Archive for time management
Recruiting Systems: Your Post-Interview Package
Posted by: | CommentsRemember the Chinese water torture? Drip, drip, a drip at a time. That’s the key to recruiting successfully. Here’s another ‘drip’. You’ll want to provide your candidate after that first interview another package with the information you think the candidate will find useful. Here’s why:
We remember only 10% of what we heard three days later!
Unfortunately, candidates don’t remember much of what we discuss in the interview. Or, they remember it wrongly. It seems easy to us, but, it becomes a muddle to them when they interview five companies in as many days. So, take the time to assemble what I call the ‘after first-visit’ package or post-interview process. In it, you’ll reiterate important points, and again differentiate yourself and your company.
Systemize Like your Great Agents
Great agents assemble these packages for sellers and buyers. You are modeling the behaviors you want to teach the agent. You can explain the parallels in the interview process. This is a very strong recruiting strategy. The old adages
We believe what we see, not what we hear
and
Do as I do, not as I say
are true, as we know ‘in real life’.
In Your Post-First Visit (Post-Interview) Package
Here is a sample list of the materials you may include in an after-first visit recruiting package. Note that some of the material is duplicating your pre-first visit package. Also, sometimes you won’t have the opportunity to provide a pre-first visit package. Of course, you’ll always have the ability to customize each package. However, it’s much easier to do this from a prepared package than to start from scratch each time.
Letter from the manager explaining what’s in the package
- Training calendar (you do have one, don’t you?)
- Training brochure
- Company/office/manager story
- Attractive company/office/manager statistics
- Articles featuring company/manager
- Costs of affiliating with explanations
Bottom Line: You’re Proving your Competency to Each Candidate With Every Recruiting Process You Do
Well-assembled packages reflect clear thought processes. Merely putting these together will clarify your recruiting and selection story. It will help you figure out and communicate your culture and values. It will provide you differentiation and memorability. It says to the candidate, “I prepared for you. Your time is valuable. I am here to dedicate my skills and talents to help you develop your business.”
You will recruit more and better agents, you will save time, and you will be able to delegate or ‘clone’ yourself by hiring a manager or recruiter when the need arises.
For a checklist of recruiting processes and systems needed, click here.
Want to avoid re-inventing the wheel? Check out my recruiting resources here. 
Recruiting Systems: Your Candidate Folder
Posted by: | CommentsWe’ve discussed the importance of systematizing your recruiting. I’ve given you information about the contents of a pre-first visit folder. Now, let’s take a look at the folder you need to create for that all-important interview process.
Note: Although we know recruits are the lifeblood of our offices, it’s amazing how we continue to try to ‘wing it’ during the interview process. Assembling these materials will assure that you never are flying by the seat of your pants–or look like it to the candidate!
Keeping Track of Candidates is Tougher than it Seems When You’re in the Recruit Mode 
How are you going to keep track of each candidate? If you’re interviewing five to ten candidates per week (the number necessary to build your office at a rate of 4-5 people per month), you will need a method to keep these candidates in mind. (It’s really embarrassing to wrong recall something about a candidate in an interview—and find out you have the wrong ‘Barry’….)
Here’s what should go in the candidate selection folder:
Phone interview questions and candidate notes from phone interview
Candidate needs assessment questions
Candidate’s application (be sure your attorney reviews this for legalities)
Candidate behavioral predicting questions See The Complete Recruiter and Your Blueprint for Selecting Winners–information on these resources is below)
Post-interview checklist
Of course, prior to the interview, you’ll want to gather your presentation and a notepad to keep notes.
Armed with these tools, you’ll not only appear to be organized, you WILL be organized. Your good candidates will appreciate your professionalism, and will be drawn to you. The poor candidates probably won’t care (and neither should you…).
For a checklist of recruiting processes and systems needed, click here.
Want to avoid re-inventing the wheel? Check out my recruiting resources here.
Recruiting: How to Assemble your Systems
Posted by: | CommentsAt the end of this blog, I’m providing you a checklist of the systems you need. See how prepared you are!
When you look at all the organization required to systematize your recruiting, it can be daunting. So, why not start with the packages? Here are the packages you need:
- Folders to hold all selection materials/processes for each agent interviewed
- Pre-first visit package (sent prior to the interview)
- Your interview process (application, your analysis forms, interview format, questions, etc.)
