Going into Management: How Are You Going to Train?
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So you’re thinking of going into management. One of the great actions effective managers do is to create and implement a training program that actually gets results.
This month, I’m featuring blogs regarding going into management. Why? I’ve been interviewing for that next great leader. Unfortunately, I’ve found few candidates have prepared at all for management. (Read my earlier blogs for preparation needed).
Grab your training calendar from your office (you do have a training calendar, don’t you?). Do you believe that training is getting the biggest ‘bang’ for your training buck (effort expended, talent needed, results expected)?
Maybe you’re taking part in the training program. Are you frustrated because your training isn’t getting results? Or, people just aren’t showing up? Or, worse yet, falling asleep in that factoid-heavy class?
If you have access to your office’s profit and loss statements: Maybe you have a specific problem you’ve noticed when you read your latest profit and loss statement. For instance: Perhaps your agents are giving too many commission concessions.
Training can Solve Some Challenges–and Not Others
When you go into management, you’ll see various challenges that training can solve (and some challenges training can’t solve!). Decide which challenges you can solve by providing training (like increasing listings sold) and which challenges can’t be corrected by more training (ethical issues are hard to re-train to, since people’s ethics are pretty hard-wired into them in their early years!).
Pretend now you’re in management. If you’re experiencing any of these challenges, you’ll love the tool here. I’m providing an insightful analytical tool to discover what’s right–and wrong–with your training.
Three main reasons training isn’t working:
1. It isn’t tied to the problems you want to solve in your office (agents not productive enough, commissions too low, etc.)
2. It doesn’t teach your agents to perform better–just gives information
3. It isn’t exciting enough–teacher just drones on and on…..
As I work with owners, managers and trainers internationally, I see these same three problems crop up over and over.
How to Figure Out What’s Wrong with that training Program
From working with many managers over a period of years, I’ve created an analytical tool to figure out what’s good, bad, and ugly about that training program. Use it in your office. Or, if you have the guts, use it with your manager and then create a plan to create better training–with goals for specific, measurable results.
Click here to get your analytical tool — along with tips to correct your training to make it pay off.
Managers: Do you have someone you know would be a great manager? Start working with that person now. Get them into training. Have them take a great Instructor Development Course, team train, and, finally, start training on your program.
Affiliates: Share this with the managers/trainers in the offices you call on. Use these tips, too, to streamline the training you provide.
The Complete Training Guide for Real Estate–Gain Skills and Techniques
Here’s the comprehensive training tool that will help you create great training programs, become a confident, effective trainer, and help many more people succeed in real estate! Check it out here.
How much time should you spend in these management activities I’ve listed in the handout below?
This month, I’m featuring blogs regarding going into management. Why? I’ve been interviewing for that next great leader. Unfortunately, I’ve found few candidates have prepared at all for management. (Read my earlier blogs for preparation needed).
In my Leadership Mastery Coaching program, I provide several analysis tools to help new managers get started right with the best practices. At the end of this blog, grab my Time Analysis for Managers. Use this to set up your schedule (if you’re going into management). If you’re already in management or managing managers, use this to help managers get their priorities right for success.
Where Managers Go Right–and Wrong
In my most popular book, Up and Running in 30 Days, the new agent’s start-up plan, I divide all the activities an agent could do into two categories: business producing or business supporting. Business producing are those activities where the agent is finding, working with, and closing clients. Business supporting are all the rest of the activities. Where do you think agents go wrong? They spend too much time in business-supporting activities.
Now, let’s compare that to the categories and activities managers do. They also divide themselves nicely into busininess-producing and business supporting. (Take a look at my handout at the end of this blog).
How do You Spend Your Time?
From working with hundreds of managers in my Leadership Mastery program, I see that successful managers spend the majority of their time in business producing activities. The failing managers spend most of their time in business supporting activities. In fact, they become masters of the technical aspects of the business, and spend lots of time preparing and playing technology. (Sound familiar to those of you managing failing agents?) There’s nothing wrong with knowing the technical aspects of real estate and using technology. But, the failing manager focuses and ‘lives’ there.
