I’d be insane to think that you don’t understand the importance of time management, but there is an aspect that is important for us to consider this week that we don’t normally talk about. The importance of practicing what we preach. Our staff, our agents, and any other professional that comes into our orbit learn so much more from observing what we do and how we do it than what we tell them to do. So if we, ourselves, aren’t masters of time management, how can we expect those we coach and lead to be?
The subject of practicing what you preach always makes me think of my Dad. He never talked to me about the importance of showing up, but this is something that has served me well both personally and professionally and I learned it from watching him. Yes, we stayed home if we were truly sick, but observing him never missing a piano recital, a sporting event, a Girl Scout meeting, or work – even when he was going through chemotherapy – taught me infinitely more than what he could ever say to me on the subject. I learned that the act of showing up is important. It builds and strengthens relationships, develops you as a leader, and helps you to get that promotion or land that big client.
So using this same theory here – what are we indirectly saying to the people we lead and influence? Are we telling them that we cannot manage our time and our work during the 40ish hours allotted for it during the week? Do they see us burning the midnight oil, choosing work over our friends and family on weekends? Are we telling them that the expectation is for them to be overwhelmed and reactive with their responsibilities? You may be able to say, “Well, I never TOLD them they had to work nights and weekends!” but the indirect implication that this is expected or encouraged can lead your team toward a path of burnout, careless mistakes, and poor customer service.
Happy staff and agents = happy clients. By modeling amazing time management, you will help them to excel in their responsibilities and achieve that highly coveted work-life balance so that they can feel great about their career and stay with you for many years to come.
Do some self-reflection and try out some of these tips. If this is something that your organization struggles with, you have the power to change it!
💰Understand Your High-Value Activities. High-value client interactions, strategic planning sessions, networking with potential partners. Prioritize the tasks that strengthen and grow your business the most to ensure you’re focusing your time and energy where it matters.
⚖️ Use the Eisenhower Matrix to help you categorize your responsibilities. Draw four boxes and enter your items accordingly:
Urgent and Important: Complete these immediately
Important but Not Urgent: Schedule these on their appropriate dates
Urgent but Not Important: Delegate these to someone else
Not Urgent and Not Important: Don’t waste your time or anyone else’s on these
🗣️ Delegate to Empower Your Team. Delegating not only frees up your time, but it builds trust and fosters a sense of ownership, which boosts overall productivity. It also helps your organization to grow. If you are the lone person within an organization that can do something, they will be completely handicapped if you need to take leave, get sick or injured, or God forbid, go on vacation. Be sure when you are delegating that you give clear instructions and deadlines and be flexible on HOW these items are done. Your way may not be the best way. Replace yourself and watch your business grow!
💻 Leverage Technology. Tools like Asana, Trelly, or Monday.com can help you organize tasks, set deadlines, and track progress. They facilitate collaboration and keep everyone on the same page, reducing the time spent on meetings and following up.
🚀 Automate Routine Tasks. Use tools to automate repetitive tasks and create slides instead of stairs for things like routine email responses, appointment scheduling, and data entry.
🏗️ Have a Structured Schedule. One strategy here is to dedicate mornings to strategic planning and afternoons to client or staff meetings. Blocking your time helps you to maintain focus, minimizes distractions, and allows you to schedule work according to when you can perform your best. If you like to crush it in the mornings, keep your strategic work and big-thinking items early in the day. If you need a while to warm up and rock the afternoons, flip it around. Bear in mind, though, that this strategy only works if you protect your time blocks. If you are regularly breaking your own rules, you’ll soon be back into chaos. Find something that works and commit to it.
🤝 Optimize Your Meetings. Every meeting needs a clear purpose, an agenda, and a strict time limit. Similar to our item above, you have to stick to the agenda once established to avoid wasting valuable time. If you can’t build an agenda, cancel the meeting and actively practice not running over on time. A meeting that runs late sends everyone into reactive mode for the next day and a half and can easily be avoided by sticking to the planned agenda.
