A Little Recognition Goes a Long Way

By Paige Tepping

RISMEDIA, Nov. 22, 2008-When times are tough, especially in this business, it’s hard to stay motivated. But Mike Harrington’s agents are happy, motivated and thinking positively. How is he doing it? Here, read about Harrington’s strategies for staying productive, recruiting and rewarding.

Mike Harrington
President & CEO
ERA Harrington
Dover, Delaware

Region served: Delaware
Years in real estate: 40
Number of offices: 4
Number of agents: Approx. 200 full-time, 150 part-time
Average sales price: $223,227
Average time on market: 85 days

Best idea for time management: The use of either the Blackberry or Palm system, which enables you to have all forms of communication and appointments in one place. The ability to synch your phone with your computer is crucial for managing your time.

Best tip for running a productive meeting: Always have a structured agenda prepared for each meeting. Make the meetings positive and get your agents involved.

Most rewarding aspect of working in the real estate industry: The freedom that the job offers in that you can come and go as you please. I also find it rewarding to see my agents finding success within the business.

How do you keep your agents motivated?
The biggest way that I keep my agents motivated is through recognition of their accomplishments. In most cases, the only recognition that real estate agents get is their paycheck, but I have 25 different types of recognition programs running at any one time.

This ensures that my agents get the recognition that they deserve. In addition to recognizing my agents, I am a firm believer in the notion that having a positive attitude is the foundation to success.

What is your company’s best competitive advantage over other real estate companies in your area?
Our charitable involvement in the community is one way that we remain competitive over other real estate companies in our area. I encourage my agents to be actively involved in the many worthy charities that make up our community.

What steps are you taking in order to establish an Internet presence?
I have invested a lot of time and money into our own personal website, which is user-friendly and easily found on the Internet. With the ever-changing market, it is crucial to keep our Internet presence up to date so that we are providing our customers with the information they are seeking.

What strategies are most effective for you in terms of recruiting?
We have our own school, which all of our inexperienced agents who are just getting started in the market go through. Once the school is full, we recruit with other real estate companies.