Archive for Recruiting
Managers: Here’s a ‘Whack Up the Side of the Head’
Posted by: | CommentsThis January and February, I’m featuring the topic ‘leadership’. Why? Because it’s one of the biggest real estate industry trends (and probably world trends) of 2012 and beyond. Look for leadership strategies and trends (not just in the real estate industry), plus ready-to-use documents to go from ‘maintenance management’ to leadership. And, check out my complimentary recorded webinar for leadership. See more below, too.
The market was on fire. To take advantage of that situation, the majority of brokers were hiring everyone that walked in the door They knew even the least dedicated agent could find a friend, a relative—a stranger—to sell a house. Most brokers considered the business as a ‘bigger is better’ proposition.
The ‘on fire’ agent mentality. Agents scoffed at the notion of business plans. They didn’t need business plans. They were too busy. They didn’t need training. Who needs training or coaching when buyers and sellers find them? In truth, there were plenty of opportunities to make money in real estate without much dedication, hard work, and skill required. So, that’s what brokers got: Lots of agents having happy ‘accidents’, not skilled, not very committed to the long term—but making some money.
Happy Sales Accidents Come to a Screeching Halt
Then, things changed. Those ‘fair-to-middlin’ agents having many happy ‘accidents’ in an on fire market weren’t really ‘fair-to’middlin’. In a more challenging market, their deficiencies showed up. They became one-to-two transaction agents who had a few lucky accidents and sold some houses. Even though we love to tell agents to create referral businesses, we would all agree that closing one to two transactions yearly will never create the critical mass needed to drive a referral business.
Agents reacted quickly to market change. Realizing that the market wouldn’t be so forgiving, agents found ‘real’ jobs. But, in most cases, they kept their licenses with the brokerage, hoping to run into someone with whom they could work. Some hoped that this was just a blip in the market and that the fire would rise from the ashes again soon.
Brokers less quick to adapt. While agents sought other jobs or relied on other sources of income, most brokers took no actions. So, brokers were left with half their office ‘checked out’. They languished about their work force. “How can we get them to work?” they asked. The answer is simple but not what brokers want to hear. Most agents who had a few happy accidents in the former market aren’t willing to lead generate to make sales.
Bottom line: What worked in an ‘on fire’ market just doesn’t work when the market isn’t ‘pushing’ sales.
Get Whacked and Make the Changes Needed to Profit
My dad used to say when my sister and I were behaving badly he thought we needed a ‘whack up the side of the head’. Don’t worry. He didn’t actually do it, but we did pay attention when he said it, because we knew it was time to stop, look, and listen—and change our behavior! It’s time, I think, for brokers to get that ‘whack up the side of the head’, too.
In my next few blogs, I’ll provide that ‘whack up the side of the head’ I believe we brokers need to move our businesses past ‘maintenance to leadership.
Gain Innovative Action Strategies
Do you want to step into a better leadership style? Be more effecctive? Recruit more and better? I’ve created a very special, unique program for managers and owners: Once a month I share a specific leadershp strategy to recruit, choose, train, coach, and retain winners. These are proven strategies to get you out of a rut, take you past crisis management, and energize and inspire your team. See more at 365 Leadership. This new series closes for enrollment March 15. Find out more here.
Do You Have a Job Description for your Agents?
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Do you have a job description for your agents? Most agents tell me they did not receive a job description when they started in the business (or in the interview). If not, why not? In my last blog, I discussed the fallacy that agents should start out as ‘independent’ business people. Now, I don’t mean they shouldn’t take responsibility for their actions and success. I mean that we shouldn’t abdicate our responsibility to teach, train, and coach them so they become great salespeople (so they can become independnet). Besides not having skills they need to succeed, they usually don’t even know what the job is!
Poor Job Descriptions Abound
As I teach management courses nationally, and speak nationally, I see many examples of poorly thought-out job descriptions and activity plans. What do you think is a poor job description? Take a look here. 
( a preview is to the right).
Why do you think I regard it as a poor job description? It’s not:
Prioritized
Some of the activities don’t result in success
My conclusion: This job description was written by an academic who had never been successful in real estate!
