One of the top three complaints from agency leaders is that they cannot get their teams to focus on actions that produce results. Some have been complaining for almost as long as they have been in business. Wouldn’t you think that at some point they would do something about it?
If you are the leader of your business, you have control, and if you don’t, it’s high time you resumed control.
Agencies with salespeople paid by commission-only or by commission debited against retainer – typical industry reward systems – are most at risk of having little control. They can be too scared to set standards for fear of losing their teams. Is that any way to run a business?
Assuming that you have approachable people who want to win, then you can help them to learn to focus.
Motivation
You cannot motivate people. Don’t even try. If a person does not bring drive and energy to the table, anything you do to help this person improve will be a waste of your time. Hire motivated people and teach them to sell.
Goals
Set goals with your people. What do they want? I mean really want? Are they willing to work hard, to take themselves out of their comfort zones, to get it? Clarify their goals.
Plans
Goals without plans are wishes.
- How much will it cost to get what they want?
- How much do they need to earn after tax?
- What production figure per annum is required?
- How many listings per month do they need?
- How many sales per month?
- How many potential sellers do they have to prospect daily to make these results happen?
- How many buyer property inspections must they conduct per week?
Train
It takes as long to lose a listing as it does to get it. The better trained they are, the more results they will produce from the appointments they attend. It’s no use planning to achieve a higher performance if you are not willing to train to get there. Follow up with your salespeople to ensure that they are training.
Monitor
Winners keep score. They know how many appointments they set and how many sales or listings they got from those appointments. They know how many people they prospected each day, week and month. They know their ratios.
If they know their statistics, they can work at improving them. If they don’t know, they aren’t serious about their goals.
The Leader’s Role
I would not expect that anything I have said here is news to you, and possibly not to your salespeople either, but this is not the point – what are you doing about it?
It’s not what we know that counts; it’s what we DO with what we know that defines a winner.
Our role as leaders is to sit our people down, one-on-one, and help them define what they want from their careers. Then it is our role to help them get it.
They will blame you if they fail. Wouldn’t you rather they thank you for playing such a large part in their success?