- Visual recruiting presentation
- After first visit recruiting package
Why are these packages important? It takes six to eight times of meeting someone before you remember that person. In some sense, recruiting is like what one of my old bosses called the Chinese water torture: You must just keep dripping, dripping, and dripping on the candidate so you are
- memorable
- perceived as more professional than others the candidate will be interviewing
Savvier Candidates Require Savvier Recruiting Organization
Assembling and using these packages shows your candidate that you are organized, interested, and dedicated—both as a manager, and in helping that person create a viable career. A few months ago Charles Dahlheimer wrote an excellent article in The Real Estate Professional– an analysis of 2010. In it, he noted that more college-educated people are coming into real estate today. You can read the whole article here. Because these candidates are more educated than before, it’s important to present yourself in the same light as other professionals in other fields the candidate may interview. And, it’s important that you create polished, well-thought-out packages that appeal to these candidates.
Start the Process: Just Throw ‘Possibilities’ in a Folder
The best way, I’ve found, to create packages, is to first simply create a folder (either hard copy or on your computer), and start throwing possible inclusions for that package into the folder. Don’t judge them! Judging them prematurely will not get you anywhere. As a musician, I know creativity is messy. In fact, the most inhibiting action to creativity, I think, is that we energetically critique every possibility when we try to construct something. So, too many times, we end up with not starting! Instead, squelch your impulse to judge anything until you have all your possibilities. After that, you can prune and prioritize. In my view, ANY prepared package is better than none!
Note: Because most recruiters don’t have systems, any organization and system you have created with stand out.
Communicating your ‘Memorability Factor’
In the next blogs, I’ll go more deeply into what can go into some of these packages. I’m going to give you my recommendations for three packages. More importantly, though, you decide the overall messages you want to convey through these packages. As the candidate reads the package, what do you want them to think about you? What values and culture do you want to communicate? What objections do you want to anticipate via each package? What misconceptions do you want to correct?
For a checklist of recruiting processes and systems needed, click here.
Want to avoid re-inventing the wheel? Check out my recruiting resources here.
Why Your Best New Recruits LOVE Reality
Posted by: | CommentsWe’ve talked about the ‘romantic’ recruiting presentation, and the ‘realistic’ recruiting presentation. The trend is toward the ‘realistic’. Why? Besides the loss of your credibility, and increased difficulty to recruit with the ‘romantic’ presentation, here’s another huge reason to go from ‘romance’ to reality:
Better educated agents are coming into the industry.
Here’s an excerpt from an article by Charles Dahlheimer in The Real Estate Professional, Recapping 2010: The Top Ten Trends at the End of the First Decade :
Real estate schools nationwide had been reporting declining numbers for their pre-license courses since the real estate bubble burst. However, the trend seems to be reversing, with classes once again beginning to fill. Even more significant is the fact that a much larger percentage of applicants for real estate licenses are coming from the ranks of seasoned business professionals. This as a result of corporate downsizing, early retirements and business closings. Real estate companies that have not focused on recruiting brand new agents might consider taking a second look at the Class of 2011.
Business-Background Agents Are Looking for a Realistic Interview
This is the kind of interview a business-savvy candidate expects:
An interview that ‘tests’ them—not just a shine-it-on, make promises interview
An interview that informs them—exactly what will your training and coaching do for that person
An interview that tells the truth attractively—no ‘can’t believe it’s true’ promises
Why? They have endured dozens of interviews as businesspeople (they may also have been the interviewer). They have studied interviewing. They’re not naïve about the skills of the interviewer. They have expectations for a professional interview process.
How realistic is your interview process? Are you successful in ‘telling the truth attractively?
In the next session of our 365 Leadership series, , on March 22, we’ll tackle recruiting. 
(Miss it ‘live’? Get the recording).
I’ll help you systematize your recruiting so you can do more in less time. I’ll give you the tools to ‘tell the truth attractively’. I’ll take you through the 8-part interviewing process, so you don’t get any nasty surprises when you recruit. In addition, you’ll get a bonus of my latest eBook: From Romance to Reality: Best Recruiting Practices for Today and Tomorrow. You’ll find out who to recruit, where they are, and what they want.
Want to find out more? Check out 365 Leadership. Registration closes March 15 for this series. Don’t miss out on energizing, motivating, and retaining your valued agents with the dynamic strategies in this series. And, your first session is FREE.
Are Most Managers in ‘Maintenance’ or ‘Leadership’?
Posted by: | CommentsAre most managers in ‘maintenance’ or are they taking leadership actions? You’ve probably read dozens of books about leadership. You’ve seen the videos. Too often, these consist of platitudes and ‘war stories’ about great leadership. It’s all about what ‘to be’. But, unfortunately, that doesn’t get anything done. Just ‘being’ doesn’t move a group of people anywhere. In fact, it’s confusing to hear some inspiring words—and then not see any action. You know what I mean. For example: Today, Congress’s approval rating with the American public is about 13%! Yet, we hear word after word from them. It’s certainly not the words that make the low approval rating. It’s the lack of meaningful action to solve America’s problems.