Abdicating our Leadership Responsibilities
Part of that abdication of management responsibility, I believe, is not providing a prioritized job description to your agents. Notice I said ‘prioritized’. Which activities should the agent start with? Which are important to be successful? Which are less important?
Before I share my job description with you, please write the job description you believe is the one you expect agents to follow.
When do you share that job description? In the interview? I hope so.
My Prioritized Job Description
Now, take a look at the prioritized job description I developed as a foundation for the new agent’s start-up plan, Up and Running in 30 Days. How does yours differ? What does your job description say about what you think is important? Are you gaining as much success for your new agents as you should? What does your job description and start-up plan have to do with those results?
For a printable copy, click here.
Get that job description refined. Talk to some of your agents to assure it’s the job description that reflects how you hire, train, and retain. Start using it in your interviews. Now, you’re getting much more effective and efficient.
If you’re a busy owner or manager, you’re probably wondering how you possibly implement the leadership you know it takes today to move your company forward. I’ve got the answer. Once a month, I’ll share a new leadership strategy–a strategy you can instantly implement in your company to motivate, energize, and help your agents be more productive (plus, these are great recruiting tools). Take a look at 365 Leadership.
For just $39.95 per month, you’ll get that strategy/action plan, an instructional webinar, a coaching tele-conference call, and all the ready-to-use documents you need to make that strategy a reality. Our new session starts in January, 2012. Don’t worry: You can join through March and get any sessions you may have missed. And, you will have access to all the completed sessions any time you want to view or review them. Check out 365 Leadership today. Let me share with you the specific, creative strategies I used to rebuild 2 real estate offices into exceptional profits.
Business Planning: Do You Have These 10 Critical Points in your Plan?
Posted by: | CommentsIn December, I’m doing blogs on business planning in both this blog and my blog for agents, Up and Running in 03 Days. Check often for complimentary forms and training.
Do you have a business plan for next year? Is it in a format that I could actually follow if you delegated running the company to me? I doubt over 5% of the brokers could answer that question ‘yes’. Yet, we all talk about the importance of a business plan. Here are five of ten critical points you must have in your business plan to make it a plan that actually works for you, not just a thesis that looks important on the shelf!
1. Spend much more time in review.
Your plan must include an in-depth review of the past year, or, better yet, the trends of the past three years—both inside and outside your company. Your plan must draw conclusions about this review, so you can use what you learned in planning for the next year. Write it out, so you can remember why you’re making the moves in that next year. 
Click here to see the areas you should review.
2. Analyze your budget vs. actual expenses.
Measure your last year’s budget versus your actual expenses—and do an analysis of what happened along the way. How can you set up your budget for the next year without analyzing last year’s budget and consequences?
3. Create separate action plans for each area of responsibility.
Create separate action plans for each of your areas of responsibility: Financial/operations/planning/staff, recruiting/selecting, orientation of agents to assure quick assimilation and retention, training (new and experienced agents), higher production/retention, marketing (internal and external), professional development. That way, you’re actually creating a road map to use every day, not just a broad brush picture. In Business Planning for the Owner, Manager, and Team Builder, I have a road map that allows you to do just that.
4. Use the strategic planning process to think through your business.
Use a strategic, or thought-out approach to each of the planning areas—based on your vision, mission, and positioning of the company. Don’t just copy a particular company because they’re successful. It may not be ‘like you’.
5. Be sure your objectives are measurable.
Write measurable objectives in each of the action plan areas—so you know what you’re shooting for and can celebrate the attainments. For example, in training, decide on measurable production goals that should result from your training– and measure the results of your training frequently.
New Business Planning Program for Managers
Do you find it difficult to get your agents to plan? Do you put off doing your office plan? Here’s your solution. This all-new program does several things for you:
2 webinars teach your agents how to plan using Carla’s strategic planning system
14 planning documents are included to guide your agents right through the planning process
3 webinars for you:
1. How to Create a Great Office Plan
Included: 22 office planning documents to make it easy for you to stay on track and create a great plan
2. How to Convince your Agents to Plan
3. How to Integrate your Office and Agents’ Plans
Also: Hundreds of dollars of bonuses included. See more at Come See 2012: Beyond the Basics of Business Planning. Why not build a great office plan and get every agent a real strategic plan–one that’s inspirational all year?