What’s Your Conclusion?
Let me know how you used this analysis tool. General managers: What did you find when you had a manager use this tool? What changes will you help them make?
Grab my Time Analysis for Managers. Use this to set up your schedule (if you’re going into management). If you’re already in management or managing managers, use this to help managers get their priorities right for success.
Resources (Some are FREE) to Gain those Management Skills
This month, I’m offering some of my management resources free with purchase of other resources. Check it out here.
Rate Yourself on your Management Skills
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Rate yourself on your management skills, so you’ll know what you need to work on prior to going into management (or if you’re already in management).
Are you thinking of going into management? Few of us knew the skills–or the level of skill attainment–we needed to succeed in the job. I want to help all of you who want to go into management to succeed at a high level. Thus, these blogs.
For the past couple of months, I’ve been interviewing potential managers. I’ve found that almost none had done any ‘prep’ work to go into the position. Yet, successful managers have developed specific, somewhat unique skills to do their jobs. And, what I’ve found is that these skills must be at least partially developed before we launch ourselves into management–or else we get swamped by all these new challenges hitting us in the face!
In an earlier blog, I discussed the skills we need to have honed prior to going into management. In this blog, we’ll tackle getting those skills in certain areas.
At the end of this blog: grab my assessment tool I use in my Leadership Mastery coaching series to help new managers plan for this skill attainment.
The Biggest Skill Area Managers Need Today to Succeed
What do you think it is? It’s recruiting and selecting skill. Why? Because, there’s so much competition for good agents that a manager just can’t sit back and wait for agents to come to them. It isn’t the old days (although I never was able to do that in my ‘old days!’).
These skills are the same skills good agents use to expand their businesses. That’s why we need to hire managers who have been successful recruiters and selectors. Notice I said recruiters and selectors. I know companies brag about how mahy gross recruits they landed that month or year, but, long-term, it’s those who stay, prosper, and grow with the company that add to the profitability of all.
One of the standards you need to create when you’re hiring a manager is
How successful was that agent as a business getter? What’s the number of transactions you would accept?
How to Get Recruiting and Selecting Skills
Your company may have a course focusing on these skills. If so, take it prior to going into management. Overall, the best courses out there for management are the CRB courses, leading to the Certified Real Estate Broker designation. I highly recommend them. Here’s the link.
What’s Your Agent Track Record?
In addition, if you don’t have a track record of at least 12-20 transactions a year as an agent, in my opinion, you have not developed the skills in recruiting and selecting you will need as a successful agent. It’s my experience that agents who didn’t actively lead generate will carry that habit into management. They will balk at lead generating for agents, and they will fight upper management to the death–and to everyone’s detriment.
Resource (Some are FREE) to Gain those Management Skills
This month, I’m offering some of my management resources free with purchase of other resources. Check it out here.
Grab the leadership skill assessment here.
Managers or general managers: If you’re hiring a new manager, help them evaluate their skill levels and then create a training and coaching program to assure they get those skills before they launch their management career.
Here’s how to find out if management is in your future–and how to prepare to succeed.
** See my prioritized job description of a manager as a handout–along with the number of hours I recommend you spend in each activity.
For the past couple of months, I’ve been interviewing potential managers. I’ve found that almost none had done any ‘prep’ work to go into the position. Yet, successful managers have developed specific, somewhat unique skills to do their jobs. And, what I’ve found is that these skills must be at least partially developed before we launch ourselves into management–or else we get swamped by all these new challenges hitting us in the face!