How About some Leadership Actions to Solve your Challenges?
I just got a great little book on leadership, The Art of Leadership, by J. Donald Walters. In it, the author says,
The effective leader knows that an encyclopedia of good ideas is no substitute for even the least of those ideas put into actual practice.
And,
Action creates creativity.
Managers need specific leadership strategies to implement to get those agents off their duffs, back into the field, and getting some wins. After all, we all know that a ‘win’ is the only true motivator.
What Exactly are those Leadership Strategies?
How would you know you’re executing a leadership strategy? They are
Planned, systematized processes
Involve small groups of agents
Created and implemented to solve specific problems
Consist of several actions over a specific period of time
Create a sense of community, empowerment, and focus
Not regular repetitive maintenance duties
We Know We Need to Lead. Why Don’t We?
We’ve identified leadership activities. But, why don’t we do more to implement? We go to meeting after meeting, conference after conference. We get gazillions of ideas. Then, we get back to our offices and do the same old things. Why?
No time to create the whole operation
Unclear or not confidence about how to implement
Afraid to take a risk
No support to fall back on
Don’t want to embarrass ourselves in front of our agents!
Don’t have perceived urgency to implement
Models Make Implementation Faster and Easier
To avoid the issues above, managers need models, encouragement, and some deadlines. From being in management longer than I’d like to admit, I know all the reasons behind failure to implement. So, I’ve just created a 12-part subscription coaching series that takes away the resistance above. Because of the specific concerns today, I’ve picked 12 of the most effective, easy to implement, immediately useful strategies I’ve done to share with those in 365 Leadership.
These strategies include:
Systematizing recruiting to get more done when you have no time (!)
Teamifying to get right-priced listings
Meetings that take advantage of the talents you and your team have–untapped
Opening up leadership to empower agents and get more on your team—to retain your winners
Lead generation strategies to increase the number of leads your agents get—an effective recruiting tool
Business planning integration to get all your agents effective business plans—and bought into your company culture
These are just some of the strategies included in this all new subscription program. See more at http://365leadership.net.
Leaders will be those who empower others. Empowering leadership means
bringing out the energy and capabilities people have and getting them to work
together in a way they wouldn’t do otherwise.
—Bill Gates, fellow Washingtonian
Having specific, proven leadership strategies to implement with confidence will move you past fear and maintenance to creative leadership. Recruiting and retention become automatic when you’re creating a dynamic, exciting, creative environment.
What do you think? Are managers stuck in ‘maintenance’ or are they creating and implementing exciting leadership actions?
What’s your Job Description?
Posted by: | CommentsWhat’s your job description? Did you get one prior to taking your present position with your company? Very few managers did. If you didn’t, how do you know what to do every day? How do you know the priorities expected by your ‘boss’? (Or, if you’re the boss, how do you know your priorities?
Your Present Job Description
Did you have the opportunity to do the time analysis provided in my previous blog? If not, I suggest you go back to that blog and analyze the number of hours you’re spending in
Business producing activities
Business supporting activities
That gives you a great idea about your actual, practical job description. Is it the one you want? Is it the job description you thought you were following?
A Prototype Job Description for You
I’ve created a prototype job description with hours allocated to various types of activities. 
Click here to get it and compare it with your job description analysis. What do you think of my descriptions? What do you think of my hourly allocations?
After your analysis: What do you want to change to move your office forward? Do you need to move more into leadership, and away from ‘maintenance management’?
Awesome Leadership Strategies…….
Don’t have time to create and implement the ‘get-ahead’ strategies you need to recruit and retain? I’ve created this 12-month subscription series just for you. The first session is ‘live’ Feb. 22 (if you miss it, you can get the recorded webinar, though). And, the first session is FREE. Registration ends Mar. 15 for this series. Only $39.95 per session for 11 sessions. One new leadership strategy every month, ready to implement. Learn more/register at 365 Leadership.
Recruiting: The Second Success Trait in the ‘New Normal’
Posted by: | CommentsHave you polished your needed traits for success in the ‘new normal’? Here’s the second trait agents need to succeed today and tomorrow.
2. Work Hard
It has always amazed me when interviewing an agent, the agent would state that she wanted to make lots of money in real estate, but she could only work 10 a. m. to 2 p. m. 4 days a week—no nights and weekends, of course! (I worked 50-60 hours to survive and thrive, so, the thought occurred to me that she must think she was much more talented and special than I…….)
In this ‘new normal’, the person not committing to 40-50 hours a week just can’t deliver what the consumer wants. (See the next blog for a survey that should sober every real estate professional…..)
