Training in a Tight Market: Worth the Investment?

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By Desiree French

RISMEDIA, Feb. 5, 2007-Whether you call the shifting momentum in many pockets of the nation's housing market a correction, a downturn, or a return to normal, of one thing you can be certain: now is not the time to cutback on training. Belt-tightening would best be served elsewhere. In a finicky buyers' market, rife with indecisiveness and anxiety, agents of every stripe-newcomers, mid-level troopers, and seasoned veterans alike-could benefit from winning strategies that address today's market conditions.

"The old way of just getting together at 11:00 on Tuesday and trying to decide what to talk about," says Brenda Featherston, vice president of RE/MAX Premier Group in Plano, Texas, "just doesn't work anymore."

Not in this market. Effectively offering a comprehensive in-house or outside training program, or perhaps a combination of the two-a lot will depend on your budget and the amount of time you and your managers can devote to training-is critical.

Failure to invest in training could adversely affect your bottom line and put you and your sales associates at a huge competitive disadvantage. This, according to the experts, is no way to begin a new year already spooked by less than rosy forecasts for home sales and only lackluster growth in home prices.

So ask yourself if your company is positioned to weather the storm. If so, what type of training are you offering? How are you offering it? Will it be enough? And are you tracking its effect on the bottom line?

A Needed Sign of Leadership

Mark Leader, an internationally acclaimed sales trainer and founder of Mark Leader Courses, says if there was ever a time that sales people need leadership, it's now.

"More often than not, when a ship is in rough waters, one of the first things you're taught when you're an admiral or commander is to look for a safe harbor. Companies that provide depth and show what they will do to be successful," he says, will turn out winners. "You can do all the flyers, billboards and advertising you want, but for someone to be successful, they first have to be good business people, manage money, be goal oriented, and have good selling skills." This is especially true in a tight market.

Specifically of importance today are training programs that focus on such fundamentals as time management, attitude, managing relationships, handling rejection, and enhancing negotiation skills, as well as those that reinforce how to properly build the business from beginning to end.

"The sloppy practices that might have worked in a hot market are not going to work today," warns Brian Buffini, chairman and founder of Buffini & Company, among the largest real estate training and coaching firms in the U.S.

Don't Cut Back…But do Track

First Team Real Estate in Costa Mesa, California, is one firm that takes training seriously. Bill Plattos, a broker and executive vice president, says the company is now spending about $1 million a year to train 2,000 agents in 35 branches. That's roughly 20% more than it spent in previous years. "We're not a company that just hires a bunch of people and throws them against the wall to see if they stick," he says.

Indeed. First Team offers its agents in-house and outside training opportunities. It uses a 5,000 square feet training facility in Costa Mesa, ensures new agents undergo a 90-day training/simulated office experience, has weekly Advanced Business System meetings (which are tied to live Web casting programs and recorded on video and placed on agent back-office sites), and offers seasoned agents Unique Value Proposition training built around topics that help to differentiate the company from others.

Last month, the company held a huge symposium that featured Allan Dalton, the president of Move, Inc.'s Real Estate Division, as a speaker. Plattos says the company's training department is held accountable for measuring the results of all training efforts, from the big extravaganzas to small classroom sessions, and tracking agent productivity.

Because training can boost agent productivity and broker profits, measuring its effectiveness is no small matter. Couple this with the expense involved, from hundreds of dollars to several $100,000-"There really isn't a dollar amount that you can put on it," says Leader-and it's easy to understand why tracking productivity has become increasingly more important to brokers, who now hire full-time development officers or entire training departments.

If the training is effective and properly absorbed by the agent, "you should see substantial results within 30-60 days," insists Leader, adding that it's essential to measure productivity before, during, and after training.

None of this has been lost on Featherston at RE/MAX. She says the productivity of existing agents and new recruits is tracked regularly, as is the agent retention rate. And despite a relatively good market in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, she says her company continues to increase its training budget and class offerings this year, spending an additional $50,000 to $60,000 on 220 agents to ensure its competitive stance.

Systematize Learning, Retain Agents

In 2004, the company revamped its entire training program, hiring a career development director, growing its performance training classes to 12 from six-two more have been added this year (they focus on working effectively with builders and working REOs)-and implemented an eight-week "Master the Keys to Success" program to teach agents how to handle listings and sales transactions. Beginning in 2005, all new agents were required to take Brian Buffini's 100 Days to Greatness curriculum that teaches the fundamentals of lead-generation by referral. Featherston has become a Certified Mentor and is licensed to teach the Buffini curriculum to her agents.

Last month, the company kicked off its RE/MAX Premier Pro Series, which revolves around six events targeted primarily for existing agents. Using much of the information and statistics provided by the National Association of Realtors, the first event explores the new buyer and seller in today's market and how to reach them.

"It's all about relationship building and building your business one person at a time," says Featherston. "We teach our agents to treat their business as a business. The more that we can train our agents, or the more other companies can train their agents, the better our industry will be."

In fact, good training programs sell your company in ways that advertising cannot. "If brokers focus less on getting bodies in the door, and more on helping their agents succeed, they'll actually create an office that becomes very attractive to other agents. If your team is happy, recruits will come to you the best way possible-referred by those who already work for you. Your team understands who you are looking for, so any referrals will come pre-qualified," says Buffini. "Retaining agents also becomes easier the more value-i.e., training-you provide to them. Who wouldn't want to stay in a winning office?"

Source: RISMedia's Power Broker Network Report, February 2007

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