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.
Help Your Agents Create Great Missions for Purpose
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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.
Do your agents have mission statements as part of their business plans?A�Why is having a mission important? How should it guide agents? You’ve heard the talks about finding your passion. But, you see your agents being over-whelmed in their careers. It’s just too much to think big when they’re A�just trying to find that house or convince a buyer to work with them!
The Importance of Your Mission
This time of year, we’re encouraging everyone to create their business plans. One of the first things you’ll do in creating your own business plan is to define your mission. Why? Because, otherwise, you don’t know whether or not the actions you decide to take will fulfill your mission. This is also true of your agents.
Tackling and Bringing Down your Time Management Challenges
If agents have been in the sales business a little while,A�they’ve already discovered thatA�their biggest challenge is time management.A� HowA�can theyA�get done in a business day everything that needs getting done? That’s where your mission comes in. Creating your mission helps you prioritizeA�all the things you’re supposed to do. It helps you decide what not to do. Most important, it helps you figure out
A�A�A�A� how to put YOU into your management and sales business successfully
I have a gift for you right now, to help you assist your agents indefining their missions (it works for leadership, too). Click here to get this planning tool, which is excerpted from my online resource Beyond the Basics of Business Planning.
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.
Business Planning: Have You Left Out your Mission?
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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.
Whata��s your mission? Ita��s time to begin writing your business plan for 2019. In the next few blogs, I want to give you a few tips on creating various parts of your business plan. One of the important, but often-left-out parts of a business plan is your mission statement. What it is? Ita��s literally your mission in your business.
Mission statements answer the questions:
Why are you in this business?
What do you want to accomplish?
How are you going to achieve your mission?
Whata��s important to you?
Why Have a Mission Statement?
To keep yourself on track.
To decide what you will and wona��t do.
To state who you work with (and to think about who you wouldna��t work with).
For time management
For clarity and focus
To use as a springboard to your marketing
Mission statements should be:
a�? Well-defined
a�? Restrictive
a�? Complementary with your company statement (and the company statement should be reflected in any branch office/associate statements)
Mission statements are:
a�? Not lightly changed (usually stay the same through your
yearsa�� business plans)
a�? Written in the present tense
a�? Do not contain objectives or goals
a�? Not tied to time
Mission Statements Are Not Objectives or Goals
Mission statements are not quantifiable. Leave out any numbers a�� they go into your objectives. Following is an example: A person may write, a�?I am a profitable agent. I will make a profit of $50,000 every year.a�? The first part of the statement, a�?I am a profitable agenta�? has a place in a mission statement. But the last part of the statement is an objective, or quantifiable end result, and should be placed in another section of your plan. The mission statement is broader; it guides you as you make long-term decisions. The above offers some valuable tips on writing mission statements.
Mission Statements Arena��t Changed Lightly
Because mission statements are really statements of you as a businessperson, these statements are not lightly changed a�� just as you would not lightly change yourself. That does not mean that you might not work over time on how your statement is constructed, but it does mean that you do not change the essence of the statement, the specialties, the ideals a�� without considerable thought.
Mission Statements a�� In the Present
Statements should be written in the present tense. These statements convey you at your best a�� how you see yourself as a real estate professional. Because you may not have actually attained the picture you have in mind, you may be writing about yourself as you see yourself in the future. To cement that thought in your mind, use present tense verbs as you create your statement.
How to Use your Mission Statement
a�? To reflect back and forth throughout your business plan (Are
your actions congruent with your plan?)
a�? In your officea��framed in your entry
a�? In your marketing materials
a�? In your Professional Portfolio
a�? In your pre-first visiting listing and buyer packages
a�? In your email signatures
a�? On your website
Mission statements first clarify for you whata��s important, your focus, and your limitations. Then, they help consumers choose you. Use the parameters above to create your mission statement.
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.
How to Get 95% of Your Agents to Make a Business Plan
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Webinar on 2010 business planning
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.
What do you want to bet that 95% of real estate agents wona��t have a business plan for 2019. But, wouldna��t it be awesome of could reverse that percentage? Here are some steps that will work for you. I know, because I got 95% of the agents in my real estate offices not only to create plans, but to actually look at them throughout the year. Herea��s how.