Can You Pass the Business Plan Exam?
Posted by: | CommentsIn these posts, I’m focusing on business planning, so you will have the information to create a great plan for 2012. Watch for ready to use checklists, systems, and processes, too. Check out Up and Running in 30 Days, for your agents, too.
What should a business plan do for you? Appease your owner? (I’ve been there, so I know….) Or, should it actually provide you specific, day-to-day guidance about what to do to make your business thrive? If you’re a practical person like me, you don’t like to do ‘busy work’. You and I believe, then, that a business plan should have a practical application for every day of your business.
Take this quick ‘exam’ to see how your business plan stacks up: (and give it to your agents so they can check their plans, too).
1. By going through your process of business planning, you get the ‘vision’ and mission principles to make the positioning, marketing, hiring, and termination decisions right for your particular business. T F
Got that vision? Few business plans start with vision. This causes huge problems when real estate professionals try to implement—such as implementing a marketing plan. A potential coaching client told me she ‘wasn’t very good at marketing’, and wondered how to get better. You can’t become a great marketer unless you have a very clear vision of who you are and where you expect your journey to take you. It all starts with a crystal clear idea of your vision, mission, and positioning in the market. Your business plan should contain these very important statements. Then, when you design an institutional marketing plan, you’ll be able execute your thoughts and feelings visually.
If your vision and mission aren’t well defined in your business plan, you simply have no solid foundation to make those tough leadership decisions.
2. Your business plan starts with reviewing and researching the past year in all your business areas. T F
Have you really reviewed your situation? If your planning ‘template’ doesn’t lead you through the analysis of key business statistics, you simply don’t know what happened. So, you can’t possibly make decisions for next year, because you don’t know whether to do it, stop doing it, or start doing something differently!
Example: In your office, what percent of your listings sold within normal market time? What was the percent of list price to sale price? Few business planning templates ask you to grab these statistics and analyze them. Yet, these are the statistics that directly point you to your strategies and tactics for the coming year.
3. Does your business plan have an ‘action plan’ area, so you can translate your yearly and monthly goals into daily actions—and actually schedule these actions? T F
No action plan means you just wasted a lot of time: I have seen so many business plans that only played on the ‘results’ playing field. Writing down the results you want are great, but if your plan doesn’t get down to where the rubber meets the road, (what you need to do daily), you simply are doing an exercise. In other words, you have to get past the ‘what’ and get to the ‘how’ and ‘how much’.
For example: You may say you want to increase your ‘sold’ listings by 25% in the coming year. How are you going to do that? Here are some possibilities for your action plan:
Through recruiting: Hire 12 listing agents that have demonstrated they list properties that sell quickly. That’s 1 per month. That’s 5 interviews per month. That’s 100 recruiting calls per month. Now, you can break that into weeks and days.
Through training: After researching each agent’s numbers of listings and listings to sold ratios, you are going to create and implement a high accountability training program to teach your agents the skills of successful listing. You will put your training series, which will be a series of four classes, presented 3 times a year, on a training calendar to hold yourself accountable to do them. (And, a calendar is a great recruiting tool).
4. Does your plan consist of integrated, ready-to-follow systems so you can delegate?
T F
Ever thought your systems WERE your plan? Michael Gerber, author of The E-Myth and The E-Myth Revisited, says that a business plan consists of the integration of your systems. Most managers and agents feel they are working too many hours. They want to be able to delegate specific duties. But, without systems and processes in place, delegation is impossible.
Is your Business Salable?
Pretend you wanted to sell me your business. I walk into your office. What systems do I see? What systems can I buy from you, so I don’t have to ‘reinvent the wheel’? What systems do you have that integrate and reflect your values in the overall way you do your business? If you don’t have systems in place that I can readily take over, I might as well start my own company!
