Art and Science of Team Building

Three Types of People and How they Fit in Real Estate

jan@janobrien.com (Jan O'Brien) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 05:25:12 +0000

I started my “second career” in real estate in 1993 and have experiences success at all levels – as a listing and sales agent, sales manager, broker-manager, general manager, trainer and coach. During my early management days I used to think I could ”fix” people. I would hire 10 new agents to my office and just know that because my company had the best tools, training and support and that I cared and was a great manager – I could get most of these new agents to be successful in the business. Here’s the reality – you can’t fix people. They are who they are! Each person comes with their own degree of self-confidence, personality traits, behaviors and success characteristics.

Now they all have the dream and wish to be successful in the real estate business. Success for many first year real estate agents is to earn $100,000. Whenever I teach a business plan class to new agents and ask “how much money do you want to make this year, inevitably the response is $100,000. It is possible to earn this in your first year if you are willing to get out of your comfort zone and get in front of enough people who need your service – to buy or sell real estate. It also requires sales skill, inventory (market) knowledge, and technical expertise. This business requires constant, ongoing education and training. And, as always, experience is the best teacher.

So, why do so many fail in this business? Why are approximately 75% of agents out of the business within the first two years of being licensed?

I have been studying this issue for many years and have come to the following conclusions. Approximately 10-15% of the active agent population enjoys great success and are the highest income earners – the “Top Producers”. I have found that this group of people exhibit common characteristics that I believe lead to this ultimate business success.

To better understand the three types let’s take a look at the following factors for each group: Risk vs. Security; Specific behaviors and characteristics; Desired role and responsibilities

The Entrepreneur
· The calculated risk-taker
· They are not afraid to work alone
· Natural salesman, enjoy the art of the deal (the rainmakers)
· They are driven, success-oriented, persistent,
· Type-A personality, with a great work ethic.
· FIT: Team Leader or Individual Lead Agent (Approximately 10% of the population)

The Manager
· The person who prefers to manage, supervise, and coach others
· Their motivation is to give back, to inspire, to build confidence in others
· They generally have management/supervisory experience prior to real estate
· They are more detail-oriented, good administrators and systemizers.
· FIT: Team Manager/Office Manager (Approximately 20-25% of the population)

The Individual Contributor

Represents the largest portion of the population
They prefer to work in a group environment
Prefer to be a contributing member of the vision and goals of a team

· Typically, this person needs and desires support systems, direction, mentoring, and leadership to thrive and succeed.
· They generally come from an employee background and are used to and really want structure and accountability
· FIT: Team Associate, Licensed Admin Asst, Hourly/Salaried Employee

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Five C’s to Build Succes with Your Team

jan@janobrien.com (Jan O'Brien) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:44:19 +0000

Paul Rutter from RISMedia wrote, “The 5 C’s of Team Success.” in April, 2007. The article addresses teamwork from the perspective of a company and how the management team can build a winning team using the 5 C’s. Of course, these principles apply to building success with your team – any business team including a real estate agent team.

Build COMMUNITY – This starts with the leadership team always. A new member to the team/company must feel welcomed and feel a part of the group immediately. Do you have a system of welcoming and acknowledging a new team member? Some ideas: a welcome card mailed to their home: get their bio and background and publish it in your next meeting agenda: introduce them at a sales meeting. Assign a transition buddy to help with questions and orientation to the office. Conduct a formal branch/team orientation.
Encourage COOPERATION – Do you have common goals for the team/office and is everyone aware of them? Do you encourage participation in meetings? How about asking a team member to run the next team meeting or conduct a training class? Do you have a feedback mechanism in place – suggestion box, advisory board, forum?
Support COORDINATION – Ensure everyone is clear about expectations, job performance and specific roles and responsibilities. What are your methods of communication? Team/sales meetings, email, website/blog/intranet, written documents?
Promote COMMUNICATION – Clear, open, two-way communication is vital to any relationship and organization.
Offer continuous COACHING – Everyone benefits from ongoing coaching and training. It’s more than accountability – it’s a way to relate to your team members and show how much you care about and support their individual success