🧘♀️ Practice Self-Care and Work-Life Balance. Incorporate short breaks. Drink water. Eat lunch. Regular breaks and taking care of yourself boosts your overall productivity and mental well-being. Be sure to set boundaries between work and personal time. If you’re taking time off to relax and rejuvenate, you will prevent your own burnout and maintain that crusher level status you have for a long time. Modeling this for others will help the overall organization to achieve it as well.
👂 Ask for Feedback and Adjust. It’s easy to get into patterns and habits, regularly review your time management strategies and their effectiveness, and ask for feedback on ways both you and the overall organization can improve. Your team will offer valuable insights from their own experience on how to streamline your processes.
Staying organized and efficient is crucial to your success and there’s no better tool to achieve this than a solid CRM system. We install Ferrari engines into Follow Up Boss Accounts every single day, but our efforts would be lost if the agents fail to understand how to use the system that we installed.
One way we combat this is by building a manual for the team to unite behind, and we’re here to show you how to build a similar one for your team!
Understanding why you need a handbook for your CRM will assist you in creating one. It will ensure that everyone, from new hires to seasoned veterans, is using the same definitions for stages and tags and managing the database of leads in the same way.
Having this also streamlines your operations, reducing the risk of errors and missed opportunities. It also helps your team have the knowledge and confidence to work independently and excel in their roles. If they have a reference point for troubleshooting, they will experiment more with advanced features which fosters a culture of continuous learning and innovation.
Work to clearly show all processes, best practices, and tips so that your team is harnessing the full power of your CRM. Cover how you want your leads managed, follow-up protocols, and client communication strategies so that you can feel confident that no matter which member of your team receives a lead, they will know exactly what to do with it.
Do not assume that everyone will understand a basic description. Go into as much detail as you can, likely more than you think is necessary, and be sure to use screenshots and links to a quick video tutorial wherever possible.
Approach this project as something ongoing, it’s definitely not a set-it-and-forget-it scenario. With every change, new lead source, and tool you integrate you will need to go back to update the document and re-circulate it for your team. Best practice here is to update one live document and ask your team to bookmark it rather than having to circulate updated .pdfs over and over again. This will ensure that they are always viewing the most up-to-date information.
Effective leadership isn’t just about making decisions; it’s about fostering an environment where problem-solving thrives. Whether you’re managing a small team of agents or overseeing a brokerage, giving your people strategies they can use to brainstorm creative solutions and solve problems independently will enhance productivity, collaboration, and the success of the business. One technique to offer them is the 1-3-1 problem-solving approach.
Here’s how it works:
Identify the Problem: Clearly define the issue at hand. Whether it’s a lagging sales strategy, client communication is in the dumpster, or your operations staff needs to get organized, pinpointing the problem is the crucial first step.
Generate Three Potential Solutions: Brainstorm to generate a variety of potential solutions to the problem. Emphasize creativity and diversity in ideas to explore different perspectives and approaches. You’re going to be pleasantly surprised with what your team comes up with!
Select the Best Solution: After evaluating the pros and cons of each proposed solution, choose the one that aligns best with your objectives, resources, and values. Consider the feasibility, impact, and long-term implications of each option.
Easy enough, right? Encouraging and employing this strategy will do so much more for you and your business than just taking things off your plate.
🤔 Promotes Strategic Thinking: Rather than reacting hastily, individuals are prompted to analyze the root causes of problems and devise thoughtful solutions.
👯 Fosters Collaboration: Each team member contributes unique insights and expertise, leading to more robust solutions.
📈 Boosts Accountability: By actively participating in generating and evaluating potential solutions, individuals feel a sense of ownership and accountability for the outcomes. This fosters a culture of empowerment and initiative within the organization.
🛸 Encourages Innovation: By empowering team members to think outside the box, you can drive continuous improvement and adaptability.
