously
• Spread the word – yourself and through people that appreciate you.
• Admit you are wrong immediately before someone finds out. We all make mistakes.
• Have fun – if you don’t enjoy what you are doing, find something else.
