For the many in the business who think of real estate as a team sport, there is no better time than now to get fired up about mentorship, culture and roles. Those topics were just some of the ones covered by company leaders at RISMedia’s recent Real Estate’s Rocking in the New Year virtual conference. The experts provided opinions about when, how and why to scale up your team, strategies to increase lead generation, and insights into systems that will turn your group into a well-oiled machine of sales and growth.
Terri Murphy, of Terri Murphy Communications, moderated a discussion that included panelists Christy Buck of Infinity Real Estate Group/The Christy Buck Team; Mike Coke, broker/owner, Terra Firma Realty, Inc.; and Brooke Sines, team leader, RE/MAX Grand Allure Home Group.
Terri Murphy: With a rapidly shifting market and new training to offer agents, what are you doing to help them confidently respond to consumer demands?
Mike Coke: Training and education have been huge for us, and we’ve taken a multi-step approach to it. One is teaching our agents how to communicate with the marketplace. As we’re doing our education through marketing, agents need to be adept at speaking with the consumers about what’s happening, because they’re hearing things from the media, not hearing the truth. Our listing partners need to be adept with our sellers. Properties are sitting on the market for a little bit longer, so we need to get back to having conversations with sellers on a weekly basis. And just going back to some of the tactics and strategies that we used when it would take 60 to 90 days to sell a property a couple years ago.
Another thing we’ve done is created different modules for what’s happening. We’ve heard concerns and threats about the real estate market crashing. We’ve heard the concern about higher interest rates. And so we’ve created these modules that can teach agents how to overcome those fears in the marketplace. We’re also getting back to role-play. We role-play about three times a week on situational things related to what’s happening in the market right now. We’re also looking at new lead sources. Expireds are coming back, and we’re training on expireds so our listing partners have another strong lead source for working new seller leads. Finally, showings and appointments are down, so we’re having to double down on the activities that generate those appointments.
TM: Brooke, you and I both know that sometimes we’ve got activities with the team and they just don’t want to do them. Tell us what you do to address their commitment to doing the activities that can result in more productivity and profitability.
Brooke Sines: I’m big on leading by example and inspecting what I expect, so things can’t be hidden under the rug for too long. If there’s something that I receive lots of pushback on, I’ll sometimes ask them to borrow my belief that it works for a period of maybe 90 days or so, just to see. We could always reconnect on the topic, and in most cases, it’s more of a habit by then. And if it’s not a fit, we go back to the drawing board. If I see a team member that’s not a great fit and isn’t living within the core values of the team, we have to make the tough decision to course correct and/or maybe release them from the team.
TM: Christy, you have a very large team. What processes do you use to measure and monitor activities to keep people motivated and to keep you on track with your strategic plan and business goals?
Christy Buck: We sit down with our agents and look at their business plans and work them into what we call their “my perfect week.” We track what needs to be done on a monthly, weekly and daily basis, as well as the activities they’re doing with prospecting and showing houses. Our office manager meets with every agent once a month and does one-on-one accountabilities to see if they’re meeting the goals they set. If they’re behind, we know what we need to do to catch up. If they’re ahead, that’s great, but we don’t want to start coasting.
TM: It’s all about measuring and monitoring, because that really keeps people motivated. Mike, that speaks to mindset, which likely begins at the hiring of a team member, so it aligns with your core values. After we had such a hectic year in 2022, what is your strategy to get your team going?
MC: We like to look for people who fit four key things: hungry, humble, smart and coachable. They have to be hungry so that when they run into times like this, where we need to double down on the money-making activities, they have the drive to do that. They have to be willing to work. We like to start our business planning early. We started in October because in real estate, it takes 60 to 90 days to see the results of anything you’re doing.
We also have to understand the why. What’s the why behind them personally? What drives them, and what goals do they have? What’s really important to them? Because at the end of the day, the why is going to be used to drive their business. Once we understand what their annual goals are, we break them down to monthly, weekly and even daily targets. We have to understand what we have to accomplish on a daily basis in order to hit the monthly and annual goals. Goals are just dreams without commitments and action, so we want to get commitments around the activities that are going to generate the desired results.
TM: Brooke, what do you do to motivate your team? Is there one activity or process or strategy that you deploy to help meet their commitments?
BS: We have a ton of different activities that we put into play. We start each day with a motivational message on our daily huddle as a team. And I feel it’s imperative to know their whys and their goals, and connect on a deeper level to coach and encourage how to best align with those and what they are looking to achieve. Small goals with small rewards can add up and really encourage us to reach bigger goals. I used to not be a workout fanatic, so I would tell myself that each week if I made it to the gym at least five times, I could get a new outfit or get my nails done or reward myself in some way. And so we do those small goals or awards with team members as well. One strategy I deploy is to do it with them. We lean in and have encouragement partners within the team.
TM: Christy, even leaders can have a less than perfect day. How do you keep yourself at the top of your own game with the daily rigors of such a huge team that you manage, and then the customer care and self-care?
CB: As we grew the team, my time shifted, so we built barriers. Now all the agents go to the director of sales or to the office manager. If they can’t resolve the issue, then it comes to me. So that’s been a huge help, allowing me to work on the business instead of just firefights all day. It has also allowed me to have the time to do self-care. My goal all summer is to take Fridays and Mondays off, and work a three-day week. Once I learned how to hire, train, trust and delegate, it allowed me to have the right work-life balance.
It was a process, but I like to say hire, train, trust and delegate. When you hire right, then the person is more trainable. But you have to train them how you want things done. Then trust, delegate and let go. I stepped away from the business for almost a year and a half, and we had a record year. You’re an entrepreneur when you can step out of your company and it runs smoothly without you. The goal is to become an entrepreneur in real estate as a team leader more so than just a business owner who has to be here every day.
TM: Mike, you’re devoting a lot more time to developing the company. And you’re doing that with recruitment. How are you letting go?
MC: This has been my baby that I’ve essentially built over the last 12 years, and letting go has been really difficult. But when you hire the right people and have that trust in place, it does make it easier. For us to grow, I have to do it through people. I can’t do it on my own. I can’t do it with just a couple of agents.
TM: Brooke, what did you go through to let go?
BS: It’s very difficult to let go, especially as a control freak. You have to set the systems and processes in place for what you want to do and what you want to achieve in your business, then get the right people to help you get there. And you have to trust them to do a great job. I always say it’s our job to make each other look good. If we can all play that role and continue to manage expectations with the clients and what we’re looking to do on a daily basis, that’s the only way to truly grow.
TM: Let’s get one more tip from each one of you.
CB: Write down the things you want to do that are money-making and admin, and really be intentional. Get your list, prioritize it and every week start checking things off. Be intentional with implementing the changes and doing the things that you need to do to move the needle forward.
MC: Whatever your goals are, make commitments and then take action. Once you make the commitment, you have to take action. And I’d recommend that you find an accountability partner.
BS: Success breeds success, and the encouragement with one another is instrumental. So set schedules to include keeping in touch with your database. Ignore the shiny object and stay focused as to what will help you achieve your goal.