How did you do on the ‘exam’? Here’s your opportunity to think through your business at a much deeper, more meaningful level. Doing so will re-motivate you, re-ignite your passion, and provide you some solid answers for next year.
Click here for an overview of what a leadership planning system should contain.
Complimentary Webinar for Managers
If you’re stumped as to how to get your agents to create business plans, you need to attend this webinar. If you want more teamwork and loyalty, you need to tune in. I’ll show you how I got 100% of my agents to write good business plans, and how I used those plans to coach and consult all year, building my office to #1 in a 19 office company–the strongest company at that time in the Northwest.
Managers: Get Every Agent to Build a Business Plan–and Build a Great office Plan
When: Dec. 1
Time: 1-2 PM, Pacific Standard Time
Space is limited, so register now. Click here to register.
Free webinar for your agents: I’ve got a free webinar, too, for your agents: On Nov. 29, I’ll show your agents how to create a great plan, and how to put the three major trends of next year into their plans. Register your agents now. Space is limited.
Help New Agents Take Their Whole ‘Lives’ With Them into Real Estate
Posted by: | CommentsDo you feel that your new agents are more tenuous than they need to be? Are they holding back from making lead generating contacts because they’re not confident enough? Here’s how to help them.
Most new real estate agents, think they don’t know a thing. (And even very seasoned agents don’t take advantage of the strategy I’m sharing with you here). After you read this blog, you’ll see that’s not true that agents are really ‘new’–or that agents can’t use your skills, qualities and talents as a seasoned agent.
I just did a series of complimentary coaching calls for those people in the Up and Running in 30 Days coaching program. First, let me congratulate one of the agents in the program, Carlena, for attaining 108 lead generating contacts in a week! I wanted to have a little fun and competition in the call, so I set up a friendly contest: Which caller on the line made the most lead generating contacts in a week? Callers could pick any week of their Up and Running program.
Note: Look on this blog for interviews with Carlena and Emily, both doing a great job in generating many, many leads with the start-up plan as their guide.
Agents Need Confidence to Succeed in Sales
To help the agents on the call get much more confidence, I did an exercise with them I call Bringing your Skills and Talents to Real Estate Clients. I’m sharing this with you so you can use it in your office with both new and seasoned agents.
Why is this important? When we’re new agents, we think we know nothing. We’re constantly humiliated with our lack of knowledge, and inability to handle objections. We get so tired of ‘nos’ that sometimes we forget that we are capable, honest, caring, responsible humans. We actually come into real estate with a whole adult experience of widely developed skills, qualities, and natural talents. These are much more useful to us than we give ourselves credit for.
How is Music Helpful to Real Estate?
Let me give you an example. As many of you know, I was (and am) a musician since age four. But, when I went into real estate, I felt like I knew nothing! And, it is true I didn’t know anything about selling real estate. But, I carried with me many great skills into the business that in turn carried me to success fast. Can you guess what some of those skills were—and are?
Had to practice piano 2-4 hours Tenacity
Put off mastery for years Persistence
Followed direction of a coach Coach ability
Application
How could I show one of these, tenacity? I actually presented an offer and got 10 counteroffers! I just never gave up, because I felt it was in the best interest of both parties to buy and sell from each other. I could show that marked-up purchase and sale agreement. Where could I share that quality? I could show testimonials from my clients in social medial, and in my Professional Portfolio.
Bringing your Skills and Talents to Real Estate Clients Exercise
Have your agents draw three columns. Name the first ‘skills and talents’. Name the second ‘benefits to clients’. Name the third ‘how/where to show clients’.
Now, list at least three skills and talents from your former business life. What about these skills/talents are benefits to clients? How would you show this? Where would you show this?
Enlist a Partner
If your agents are having some ‘mind blocks’ on how and where to show these benefits to clients, have them enlist a partner to brain storm
the possibilities with each agent. Once agentsstart crafting these, they’ll get much more excited about their ability to help people—along with that confidence to expand their leads and help more people.