Are you still hiring those who ‘want to try it out’? Want to hang a license’? Will settle for a low level of commitment?
How Much Work Does it Take to Master Anything?
If you haven’t read the great book, by Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers, get it now. Gladwell shows how people get really good at what they do when they work hard and long at it. See the examples of computer pioneers—and the Beatles. Going to Hamburg to work in the strip clubs in the late 1960’s, the Beatles had to play eight hours a night, seven days a week. They got really good at it! In fact, Gladwell said it took 10,000 hours of practice for someone—in any field—to master it. How much practice do your agents get selling real estate?
A National Association of Realtors’ Survey
Take a look at how number of hours worked coordinates with income in real estate earned:
So, go ahead and commit to success. No one got successful merely with a ‘magic bullet’, or hiring a huge team so they didn’t have to work, or any of those other things the seminar gurus sell unsuspecting agents. Who does well with that philosophy? Just those seminar gurus! If you still don’t believe me, please get the book Outliers. Then, hire those agents who will commit to working hard. The consumer deserves it–and you deserve it.
Business Planning: How’s your Time Management?
Posted by: | CommentsThrough December, I’m focusing on business planning in my blogs. Look for checklists, processes, and systems–ready to use.
Business Planning: How Was your Time Management this Year?
If you’re like most of us, you have much more on your ‘to do’ list than you get to during your business day. What does that have to do with business planning? At this time of year, we need to analyze how we spent our time. Then, we can make adjustments for next year. All of us have the same amount of time, yet, some people seem to know how to optimize it.
We Don’t Manage Time
The notion that we manage time is actually a mis-nomer. We manage activities. Have you ever known an agent who comes into the office every day, seems to work hard, yet makes little money? That person would tell you he manages his time. Yet, his time is spent doing the wrong activities. (Or, maybe, he intends to spend his time in non-productive activities…….).
A Major Principle for Great Time/Activity Management
In Up and Running in 30 Days, (use this program for your newer agents for business planning) I introduced the principle of categorizing activities so that you can tell whether you are spending your time in activities that will make you money—or not. All real estate activities can be categorized as either
Business producing or
Business supporting
Which are which: Those activities that have agents meeting people directly, working with people, and selling houses are business producing. All the rest are business supporting.
Which are your business producing activities? Are they recruiting, selecting, coaching, and training? If not, you’re not making the profit you should be making.
Click here to get my time/activity analysis, excerpted from The Business Planning System for the Owner, Manager, and Team Builder.
Let me know what you found out from your time/activity analysis, and the changes you’re making for next year’s business plan.
Now’s your opportunity to assess your strengths, make adjustments, and assure that your business plan for 2011 will work. Get all the information you need, the templates, and dozens of tips on how to be profitable. Special pricing, too, through December.
Click here to read more.
Bonuses: A business planning webinar and the hard copy of the webinar for your review.
Also: Don’t forget to check out my blog for agents, Up and Running in 30 Days, which also features business planning tips and ready to use checklists through December.
Stealth: How to Get your Agents to Make a Business Plan
Posted by: | CommentsThis month, I’m focusing on business planning, to help you and your agents get a great business plan for next year. Look for checklists, processes, and systems ready to use, too.
I know it’s a lot of work to get your agents to commit to paper on anything. And, from working with thousands of agents on business planning over the years, I know the challenges. But, for us managers, the huge pay-off comes not from what’s on paper, what, what’s in the head. When we use a good business planning process we literally teach agents how to think through their businesses.
Three Huge Stealth Strategies
1. Take Away Commitment Phobia
It’s estimated we are told ‘no’ 148,000 times prior to age eighteen. No wonder we don’t want to commit to try anything! I know from teaching adults to play the piano, that adults are conditioned not to try anything new for fear of not being perfect. To many, writing a business plan means planning to fail—and then getting punished for it.
So, the first time you introduce business planning, take away the old downside of goal setting (not reaching it and getting punished), and help your agents move in incremental steps forward—a step at a time, with lots of positive reinforcement along the way. You have to create a safe haven for first-time planners.
2. Eat the Elephant a Bite at a Time
One of the agents in an office where I just did a small group coaching series told me he put a picture of an elephant on the wall, and then literally divided the elephant into bite-sized pieces, with an action step listed on each bite. What a wonderful visual! For many of your agents, planning is just the most overwhelming process they could envision. So, simply start with one or two areas. Personally, I start with 2-3 areas in the Review. See my next blog for an example of this.
