The old real estate joke, “Here’s your desk, here’s your phone, good luck – you’re on your own” is no joke in some offices. ‘Sink or swim’ is the hard way to begin a career, but in many offices it’s a sad fact of life.
Just as bad for a budding recruit is outdated and ineffective real estate training – recycled ideas dressed up as new.
Don’t get me wrong – the basics of real estate training never change, but some training methods didn’t work the first time around, so dressing them up to look new won’t make them work any better the next time.
If you want your new recruits to get off to a flying start and climb to greatness, it is essential that you forge a bond with each of your people. You do this at the individual level, and not with the team as a whole. That comes later.
A team is a group of individuals who work together as a team. The beginning of team success lies with your success in bringing out the best in each individual that makes up the team. You do this one-on-one in individual coaching sessions.
Training and Coaching is the Fourth Essential Element in our real estate agency business system Agency Profit System. We believe that training and coaching has been the missing link in team leadership.
Leaders often spend more time talking to their people in groups than they do one-on-one. Often, little attention is given to the new recruit. It’s even worse for experienced people, who are expected to know what to do from the first day they join their new company.
Every new recruit, experienced or not, needs a certain amount of one-on-one time with their new leader. This should continue for as long as these individuals remain with the company. You must also get to know each team member’s spouse. Real estate can affect relationships if the spouse is not supportive.
The highest calling of leadership is to bring out the best in your people. You need training systems to do this effectively.
Do you have these systems in place?
- Hiring and Selection systems – to ensure you choose the best people at the beginning
- Start-up systems, beginning from the recruit’s first day
- Training systems, where they learn about the company’s culture, procedures, and methods of dealing with clients
- Ongoing training that is relevant, convenient, and in video, audio and written format
- Real estate training that is suitable to all skill levels, from beginner to pro
- One-on-one session systems to keep you focused on helping your people to perform better
This is only a small sample of the real estate training and development systems you need if you want to build a winning team.
Individuals, when you have enough of them, become a group of individuals. It takes a leader to turn this group into a team. To do so, the leader must have a good relationship with team members and their spouses. This occurs over time through care, the gift of the leader’s time, and through support at the individual level.
Never allow your team members to sink or swim. Care enough about them to help them grow into their roles and to achieve their goals. Be their trainer and coach. Then focus on the team.