Managers: Use this exercise to relate to potential recruits. What skills and qualities did you ‘attach’ as benefits to recruits? How did that raise your confidence?
Three Leadership Principles Orchestra Conductors Taught Me
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In my previous blog, I introduced the idea that leading an orchestra is very much like leading a group of real esetate agents. In fact, it’s fascinating to me, as a life-long flutist, how much dissension, individuality, and insistence on ‘going their own way’ orchestral players exhibit. They are often portrayed in the press as we managers think of leading agents. Getting them to all agree, in both groups, is like herding cats!
Transferable Leadership Lessons Learned
There are three important lessons we can learn from the great orchestral conductors about leading for a prodctive, focused atmosphere with common values:
1. To get into the orchestra is a privilege; you must audition. Each player must meet certain standards if the orchestra is to succeed as a whole. So, selection is key to top performance. That means, to the real estate manager, that we must be selective and set standards for hiring, so that the person hired will fit well into our common focus. If we hire Bill, Sally, and George, and them segregate them, we fracture our focus, and create a negative atmosphere that makes it extremely difficult for our new associate to perform well.
2. Before the conductor allows the orchestra to play the piece together, each person and then each section must practice to perfect their parts. Musicians know perfect practice insures perfect performance. When we finally put all the parts and sections together, we also experience
the whole as greater than the sum of the parts.
In the business world, we call the results of this practice method ‘teamwork’ and ‘synergy’. How does a real estate manager accomplish this in his office? By establishing a strong, comprehensive new agent training program, focused on practice and performance, not focused on knowledge. The training program is the ‘music’, complete with the values and concepts that are endorsed in that real estate office. Each member agrees to and is trained that way.
3. The ‘first chair’ leader (the best player) has great responsibility for the teamwork and focus of his section. He is charged with assuring his section plays as one and that each player plays well so all players benefit. On solo parts, he can shine, but he still needs to play within the framework of his section and of the whole orchestra. This creates a win-win for all in the ensemble.
The first chair must be a consummate leader. There are actually many wonderful virtuosos who can’t play in orchestras, because they aren’t team players. They want to ‘play it their way’—and their way is not the orchestra’s way. Kind of like a real estate office, except, brokers, unlike conductors, many times allow solo performers in their offices even if they aren’t team players!
What’s Wrong with ‘Doing Their Own Thing?’
Brokers tell me that their top agent ‘does her own thing’. I hear them say that she is ‘not a team player’, but she does make them lots of money. Oh, really? So, in what orchestra is that top agent playing? Obviously, not yours! The lack of common focus and endorsement of maverick behavior by top producers only shatters any teamwork and shared values the broker is attempting to instill in his group.
Make Up Your Mind
If you want a team, create one with an all-winner group. Banish your maverick player to someone else’s orchestra. The result: More production from your ‘section’ players, more teamwork, more common focus, and a more pleasant job for you!
How to Lose $10,000 a Month with your Hiring Practices
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It’s estimated that an agent who fails in six months costs a broker between $10,000 and $30,000! So, if you’re hiring only one a month who fails, you’re easily losing $10,000 each month!
Do you know how much poor hiring practices cost you? Most brokers don’t realize they are doing irreparable damage to their companies by hiring those who aren’t going to go right to work—and keeping those who won’t work. Here are the 3 biggest consequences to poor selection I see.
1. Stops you from hiring great producers.
Likes attract. How can brokers hope to hire that great producer when they have more than 10% of their office as non-producers? I can see it now. “Sure, I’ll come to your office. I’m a top producer, and I just love to be dragged down by those non-producers. It will be my pleasure to waste my time with them.” Not.
2. Kills your recruiting message.
Do you have a training program? Do you use it to recruit? Here’s the real message: “We have a training program. All our new agents go through it. We don’t get any results from the program, so it really doesn’t work. But, join us.” You can’t possibly show how successful your training program makes your agents because your training program can’t possibly get results—poor people in and no actions and accountability required.