💡 Streamlines Decision-Making: By weighing the pros and cons of each option, you can make informed decisions with confidence.
Give it a shot and see what it does for your to-do list and your team as a whole!
Seller Processes & Contracts with Emily Kettenburg
I attended this webinar on May 8, 2024. Here are my notes, enjoy!
Also on the panel: Sandra Hendrix, Carolyn Augur, Tausha Fournier, and Stephanie Younger
This is the halfway point through the NAR Effect Webinar Series.
The ability to balance your business as both a buyer agent and listing agent is the key to growth in your business.
Forms and processes are the only things that are changing, there’s no reason to have your hair on fire.
Lean into your state and brokerage-specific forms. Each state is reviewing their forms and are making the necessary adjustments. Each state will be a bit different, so be sure you are paying attention.
Five-Part Listing Process:
Prelisting consult and fact-finding
Knock knock and walkaround
Sit down – why us and exposure
Pricing presentation
Signature
Real estate is a relationship business built on trust, the commodity is the house. We are in the trust business.
Step 1: Prelist and homework.
This is a fact-finding mission. Do your homework and ask questions in advance to prepare for the in-person meeting.
Step 2: Knock Knock and Walkaround
Thanking the client for choosing us, gaining trust and showing professionalism. Show them you appreciate them spending their time and that they’ve chosen you to come talk to them today.
When you tour the home you take notes so they know you are actively listening. Even if you don’t need to, take the notes to show them how committed you are to the details.
Step 3: Sit down
Unique value proposition. This is about creating the value for them. Explain how you are going to share their home with the market.
Step 4: Pricing Presentation
Make sure the seller understands the difference between fair market value, vs perceived value.
Fair market – highest and best price that someone will pay without any undue stress to the buyer or seller.
Explaining agency and how commission works/how everyone gets paid.
Explain how agency works in your state. Be sure to bring a buyer agency agreement with you to the listing appointment so they can see what the buyers are signing before they view the home.
Step 5: Signature
You’re asking for the job of marketing and selling their home.
Each part of your process is a conversation that takes your seller one step closer in their decision forward to hire you. Each of these steps is your interview. They aren’t your client until you have a signed agreement with them and they have a copy of that signed agreement.
Don’t underestimate the value of a true client for life. Your goal is to represent them forever.
Today’s consumers want to be served vs hard sold. They need and deserve a clear understanding of how we work for them and how we represent them.
The biggest complaint of real estate consumers is communication. It’s been #1 on the list for the last 20 years.
What is working for Step 1: Pre-List and Information Gathering
Break it down into 3 basic objectives that you want to happen during this step:
Establish or re-establish rapport
We are solution oriented people, we sometimes need to slow down and connect with the person that is the client. Don’t go straight to the sale. When you are connected, you work together as a team. Rapport is often skipped or rushed, but this is the foundational piece of the relationship. This helps you to have hard conversations down the line.
Situational details. What are the details of the situation that you need to know.
Why. When. What has to happen in order for this move to be successful. What timelines do we need to be aware of? What other things have to happen prior to us hitting the market.
Property details. What has changed since you last saw the house?
What changes have been made? Upgrades or updates? Ask them what they think it’s worth.
The agents who have these three steps down, are consistently bringing in more listings. This helps the potential client to see what it’s like to work with you. They can relax into the process and trust that you’ve got it.
Most people think they win or lose their presentation on price. Not true. You most often lose on step 1 or two.
Step 2: Knock Knock and Walkaround Strategy
Is there a way to turn one listing into multiples? This is also known as a viral listing strategy. This is the part where you establish the expectations. Expectations can only be met when they are understood.
ListingLeads.com – you can find a ton of scripts here from Tom Ferry and Jimmy Mackin
Viral Listing Strategy: Before we even go to the appointment we are going to send an email to our database that says that I’m going on a listing appointment! I can’t share too much about the house, but I’m about to meet a potential seller who is thinking their home. I can tell you that homes of this size/neighborhood/etc. Typically sell at _____ price. If you’d like more details, reply back and I’ll send them to you.