Skills you need to effectively develop individuals:
- Lead generation/recruiting/presentation skills
- Interviewing/selection skills (both for agents and staff)
- Coaching skills (along with a proven coaching approach)
- Training skills
- Management: Ability to create and implement a business plan
- Ability to create and implement a training plan as part of your business plan
- Ability to create and implement a leadership council, for participative management/ develop that leadership
- Ability to create meaningful office and staff meetings
In these blogs, I’ll make some recommendations to you about how to get those skills. Unfortunately, we go into management thinking either
- We have enough of the skills to succeed
- There aren’t skills needed to suceed in management
- I’ll learn ‘on the job’
The Best Management Training Courses Out There
Are you familiar with The CRB courses? These are offered by an arm of the National Association of Realtors, and are, by far, the best management courses out there.
Here’s the link: https://www.rebinstitute.com/. It’s called Real Estate Business Institute now. I highly recommend the courses.
When to take these courses? Before you go into management! They are offered throughout the United States (and some in Canada). I was an instructor with the Institute for 12 years, and so I know the value of these courses (I also took several of them prior to going into management).
Investigating Management
Have you interviewed at least 5 managers to find out what they do and how they got the skills to do it? If not, start your interviews now. You’ll find a wide range of management descriptions, of course. Some managers will describe what I call ‘maintenance management’–keeping the place running by doing administrative duties and listening to agent complaints. That’s not what it takes today to succeed in ‘active’ management. In fact, I think a great manager can be compared best to a great or mega-agent.
Questions you’ll want to ask:
- What’s your biggest challenge in management?
- What’s your biggest win?
- What’s different from management than you thought before you went into management?
- How do you create a real team?
- How do you recruit?
- How did you prepare to go into management?
Suggestion: Ask for a copy of the manager’s job description. I’ll bet few of them have ever seen one!
Here’s the link to the prioritized manager’s job description.
Another way to prepare to go into management: See my management resources at www.carlacross.com.
Want to Go Into Management? Try ‘Perfect Practice’
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Want to go into management? Try ‘perfect practice’ to get the skills you need BEFORE you jump into the job.
This month, I’m taking what I’ve learned as a musical performer from age 4 to the world of leadership and sales. (And, read my musical quotes at the end of each blog. I hope you’ll get a chuckle!)
Are You Prepared–or Just Hopeful?
My son owns a real estate company, and I help him initially screen candidates for manager and assistant manager. He has created a very detailed job description for any of those applying. Yet, we see two problems:
- Most of the candidates do not meet the qualifications the job requires
- Even the borrderline candidates have done nothing to prepare themselves for the job
For several years, I was a regional director of now the largest real estate company in the world. One of my jobs was finding and screening leadership. Boy, did I learn a lot! So, with that experience, I’m writing some tips here for those of you who want to step from sales into management (and for those looking for leadership). I’m not going to address the first problem. For example, some candidates just haven’t had job experience of any type in real estate. Although I know there are exceptions, generally, if you haven’t successfully sold real estate, you won’t understand, emphasize and be able to ‘develop’ agents successfully.
The Principle to Prepare: Perfect Practice Makes Perfect
Of course, this principle comes from my world of music. I learned this from my college piano professor.
. That means hundreds or thousands of hours in the practice room, not in performing! (In other words, you have to practice your little heart out before they’ll let you loose in front of discerning people!) It’s drudgery and you wonder what you’re accomplishing. But, this perfect practice pays off when you have to perform in front of thousands and put to use your ‘muscle memory’. When you’re performing all those notes so quickly, you don’t have time to consciously figure out where your fingers should go (just like you do’t have time in an interview to figure out a good interview process!!!!)What This Means to Your Preparation for Management
Here’s a straightforward job description for a successful leadership-manager:
Find and develop people
Skills you need to effectively develop individuals:
- Lead generation/recruiting/presentation skills
- Interviewing/selection skills (both for agents and staff)
- Coaching skills (along with a proven coaching approach)
- Training skills
- Management: Ability to create and implement a business plan
- Ability to create and implement a training plan as part of your business plan
- Ability to create and implement a leadership council, for participative management/ develop that leadership
- Ability to create meaningful office and staff meetings
How Are You going to Develop Those Skills–Before You Get into Performance?