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Real Estate Agent Teams – 11 Best Practices

jan@janobrien.com (Jan O'Brien) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 07:05:52 +0000

Mindset Adjustment – You Are Your Team!
Hire and retain a compatible, qualified Team Manager (TM) or be prepared to be the TM
Hire talented office support staff and delegate effectively
Use clear, concise Team Associate & Manager Contracts
* Commission structure
* Separation policy
* Expectations
Implement team policies and procedures
Implement effective team building systems
Communicate regularly with your team members (Scheduled team meetings)
Attend office sales meetings to stay up-to-date with office, company policies, events and market conditions
Review all contracts and paperwork for sales and listings
Continually Educate Yourself and Your Team
* Office and company training programs
* Team training
* Leadership training
* Broker Training Courses
* Obtain the Risk Reduction Graduate (RRG) designation
Hire a Coach!

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Keys to Success in Real Estate Team Building

jan@janobrien.com (Jan O'Brien) — Mon, 04 May 2009 04:23:22 +0000

1. Hire Talented People to Key Positions

Team Manager – A Critical Factor
The key to building a successful, productive and enduring team is having an effective Team Manager. The Team Leader who recognizes this basic concept will enjoy the benefits of more time, more income, less stress and the creation of a business asset that incorporates an exit strategy (the brokerage within the brokerage model).

The duties and responsibilities of the Team Manager include:
o Set up and implementation of all team building systems that generate additional leads and income for the team
o Recruiting team associates
o Training and retaining team associates
o Holding the team associates accountable to goals and production standards
Your other key player is a solid administrative assistant/transaction coordinator. Hiring an assistant is actually first priority if you don’t already have one. A general rule of thumb is that you are ready for an assistant when you are consistently closing 2-3 transactions each month.Don’t hire team associates until you are ready!And ready means (1) you have an administrative assistant or transaction coordinator and ideally also a Team Manager and (2) you have established systems in place.Here are some documents to get you started in the process of hiring an assistant:
- Sample Admin Assistant Ad Copy Download re_admin_asst_ad_copy.doc
- Job Description Template Download template_job_description.doc
- Sample Interview Questions Download InterviewTemplate.doc

2. Implement Effective Systems

The following business and real estate systems are essential to creating a productive, profitable and successful team

Business Basics, Incorporating and Financial Essentials
Team Vision, Mission, Values & Unique Value Propositions
Team Organizational Chart
Team Building Basics
Team SOI/Referral System
Team Listing System
Team Farming System
Team Business Plan & Goal Setting
Lead Generation & Follow-up Systems
Recruiting/Affiliation System
Exit Strategy

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The Primary Real Estate Agent Business Systems for Success

jan@janobrien.com (Jan O'Brien) — Mon, 04 May 2009 03:47:10 +0000

Most training and coaching programs focus mainly on skillset – prospecting, sales techniques, closing, contracts, listing and selling techniques. Of course, mastering these key real estate sales skills is critical to the overall success in your business.

I also believe in teaching solid business and financial systems which ultimately can streamline your business, increase productivity, give you more balance between work and family, leverage your time and resources and eventually create a viable exit strategy.

The first step toward building a successful real estate team is to implement key business systems that work for you as the individual lead agent. Once you have created and refined these systems it is easy to develop a team version that team associates (buyers agents) can simply plug into without reinventing the wheel.

These are the primary real estate business systems to implement:

1. Real Estate Business Plan and Goal-Writing
2. Creating Your Vision, Mission, and Core Values
3. Developing Your Unique Value (Selling) Proposition
4. Personal Promotion, Branding and Marketing
5. Past Client/Sphere of Influence/Referral System
6. Listing System
7. Buyer/Escrow System
8. Farming System
9. Lead Generation and Follow-up System
10. Internet, Blogging, Social Networking Strategy
11. Business Financial Basics for the Real Estate Agent

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