You can also turn this into an Instagram story with a poll to generate interest in the potential listing as well.
When you get to the appointment, you can show the results of these two+ efforts to the potential client. This shows the potential interest in the market about their home and will also show the potential client you are already making efforts to sell their home.
When walking around, keep the focus on the client. The walkthrough is the most important part – you are getting to know the house so you can market the message. What’s the story of the home, what did the seller enjoy most. Ask about renovations, ask about any known repairs that need to be made. Why are you moving? Where are you moving to? What’s important to you? What do you want out of this transaction? This is the time to build trust by being a great listener.
Is there anyone else that needs to be involved with the decision-making?
What are your communication preferences?
Tell me about your financial situation. This is an enormous financial decision – treat it with respect.
You need to understand the market financially and be able to explain it to them.
Ensure that you are using “we” in conversation.
Frame your expectations: you expect them to sign with you and for you to sell the house in terms that suit them best.
Marketing and messaging is important and you collect most of this information during this part of the process.
This is a great opportunity to build trust and rapport. We are giving them all of our attention and showing that we are working together to sell this home.
Also by asking these questions you can kind of figure out their social style or DISC profile to help you during the sit-down portion so you know what to focus on that will be much more important to them.
Numbers people?
Emotions/Feel people?
Marketers need to know their audience – the seller is your audience for this presentation.
A small gift/gesture also helps during the initial meeting.
Role play these conversations so you are really comfortable and know how to cover all the questions you need to ask.
Step 3: The Sit Down
Your Unique Value Proposition and your unique marketing is presented during this time.
Most sellers want to know that you have a social media strategy to market their property. You will need to be able to illustrate what you will do and how you are different than others in the area. We are in a sea of sameness – this is your opportunity to really stand out and highlight what you’re doing from a marketing position that will solve problems for them in this process.
What are your favorite things to do? What can you do to give additional exposure to their listing?
Go through your entire presentation. Are you highlighting everything that you do that solves problems and creates add’l exposure? Or are you just highlighting the things you like the most? You may be excited the consumer needs to know how this will benefit them and the results that you get from those activities.
Show your efforts before, during, and after the sale to generate interest.
If you show your social media post and email that you sent out prior to the meeting and the results, it shows that you are willing to do the job before you even get the job. You’re already working for them and they didn’t even ask!
Your value is the problems that you solve for the seller and exposing the property to the largest amount of people possible. Illustrate how you do this for them
Step 4: Pricing Presentation
Reconfirm why they are moving, what their financial situation and goals are, and figure out their communication style.
The analytical will want more information and specifics. Know who you are presenting to
Four pricing strategies you need to know for each of your listings
Value market pricing. Creating a CMA and pricing accordingly to that. You’ll use this strategy in a buyer’s market.
Price Banding. When you separate your listing price from the bulk. Most listing you are looking at in this area. Let’s price it a little bit out of the group to draw more attention. If all the homes are between 300-320k, list yours at 299k. Don’t have your listing bunched up with other listings, separate it a little bit lower from the group so it gets more views.
Price High and test the market. You can only do this if the home has something unique. Use only in a seller’s market.
Psychological Pricing. Set your price apart so the buyer feels as though they are getting a deal. $299k vs $300k
Agency in your state – understand both buyer and seller agency and how they work. Be able to explain these to the client.
Bringing a buyer agency contract and explaining it to your seller during the meeting
Most of us don’t give the whole picture of the transaction. Especially with the upcoming changes, it’s especially important to illustrate what the buyers are doing and how they work.
Step 5: Getting the signature
The hardest part of getting the listing is getting the lead in the first place. The more opportunities you have to get in front of sellers, the better your listing strategy will be. Prospecting more and talking to more people is key to building the listing side of your business.