3. Make it Really Easy to Start
Have a great business planning system to provide your agents. (Never just ask them to make a business plan without a system to follow, because you’ll get all kinds of formats). Don’t overwhelm your agents with too many planning pages to start. Customize your package with each agent. If you can get each agent to look at 1-3 areas of his business, and plan change strategies for a better year in that area, you’ll have started the process—a process that will continue, grow, and reap big benefits by year three.
We Do What We See, Not What We are Told
Do you have a business plan? If not, why should your agents be interested ? Making your ‘stealth’ approach work means you must lead by example. Doing so creates a synergy between your plan and all the agents’ plans, and builds a strength that perseveres even in the toughest market.
What should be in an agent’s business planning system? Click here to see a ‘flow chart’.
Do you have the planning systems you need to assure you are covering all the bases with your agents’ plan-and your plan?
Check out The Business Planning System for the Real Estate Professional (for agents) and
Business Planning for the Owner, Manager, and Team Builder
Through December, special pricing on each resource–plus a FREE business planning webinar included in each purchase.
Business Planning: Avoid 5 Planning Mistakes
Posted by: | CommentsDuring November and December, I’m writing business planning blogs to help you create great plans with your agents. Check these blogs, too, for checklists, processes, and systems ready to use.
As you make your business plan, avoid the common mistakes that many real estate professionals make. Here they are:
MISTAKE #1
Betting on a business plan that’s only about 1/4 of a plan. Many of us write down our goals. Yet, that’s not a business plan. That’s just one part of the business plan. There are six parts to a real business plan:
a. Your vision-what do you have as an “end in mind”?
b. Your review-what happened last year?
c. Your mission-what are you about?
d. Your goals-expressed in the best terms for profitability today
e. Your action plan in each of 6 areas.
f. A method to measure your results.
Which parts do you include? What would your outcomes be if you thought through your business, covering all the bases?
Click here to see the ‘flow chart’ of a manager’s business planning system (excerpted from The Business Planning System for the Owner, Manager, and Team Builder). See the ‘special pricing’ and bonuses available through December, too.
MISTAKE #2
Ignoring the importance of ‘revenue units’ (sales and listings sold). Unfortunately, when we write our goals, we like to use those great million dollar numbers and measurements like market share. Yet, setting goals for revenue units assures that you keep your eye “on the ball”-homes sold, which make you money. There’s another huge benefit to focusing on revenue units: You can then integrate your agents’ plans with your office plan.
MISTAKE #3
Not doing a thorough review (or not doing a review at all). Looking back on your last year is so important, because it gives you the “hints” you need to write your best action plan for the next year. I think it also solves the problem of the manager trying to figure out what to do next.
For example: It’s amazing that brokers don’t know one of their most important numbers for profitability: percent of listings taken to listings sold. You may be wasting many dollars in marketing homes that won’t sell-no matter what you do. Also, your agents become unmotivated and depressed when their listings don’t sell. Knowing this ratio gives you direction for your training and coaching for the coming year. Create a higher ratio and you’ll be able to use it to recruit, too.
MISTAKE #4
Writing the plan ‘in a vacuum.’ Almost always, brokers sit down to torture themselves by writing a business plan in a room with the doors shut and no windows. But, they don’t know yet what their agents want to accomplish for the next year. The right way to plan is this: First, help each of your agents create a business plan. The sum of your agents’ goals should form the foundation for your goals. After all, your agents’ efforts should be reflected in your revenue unit goals, shouldn’t they? Yet, very few brokers even help their agents write business plans. So, they can’t really get good projections of what they think their agents will produce in the next year.
If you do assist your agents in their planning processes, you will have a much better foundation for a realistic business plan of your own. (That also means you should be consulting your agents on their business plans in November, so you’ll have all their plans together as you start creating your office plan).
MISTAKE #5
Not creating specific action plans in each of the action plan areas. Michael Gerber, a spectacular “guru” for small businesses, says “the integration of your systems is your business plan.”
In other words, if you have a real business plan, I should be able to read it, come into your office on any day, and see how you’re carrying out your business plan in recruiting, selecting, training, coaching, and marketing. You would be able to delegate many of your duties, too, because you had specific action plans for each of these areas. You would be able to measure your progress at any given point. Further, if you have created action plans that are systems, someone would be willing to buy your company from you, giving you a very attractive price! (That’s what Gerber terms “franchising.”)
Get Ahead of the Curve
If you don’t have a business plan, there’s still time to get one done. Just by thinking through your business, you’ll be ahead of 95% of your competing brokers! If you want to make more money, gain time, delegate more to others, open another office, or create an office that’s saleable, it all starts with thinking through your business, getting it down on paper, and attaching systems to each of your action plan areas. Now, you’ve got something you can run, you can delegate, and you can sell.