1. Take Away Commitment Phobia
Ita��s estimated we are told a�?noa�� 148,000 times prior to age eighteen. No wonder we dona��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 faila��and then getting punished for it.
So, the first time you introduce business planning, take away the old downside of goal setting and help your agents move in incremental steps forwarda��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.
What to review
My favorite is listings taken to listings sold in normal market time. You would think agents know this statistic, but very few do. Ita��s so important, because it
a. Determines whether the agent makes enough money per listing or not
b. Determines whether the agent builds a positive reputation or a poor one
c. Reflects the agenta��s value-proposition strategy
d. 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: George Smith, a 10-year seasoned agent, has demonstrated a consistent listing strategy. 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?
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.
Your opportunity: As Georgea��s business planning consultant, youa��ll be a�?testinga�� George to see if he wants to change 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).
3. Make it Really, Really Easy to Start
Have a great business planning process to provide your agents. (Never just ask them to make a business plan, because youa��ll get all kinds of formats). Dona��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, youa��ll have started the processa��a process that will continue, grow, and reap big benefits by year three.
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.
Major Red Flags in Your Interview Process
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Do you know the major red flags that can pop up in your interview process?
For the last few blogs, I’ve been blogging about that all-important interview process. We’ve talked about the dangers of ignoring the red flags. We’ve investigated how to discover those red flags.
I just want to hang my license (usually stated over the phone; my response is that I want to hang them…)
What are your commissions? If stated in the first five minutes of the interview (I’ve never interviewed an agent I hired who started the interview that way)
I want a special deal. –also usually stated in the first five minutes of the interview, or even over the phone (what makes them so ‘special’?)
Personally, I have never interviewed a candidate who was a a fit with one of my offices when they led with these questions.
Are these red flags to you? If not, why not?
Other Red Flags
The candidate won’t fill out any paperwork (pre-appointment questionnaire or application)
They drop in and expect me to drop everything to meet with them (they must think we managers just sit around waiting for Their Excellencies to show up)
They’re late to the interview just don’t show up!
They obviously didn’t make an effort to dress in business attire for the interview (I realize this varies greatly by area, but you can tell if the person made an effort).
Specific Red Flags To Notice in the Interview Itself
They won’t answer my questions, or, when they answer, they answer as though it was a question for me to acknowledge
They won’t let me set the structure and tone of the interview (they immediately want to know what I will do for them)
They say they don’t know their production for the past year with any metrics (or, if they do, they won’t share it)
They defend their low production and/or are accepting of a few transactions a year.
They don’t have an idea of how they will change their production for the better.
They seem enamored with the companies that have already hired them in a 15-minute a interview (low self-esteem, anyone?)
They have been sold on the companies that tell them they will provide them leads.
They want to be hired on the spot. They’re not willing to do a 2-interview process, even when I explain the benefits to them.
As you can tell from my red flags, my values and vision drive my judgement about these candidates.
What are your Red Flags?
One broker’s red flags may be another broker’s acceptable standards. What are yours? List five red flags or knock-out factors. What process or system do you have to discover them? Decide whether you would absolutely not hire an agent who demonstrated that behavior, or whether it was a minor flag. Finally, how many of those minor red flags do you need to identify before you rule that candidate not suitable for your team?
Want to streamline your selection process and recruit more winners? Check out Your Blueprint to Selecting Winners. I’ll give you great questions to ask. But, better than that, I’ll show you how to craft questions to discover exactly what YOU”RE looking for.
Your Selection Process: Talking or Asking?
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Think back to the last time you qualified a buyer, a seller, or a recruiting candidate. How much talking did you do? How many questions did you ask? Unfortunately, too many of us go into sales because we’re good talkers. Then, we wonder why we’re not burning up the world selling real estate. It’s because we’re talking too much. The same is true with us managers when we start recruiting/selecting. Here are some recommendations on talk vs. listening. You’l make more sales and gain more recruits with these tips.
How Much Talking?