Go through the checklist/description above. Ask yourself: Have you devleoped those skills? If not, are you going to wait and ‘wing it’ on the job? As a pianist, I wouldn’t dare ever get in front of people to perform without having practiced!
Next blog: Suggestions in how to do that perfect practice in each of these areas.
Managers: Share this blog with those who are interested in going into leadership. In later blogs, I’ll share some analytical tools I’ve developed to help you help others develop their leadership skills.
Just for chuckles:
“I can’t listen to that much Wagner. I start getting the urge to conquer Poland.” — Woody Allen
What Personal Benefit Are You Giving Your Agents?
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What personal benefit are you giving your agents?
This month, I’m taking what I’ve learned as a musical performer from age 4 to the world of leadership and sales. (And, read my musical quotes at the end of each blog. I hope you’ll get a chuckle!)
Are You Just Following a ‘Template’?
As a musical performer, I know you first have to learn the music (the ‘template’). But then, you have to add YOU. That is, you have to add the interpretation that ‘speaks’ to you personally. Otherwise, it’s just notes on a page. So many times, I’ve seen leadership and salespeople merely follow the template. That’s great for a beginning, but it doesn’t create a connection to others. In fact, it creates a dissonance. You know what I mean. You’ve heard a salesperson say, “Does 1 PM or 2 PM Tuesday work for you?” You probably want to scream (as I do), “Be human, you’re not an automaton.” Now, it’s fine to give people choices, but, if you sound as though you just memorized those words, and are not actually interacting with another human being, you’re creating distrust, not rust!
Adding YOU, the Personal Benefit
As a leader, you bring to your associates some very unique and valued attributes. However, many times leaders do not use these attributes to commnicate and gain trust. Instead, they rely on the old ‘templates’–those cliches and sayings that we just don’t find ‘ring true’. For example: You have a background in art. Are you using that background to communicate and ‘share’ YOU with your agents? If not, you’re missing an opportunity to relate. And, in this day in age, relationships are what hold a person in a company.
Here’s a great quote that expresses what I’m suggesting:
Live your truth. Express your love. Share your enthusiasm. Take action towards your dreams. Walk your talk. Dance and sing to your music. Embrace your blessings. Make today worth remembering. ― Steve Maraboli
What’s YOUR Music?
When I’m teaching people how to be great instructors (Instructor Development Workshop), I give them ‘templates’ to follow to create course modules. However, I tell them to just ‘listen to the music, not the words.’ Translation: I don’t want them to memorize each word. Instead, I want them to feel the rhythm of the process and follow that. The outcomes: Great presentations with relaxed presenters!
Your Turn
Look back on your life.
What life experiences have added to your success? What skills do you bring to what you do today? How can you communicate those as a benefit to those you serve?Want guidance in how to teach with verve and confidence? Check out all my training guides at my website, carlacross.com.
Just for Fun
Last night at Carnegie Hall, Jack Benny played Mendelssohn. Mendelssohn lost.
Harold C. Schonberg
When she started to play, Steinway himself came down personally and rubbed his name off the piano.
Bob Hope, on Phyllis Diller
Remember Jack Benny and Phyllis Diller? They may not have been concert artists, but they used their musical talent to differentiate themselves–and make light of it, too!
Knock Their Socks Off Audios
By · CommentsKnock Their Socks off CD 1
Knock Their Socks off CD 2
Are You a Good Business Planning Coach?
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It’s time to do your business plan! So, my blogs through December and early January will focus on helping you create that business plan–and getting your agents to plan.
You’ve decided to coach your agents in creating great business plans. but, if you’ve never coached an agent in business planning, it can be quite daunting.A� So, what do you look for? In this blog, I’ll show you how to use their statistic
listings taken to listings sold in normal market time.
to coach them to a better year next year. You would think agents know this statistic, but very few do. Ita��s so important, because it
- Determines whether the agent makes enough money per listing or not
- Determines whether the agent builds a positive reputation or a poor one
- Reflects the agenta��s value-proposition strategy
- Reflects on the officea��s productivity and profitability
Your success rate with listings sold is, in my opinion, the one most important reflection of agent value propositions out there.