3. De-motivates your agents to provide referrals to you.
Your outcomes and hiring practices speak more loudly than you could possible speak. Why would one of your good agents possibly refer someone to you when your good agent doesn’t see those you hired starting right out and making money fast?
This Market Won’t Cover Up an Inadequate Selection Process
In a fast market, ‘accidental sales’ buoyed poor agents and made them look as though they were actually selling enough real estate to be a ‘median’ agent. When the market left, so did the agents’ ‘mirage’ of decent production. Now, brokers need to hire with purpose (using a stringent, professional interview process). Then, they need to put agents right to work with a proven start-up plan.
Please Tell Me What You Think
What do you think a non-productive agent costs the company? In my next blog, I’ll give you some line items that will probably double what you think a bad hire costs. Let’s see what you think first. Poor hiring practices really, really hurts brokers—both financially and emotionally.
Choosing your Next Great Manager; Best Questions to Ask
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Choosing that best manager is very challenging. Before I share my questions with you, let me ask you:
What traits, skills, and qualities are you looking for in a manager? List them before you read this blog.
To help you create a great system to choose your manager, I’ve created questions based on the skills, traits and qualities I think are important in a manager. First, I’ve listed each important trait, quality and skill an effective manager needs (in my opinion).
Questions: After each item, I’ve listed questions to ask to ascertain if this person has sufficient strength and background in each area.
Using this questionnaire: Probe deeply in each question to discover their true behaviors. Don’t go quickly from question to question. Write the answers and analyze them later.
1. Successful salesperson in real estate or another field
Question: Describe your sales record in your previous field (s). Probe.
Note: You need a manager with a successful sales record or else that manager won’t actively recruit, and won’t have the skills to make recruiting calls.
2. Possesses leadership qualities to inspire others.
Note: You need a manager who can get others to follow in a positive, participative manner.
Question: Describe a time in your life where you assumed a leadership role. Probe.
Question: Which manager in your business history did you admire? Why?
Question: Which manager in your business history did you not admire? Why?
Question: Have you ever worked in a participative organization? (with leadership groups, etc.) Probe.
3. Is willing to hire and retain to company standards.
You need someone tough enough, but diplomatic enough, to create and implement a standards-based company.
Question: Have you ever worked in an organization with standards? (minimum expectations). Probe.
Question: What standards did you work with at your last real estate company? (You want to ascertain if this person thinks standards are important, and whether this person will implement standards to hire, select, and retain).
4. Has recruiting skills.
Question: Describe how you got leads in your sales career (listen for pro-active lead generation). Listen for taking full responsibility for his/her own sales success. Listen to assure it wasn’t ‘inside sales (retail or given an area to follow up on).
Question: Describe your lead generating plan in sales.
5. Has coaching skills.
Question: Have you ever been coached? Describe it. What were the positives? The negatives?
Question: Have you ever coached others? Probe.
Question: Have you ever taken a course (s) in how to coach? Describe.
6. Has training skills.
Question: Have you ever trained anyone? Please describe. (Listen for training, accountability, measuring results).
Question: Describe your training (the training you have taken). Have you taken training courses in management? Describe.
Question: Have you ever taken a speech course? Describe. (ability to organize thoughts, do persuasive presentations, lead meetings successfully)
7. Ambitious and energetic person who wants to build wealth through others.
Question: Tell me a goal you attained and how you attained it.
Question: Tell me about a time in your life when you refused to give up on a dream of yours. Probe.
Question: How have you been preparing to lead others?
What other traits, skills, and qualities are you looking for in a manager? Do you questions reflect your needs? Let me know.
Hiring your Next Great Manager: Run the Other Way If…
Posted by: | CommentsYou’re in the interview process, attempting to do a great job in choosing your next manager. What do you want to listen for? What ‘red flags’ should you notice? It all starts with your job description. (Look below to get mine).
