Sales Management: Raising Standards

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Sales Management: Raising Standards

By Marylyn B. Schwartz, CSP

We live in a culture where youthfulness in most forms is prized, old age is scorned, plastic surgeons and sports ?heroes? earn many times more than do teachers, and patience is in short supply. So if everything centers around the latest this or that, new is far better than old and we?re always onto the next great, must-have gadget, why are we running so many of our real estate offices the way that we did in the days when we sold caves?

What are we thinking? In this day of fierce competition and well-educated consumers we must be performing at our best. Mediocrity may have been okay when we were a loosey-goosey industry that held the keys to one?s ability to list and sell real estate. We had nothing to fear?the Internet was not yet here.

Fast forward?We are competing on many fronts, and the mind of the public collectively demands that we step up to the plate and hit lots of home runs. With that in mind, it is nothing short of astounding that there are so many offices that still do not require their agents to track their leads into a real-estate-specific contact management system, stay current on trends, improve their skills (constant axe-sharpening,) and maintain pre-determined standards of productivity.

This article is motivated by a recent seminar I conducted. There were 30 or so broker/owners in attendance. I posed the question, ?How many of you have minimum standards for your agents?? To the person, they all said they had. Then I inquired if any had non-producing agents that needed to be let go. They all answered affirmative. Here is the lesson. Your least producer sets your minimum standards. In each case the minimum standard was nothing!

Now is the time to recruit people who buy into your pre-determined standards hook, line and sinker. Have them sign off that they agree to do what it is that you expect them to do.

Profitability is not a dirty word. On the contrary, it is a survival mechanism that allows companies to provide their agents with state-of-the-art marketing tools, systems and assistance.

If you require nothing, most likely you?ll get it. Expect greatness and you?ll inspire people to reach beyond their self-imposed limits. That?s what the greatest leaders all have in common. They are able to bring out the best in those around them. Start with people who want to achieve, show them how to do it then inspect what you expect!

Marylyn B. Schwartz, CSP, is an expert in real estate and corporate sales training/management and team development. She is president of Teamweavers and a trainer for Leader?s Choice?. Contact her at www.marylynbschwartz.com, or e-mail: Teamweaver@aol.com.