For example: A�George Smith, a 10-year seasoned agent, has demonstrated a consistent listing strategy. A�Georgea��s a�?success ratioa�� is 40%. That is, he sells 40% of his listings in normal market time. What does that say about Georgea��s values proposition strategy? How is George a�?usinga�� his listings? Is that the culture you want perpetuated in your office?
Sally Overton has a different value proposition strategy. She has a 90% success ratio in listings taken to listings sold in normal market time. Obviously, she is building her referral systema��her raving fans. She is making herself more money in less time. She is drastically reducing the number of complaints (and attacks on her self-esteem, too). She is a role model for best practices in her real estate office. Is that practice more in line with your culture?
Your opportunity: As Georgea��s business planning consultant, youa��ll be a�?testinga�� George to see if he wants tochange his strategy (some agents love being a�?bait and switchersa�� too much to change). Youa��ll have the opportunity to help Sally leverage her awesome conversion rates to obtain even more raving fans. (Nothing succeeds like success).
Do you know your ‘conversion numbers’ in listings taken to listings sold for your company? When you make your own plan, be sure to do a thorough review, and find this number. A high number means you’ll be able to recruit better, get better retention, have better team spirit, and your agents can build on that reputation. A low number means you have a lot to work on!
Click here for a list of common agent business planning mistakes to help you as you coach agents through the planning process.
Excerpted from my online agent business planning system, Beyond the Basics of Business Planning.
Grab My Online Business Planning Program
Thought you’d get it done but it’s still on your ‘to do’ list? I want to help!
Managers: Frustrated because you can’t get your agents to plan? Problem solved! I’ve put my exclusive planning pages online–plus webinars to help you get through that plan fast. Don’t wait another year for business success. See more here.
Managers: I’ll teach your agents how to plan, too! Included in your Manager’s Package!
Ready to order? Click below:
Beyond the Basics of Business planning for Managers $249 (includes all the agent planning materials, too!)
Beyond the Basics of Business Planning for Agents $99
It’s time to do your business plan! So, my blogs for December and early January focus on helping you create that business plan–and getting your agents to plan.
So often, our business plans are ‘big picture’. It’s lovely, it’s inspirational–and it’s utterly not useful to our everyday practice! For a business plan to work, it has to have the ‘big picture’ parts (vision, review, mission, objectives) AND the action plan parts–those things you really intend to do each day and week. These are the actions that result in reaching your monthly and yearly goals.
What Action Plans do Leaders Need?
Here’s a graphic from my online resource, Beyond the Basics of Business Planning. You can see the specific action areas I think you need in your business plan. I made these divisions so that you actually could create action plans that had relevance to what you do every day. And, accomplishing actions in these areas assures you are taking daily steps to reach your goals.
Action Plans Must Relate to Your Goals
Too often, when we get to the weekly and daily tasks, the actions that effect our bottom line just don’t happen.
For example: You’ll see that recruiting plans are one area of our action plans. But, life gets in the way and we just don’t recruit. So, to assure you do the actions you KNOW will result in greater productivity and profits, use these divisions and make your specific plans. In my business planning systems, I’ve made detailed, fill-in forms that assure you think through and make action plans for each of these areas–action plans you can rely on. Otherwise, my experience shows that brokers just don’t get to the details of action planning.
Click here to get a copy of these action plan areas.
Grab My Online Business Planning Program
Thought you’d get it done but it’s still on your ‘to do’ list? I want to help!
Managers: Frustrated because you can’t get your agents to plan? Problem solved! I’ve put my exclusive planning pages online–plus webinars to help you get through that plan fast. Don’t wait another year for business success. See more here.
Managers: I’ll teach your agents how to plan, too! Included in your Manager’s Package!