The real estate industry is changing rapidly. Yet, many of our job descriptions for managers have not changed in 40
years! So, don’t rely on that old job description when hiring. Instead, look way past the ‘traditional manager’ profile. What do I mean? You can’t afford to have just a ‘maintenance manager’. You can’t have a manager who:
Sits in the office and waits for a crisis
Refuses to recruit because he/she ‘doesn’t have time’
Doesn’t believe in standards of performance
Thinks training should be done by someone else (unless he/she is managing a very large office)
Thinks managing is about getting groups to do what he/she says, instead of developing each agent to his/her potential
What to Listen for in the Interview
If your candidate says any of the statements below,
“I just want to support my agents”.
“It’s tough out there; I want to keep encouraging them to just hang in there.”
“I want to be available to agents 24 hours a day.”
“Retention is much more important than recruiting.”
“ I don’t train or coach. You’ll have to hire someone to do that.”
“I don’t believe in taking courses. I learn from experience.”
“My expertise is in answering broker questions. I’ll be there for them”
“Crisis management is my forte.”
Run the other way. In my experience interviewing hundreds of would-be leaders, any of these statements is a strong indicator that the person is going to practice ‘maintenance management’. You need much more than that. You need an action leader.
For a job description of that action leader, click here.
Want many more tips/strategies/leadership actions to put to work to build a more profitable office? Check out www.365leadership.net. This subscription series provides you one leadership idea/action per month. It will motivate and inspire you to be the best leader you can be. Next series starts in September. Join us!
From ‘Good’ to ‘Great’: How to Choose your Next Manager
Posted by: | CommentsAre you dreading hiring your next manager? Have you had some bad experiences? Made some serious hiring mistakes? You’re not alone. This is one of the most important decisions you need to make, and one of the toughest.
There are a myriad of classes on recruiting and managing agents. But, where’s that class (or series) on choosing and
managing your manager? I coach leadership in my coaching company. It’s obvious that owners are having lots of trouble figuring out how to hire the right manager—and how to manage their managers. So, helping owners step to that next level of hiring a manager—or helping them figure out if their manager is making or costing them money, is an integral part of our coaching process.
If you want to hire a manager, or, if you now have a manager that you doubt is giving you your money’s worth, this blog is for you. (And, if you’re thinking of managing, or are a manager now, do the work here to assure you are a ‘marketable’ manager—that you are doing the job that provides value to your owner).
Your First Step in Hiring a Manager: Describe the Kind of Person You’re Looking For
What are the traits and skills of the person you’re looking for? Before you read my list below, write your own list. In my opinion, this person should have been an above-average agent on his way to becoming a top 20% agent.. Why? Because this person must have the skills of
Organizing a lead generation database (for recruiting)
Writing and running a marketing plan to prospects (recruiting marketing plan)
Above-average selection and presentation skills (for recruiting and selection)
Tough-mindedness, to make selection choices for developable agents (that selection demonstrated by above-
average agents)
More tough-mindedness, for setting and holding to standards of performance (who they will and won’t work with)
Creating long-term relationships
(See my job description for a great manager below, too).
More Skills You Will Need
In addition to the skills I’ve just listed that above-average agents have developed, there are other skills you will need in an ‘agent developing’ manager:
Training skills
Coaching skills
Leadership skills
Computer skills
Staff management skills
Fresh and Revitalized, or Tired of the Business?
Look for the person who has been in the real estate business up to five years, and has developed a strong business. Why five years? This person is probably still ‘on his/her way up’, is excited about the business, and is using the business skills that work in this environment. This, of course, is very approximate, but I think you understand what I mean.
Job Description: Click here to get my detailed job description for a successful manager.
Note: By the way. It’s so difficult for managers to step into leadership today. I’ve created a ‘leadership by the month’ series of specific strategies—one a month, to energize and enable managers to lead. Check it out at www.365leadership.net. The next series starts in September.
Past Experience is a Huge Benefit
Look for a person who has been trained in another business as a trainer/coach/leader. This is really important. When I was finding and screening leadership for one of the largest franchises in the world, I found that the really ‘magic’ ingredient was that the potential leader had already had some experience in the skills of management.
Now, you have the right combination for a dynamic, effective ‘agent developing’ manager.
What did I leave out that y ou think is important? Let me know.