Why? Because you want to gather all the information you can from your client or recruiting candidate. How come? Because you have to have that information do decide- If you want that person as a client or agent recruit
- Do you want to do a presentation
Also, if we don’t know their hidden needs and sub-conscious motivations, how are we going to help them make buying decisions?
Here’s what that process should look like, whether you’re an agent or a broker.
excerpted from The Complete Recruiter.
Why don’t we ask more Questions?
If it’s so important to ask all those questions, why don’t we do it?
- We get nervous, so we talk
- We don’t have the questions
- We don’t understand the significance
- We’ve focused on the tell or the sell, thinking that was the way to convince people to work with us
The Significance of the Questions
How do we know when we haven’t been able to sell something to a client? They don’t buy. But, here’s the problem. It’s way too late then. Sure. We can become masters at objection-countering, memorization, and jam it down their throats. But, that’s an awfully old-fashioned way to try to sell, and consumers hate that today.
Closing and then Answering Objections– Not Today’s Best Method
We take all kinds of classes to learn to answer objections and close. We think that we’re supposed to sell, sell–get those objections and answer them so beautifully that the client acquiesces and falls at our feet, buying whatever we want them to buy. Happens once in awhile. But, we don’t gain loyal clients who will refer us to others. Instead, we create lots of buyers with buyers’ remorse.
I hope you’re now convinced to ask questions. In the next blog, I’ll discuss more about this process, and give you some questions you can ask to screen potential new recruits–before you get them into your office (a great time saver).
Before I leave: How many questions do you ask a potential recruit? Are you satisfied with your selection process?
Want to streamline your selection process and recruit more winners? Check out Your Blueprint to Selecting Winners. I’ll give you great questions to ask. But, better than that, I’ll show you how to craft questions to discover exactly what YOU”RE looking for.
What You Need in a Post-Interview Package
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Recruiting: Here’s what you need in your post-interview package. This month, I’m focusing on recruiting and selecting systems, to help you work faster and better and recruiter winners.
Remember 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. This is 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
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’ree 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.
Want to avoid re-inventing the wheel? Check out my recruiting resources here.
Are You Talking too Much in the Interview?
By · CommentsAre you talking too much in the interview?
A lot of recruiters/interviewers think that, if they’re great talkers, they’re great recruiters (same as agents think talking equals selling…..)
You’re a manager who recruits. You want to get winners in that recruiting seat. You pride yourself on being a great talker. (A manager once told me he just talks them to death–until they say they’ll join the company–what a great screening method-not!) But, too much talking is just old-style hard ‘selling’–and that’s certainly not the bulk of an effective selection process.
Ask, Don’t Tell
Probe to find out more. Keep finding out more until you’re really sure you know what they mean. Let me give you an example:The recruit says, “I want a deal.”
Do you jump to a conclusion because you know what a deal means? Don’t. You may be surprised. Instead, ask questions at what does a deal mean to that recruit? When you know exactly what the recruit means, you can proceed to find what he really wants–instead of what someone else told him he should ask for!
A Pre-Screening Process for New Agent Candidates to Save you Time
Ask these questions before you spend time and money chasing candidates who don’t meet your standards. Click here to get my knockout factors on the phone.
Use In-Depth Questionnaires to Discover Real Needs
Besides using these preliminary questions, always use written in-depth questionnaires so you’ll know
- The benefits to the features/needs stated
- Hidden objections you may not discover until too late
- Motivations to buy that not even the buyers realize they have
Ever heard the term “buyers are liars”? I think that’s not really the case. I think that we don’t ask the right questions to help buyers (our recruits) clarify what they really want. Most ?buyers of services don’t know what they really want. They think they want a better commission split. But, what they’re really looking for is the motivation provided by secrity. That means different things to different people. Find out what’s really motivating your candidate, not just what he says to your basic questions.
Ask the Right Questions in the Right Order and You Won’t Have to Close
Finding the motivators of your buyers (recruit/candidate) is key to helping them make the right buying decisions for themselves. All you have to do to close is to remind them that this product fulfills their needs. And, how do you get there? By creating and using the right questions in the right order.
Don’t forget to grab your pre-screening process–knockout factors to ask on the phone: click here.