Ready to order? Click below:
Beyond the Basics of Business planning for Managers $249 (includes all the agent planning materials, too!)
Beyond the Basics of Business Planning for Agents $99
It’s time to do your business plan! So, my next blogs will focus on helping you create that business plan–and getting your agents to plan.
Leta��s get real. Your agentsA�arena��t motivated to build that business plan–and we aren’t either. We know wea��re supposed to write business plans. Yet, if your agents areA�like 95% of real estate professionals, doing that seems just like an exercise in futility. Most business plans don’t inspire.
Leaving out the ‘Magic’?
There are components left out of most plansa��components that put the inspiration and motivation into your plan and your agents’ plans. I’ll give you specific guidance for you to put that magic into businessA�plans, so you and your agents are inspired every daya��not only to complete the plan, but to use it as a very personalized and specific guide to your success.
A�A�Why Are Most Business Plans Useless?A�
Unfortunately, when most people write business plans, all they do is fill in some blanks with a�?guess numbersa��. The problem here is that numbers in blanks arena��t inspiring. They arena��t motivating. They dona��t call out and suggest to you that you should look at those numbers once in awhile!
A�What Really Motivates Us?A�
If numbers inspired us, wea��d all be gazillionaires selling real estate. After all, we say we want to sell more homes than the average agent. We want to make more money than the average agent. You know the drill, and Ia��ve heard it from hundreds of agents hundreds of times. Yet, if numbers and money were motivators, our results would be different than they are.A� The fact is that money, in itself, is not a motivator. Ita��sA�
what we want to do with the moneyA�
And thata��s as individual as we are. Martin Luther King didna��t say, a�?I have a business plan.a�? He said, a�?I have a dreama�?. You must include the a�?dreama�� part of your future in your business plans to make that plan useful to you. That means, you as a business consultant, need to include the three ‘missing’ parts of business plans that I describe below.
A�Building the a�?Whya�� Into your Business PlansA�
Thata��s the motivator. In other words, we have to have a big a�?whya��. Most business plans dona��t build in the a�?whya��. Thata��s why they fall flat, and leave us cold. Thata��s why agents dona��t want to go through the exercise of creating them. Managers always commiserate that they cana��t get their agents to write business plans. You wouldna��t want to write a plan, either, if you know it wouldna��t help you with your business the next year.
The Tools to Find that a�?Whya��A�
Most people think of business plans as projections of numbers. But, thata��s not all there is to a real strategic plan. There are three parts of a business plan that provide that inspiration, that motivation, and that a�?whya��. And, those are the parts of the planning process that are most frequently left out:A�
- Your visiona��why youa��re in this business; how you see yourself after you retire
- Your reviewa��what happened in your business that will make an impact on your business in the future
- Your missiona��who are you in the business
Grab My Online Business Planning Program–at Discounts!
Thought you’d get it done but it’s still on your ‘to do’ list? I want to help! So, I’ve adding a discount on my online business planning resources through Dec.31 .
Managers: Frustrated because you can’t get your agents to plan? Problems solved! I’ve put my exclusive planning pages online–plus webinars to help you get through that plan fast. Don’t wait another year for business success. See more here.
Special discounts through Dec. 31 Purchase the agent’s planning resource, Beyond the Basics of Business Planning for agents, and save $20 (regularly $99). Use coupon code agent bus plan.
Managers: I’ll teach your agents how to plan, too! Included in your Manager’s Package!
Purchase the manager’s planning resource, Beyond the Basics of Business Planning for Managers, with all office/company planning documents and save $50. Use coupon code manager bus plan.
Offer ends Dec. 31: Big discounts on these programs–use the coupon codes below to order.
Ready to order? Click below:
Beyond the Basics of Business planning for Managers — regularly $249, now $199 with coupon code manager bus plan
Beyond the Basics of Business Planning for Agents –regularly $99, now $79 with coupon code agent bus plan
Remember, this special offer expires Dec. 31, so, order now and get your business plan ready for 2019.