Looking to scale your real estate team and grow results quickly and effectively? Many agents start with all the enthusiasm and drive to start and then try and scale a real estate team and unfortunately make a lot of avoidable mistakes. Having a better strategy to grow and scale will result in a much easier and more effective way to grow with systems and the right people hired in the right order for profitable success.
Here are the 6 most commonly made and costly mistakes I see when team leaders/owners are trying to set up or grow their team. Avoid these costly mistakes and put together a better growth strategy that will ensure you are seeing quarter over quarter growth in listings, sales and revenue:
- Starting a team without determining the structure or model. You need to know what type of team you want to manage before you start the team. Ask yourself if you want to lead and manage people and what the real purpose of starting a team is all about for you and your business.
- Hiring agents before hiring an administrative support staff position.This support staff person should be the very first person you hire. I’m not talking about a transaction coordinator, I am talking about a real administrative assistant that helps you grow your team and manage all the administrative things you have to do. You cannot afford to not have this person in place before you set up your team.
- Hiring agents without setting expectations. Make sure you test out the people you want to hire and hire them slowly. You can do a ‘trial run’ with them and refer a few deals to them and see how they perform. Then hire them.
- Not having a CRM system in place. You need to have a system for follow up and contact management. This is a must. Trying to set this up after you have a team is going to be required so you should have it in place first. This will create the system that can be repeatable, duplicatable and scalable. You can follow up with mass amounts of leads and convert them over time. I know this is a big headache, but it is a must.
- Not having enough leads to support the team. You want to make sure the timing of setting up your team is in alignment with the level of production you have currently. You can create lead generation without costly lead generation third parties that cost a lot of money. Have enough production to support other team members.
- Determining a pay and compensation structure on the fly. Have your compensation plans and unique value proposition for attracting team members in writing before you hire agents. Trying to determine the compensation plan after you have team members puts you at a disadvantage when setting the right compensation commission splits with your team members. Remember, this is your team, and you have to be profitable, or it doesn’t make sense from a business standpoint. Believe in the value you bring to agents that join your team. They are getting way more from you than being a single agent. You need to be able to know what those value propositions are and how to communicate them to attract and keep members on your team with the comp plan that works for you, covers the cost of the agents to be on your team and provides additional revenue for you. You are the one with all the risk too and it needs to be profitable, or it turns into a situation where the tail is wagging the dog. And that isn’t in your best financial interest, ever.
Putting the cart before the horse is a common mistake by many real estate team leaders. I get it, you’re excited and you want to get the team going and growing. However, setting up your team in the right order will help you better plan more effective results and avoid having to undo a lot of things that you did in the moment probably under stress or FOMO (fear of missing out, or fear based in general). Avoid these very common mistakes that I see team leaders make and put the right people on your team in the right order. You will thank yourself and me for having done this correctly. It may mean slowing yourself down or feel like you are moving slower, but your results will be way better and much more streamlined for incredible growth.
For more information about Johnson’s exclusive turnkey, team solutions to scale your team, visit www.sherrijohnson.com/onetoone for coaching plans. To speak with Sherri Johnson Coaching about how your team can double or triple production quickly, or to learn about her custom and co-branded training platform, Sherri Johnson Academy, schedule a free strategy call, click here.
Sherri Johnson is CEO and founder of Sherri Johnson Coaching & Consulting. With 25 years of experience in real estate as an agent, broker, and executive, Sherri now offers her proven methods through coaching, consulting and keynote speaking services nationwide. She is a national speaker for the Homes.com Secrets of Top Selling Agents tour and is the Official Real Estate Coach for McKissock Learning and Real Estate Express. Sherri has also been named a RISMedia Real Estate Newsmaker in 2020 and 2021 as an Industry Influencer and Thought Leader. Schedule a free 30-minute coaching strategy session, or visit www.sherrijohnson.com for more information.