Want to streamline your selection process and recruit more winners? Check out Your Blueprint to Selecting Winners. It’s completely digital, so you get all the information right now. Includes an 11-step proven process to interview successfully. Do you have a process or do you just ‘wing it’?
5 More Recruiting Mistakes to Avoid
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In an earlier post, we explored 5 of the 10 biggest mistakes I’ve seen real estate recruiters make–and, admittedly, I’ve made. After all, I started like most of you–here’s your desk, here’s your phone……you know the drill…
By the way, I put a picture of a coach reading off a layer, because that’s certainly a mistake we make in management! (Or, you could interpret it as me yelling at you to avoid these mistakes….)
So, here’s the rest of my list. What did I leave out? Why are we selecting so many who fail to make it in real estate?
6. Recruiting agents without the necessary skills or motivation to be
successful
There are the agents that fall over at the first objection (and there are many, even though they tell us they’re tenacious!) We keep beating our heads against stone walls recruiting agents who are deficient in the two skill sets we say are most important to real state success: technical (computer) skills and sales skills. We hire them, and then we pour thousands of dollars down a black hole trying to train them to do the things they won’t or can’t do.
Why not hire agents who already have technical and sales skills? In my program, The Complete Recruiter, I ask managers to make a list of the skills and qualities they feel are critical in the agents they hire. Please do that. Then, create questions that bring out whether an agent has the skills and qualities you need.
7. Talking too much in the interview process
Well, it’s not really an interview process to most managers. It’s actually a talk marathon, where the manager talks to the would-be agent until the agent gets tired and agrees (or not) to join the company. That’s what dozens of agents have described as their “recruiting interview”.
What are you doing while the interviewee is talking? Asking questions and listening. What are you listening for? Whether or not that interviewee has the necessary amounts of the skills and qualities you want. How do you assure you’ve got the complete story? Probe around that one idea until you’re completely assured that the interviewee has sufficient strength of that trait or skill. The Complete Recruiter has lots of tips on mastering sales skills for recruiting. This is just one of them.
8. Selling all the features and benefits of the company in the same way to each recruit
That’s simply because the manager didn’t ask good questions at the beginning of the process. If he had, he would’ve discovered what needs the agent wanted met. Then, he would’ve designed his presentation to meet those needs.
9. No recruiting plan
A few years ago I was the head writer for the CRB (Certified Real Estate Broker) People Management course. This course includes recruiting, selecting, training, and motivating agents for high productivity. I was excited to teach the course the first time, and was thrilled that there were about sixty managers in the course. I found that most of them had been in the business over ten years.
I wanted to create something where they could share recruiting experiences and a wins, so I decided to do a little contest for best recruiting campaign. I introduced the contest the first morning, and waited for the entries. There were none. At the beginning of the second day I asked the students if it was a dumb contest, or what seemed to be the barriers. They told me that none of them had a recruiting plan, much less a campaign! How could you implement your recruiting moves without a plan of action? We pound into our agents heads the idea of business plans. Yet, we dona’t have plans for the most important of all our activities–recruiting. If you’re among the 95% of managers who don’t have a plan, I’ve provided a simple, straightforward method of planning in The Complete Recruiter.
10. No system for agent follow-up
You’ve interviewed the agent. The agent doesn’t join that day. Now, what happens? In most companies–nothing! You need a contact management system. You need a contact plan. You need materials, and you need strategy. Finally, you need someone to run that plan. Hire a competent assistant and let that assistant engage your plan. This agent follow-up is really a part of your overall recruiting plan. You expect your agents to do it, and you need to do this, too, with your potential recruits. Remember, follow up until they buy or die!
It doesn’t take a masterful recruiter to win all the awards. All it really takes is determination and persistence. And, when you look at the few managers who actively recruit, you know that merely taking a stab at in a consistent manner will win you many recruits. Start now!
How is your Recruiting Plan Working?
Well, shall we be honest? You probably don’t have a plan. At least, that’s my experience in training and coaching thousands of owners and managers. If you don’t have a plan, how do you know what to do each day to find, select, and recruit those you really want? How do you measure how you’re doing? The Complete Recruiter has it all: the plan, the dialogues, the systems. Get it this month at a blazingly good price, too! Find out more here.