Stephanie made a commitment to go on 200 listing appointments in one year. She signed 72 that year. Her conversion wasn’t great out of the gate, but it takes time and practice by going on tons of appointments to improve.
The power of closing is more of a mindset than specific words. In their listing process they have a seller intake call that takes roughly 30 minutes. A walk through that’s 30-45 mins (they say it takes 15 minutes). Their presentation is about an hour and a half or longer. She gets a lot of criticism that this is a long time, but it’s worth the investment of preparation and time with the client. You are interviewing for a job that pays a lot, it should be taken seriously. The likelihood of you getting the listing is better the longer you are taking with the client.
Their strategy is asking lots and lots and lots of questions. One of those is “what price are you hoping to get for the home?”
Practice the art of asking more questions. Your goal should be to listen more than you talk.
There are six types of closes. You’ll want to change your strategy depending on who you are talking to. You can use them situationally and together.
Have a well practiced and well researched presentation. If you don’t have this, there’s no closing trick that will help you secure that listing. You must have a listing presentation.
A, B, C. Always be closing. This is closing the client throughout the entire presentation. Try to get agreement throughout the conversation. “Because you said yes to this….” You can use a summary close at the end to review.
Read: Never split the difference by Chris Voss – use a late night FM radio DJ voice a bit to create a calm conversation.
In her listing presentation, she practices the art of being slow and even, curious and clear, and controlling her facial reaction or flushing reactions. A professional expects objections and questions. Don’t let your tone and face show that you are uncomfortable about commission or any other matter.
You will be improving all the time. Even with 20+ years of practice there are always ways to improve and do better.
Learn to keep track and re-state what they said was important to them. This shows that you are listening. She likes to use summary close paired with an assumptive close:
Because you said this was important to you…and this and this…and I love this house and would be honored to sell it, I would love to list this house with you. Or it sounds like we are ready to work together (if you are feeling super confident).
I’ll get the paperwork sent over to you to sign/I have the paperwork right here for us to sign.
Don’t oversell it. Summarize what is important to them that you can deliver to them, say that you would be honored to sell the house, and then ask them to sign the paperwork.
If you don’t have a well-practiced process and presentation, you probably aren’t going to get the listing anyway. You can practice and you can get better.
Ask the potential client if they have heard about the NAR changes and walk them through the facts regardless of their answer.
A conversation is a frame. Start with curiosity, move into empathy, and then move into a close. Don’t skip steps or they won’t be comfortable.
Building trust happens in all 5 of the steps.
You are closing throughout the process, just don’t forget to ask for their signature before you leave.
It’s not anything other than forms and processes. Don’t be intimidated by big NAR changes here. If you can clearly convey options the seller has, how everyone gets paid, this process will be easy.
Know your forms and rules inside and out.
Be able to convey your value.
Bringing a buyer agency agreement with you to the appointment so that the seller understands what buyers are going to be seeing before they view their home. This also helps them to understand how the commission works on the buy side.
If the seller is also potentially a buyer, you are getting a step ahead there as well.
You don’t have to be in the real estate industry very long to realize that the assumptions you’ve had about being an agent are far from the reality of working in this dynamic and exciting community. Since most of our potential and current clients will never have the pleasure of experiencing this work first-hand, it’s important that we understand the myths surrounding our industry and know how to communicate effectively with the public to help them sort out what are feelings and what are facts.
Our pals over at 1000 Watt and Bright MLS did the heavy lifting for us, compiling a report that gives us the stone-cold facts to help back up what we have long known to be true. Below are the highlights taken from the report to help break it down into bite-sized pieces for you. There is also a link to the full report for those who want to go on a deeper dive into the data…you know you want to! Being able to respond to inaccurate or misleading reporting is something that will help you and your team position yourselves as educators and sources of truth within your communities.
From the Bright MLS/1000 Watt Report:
🐂 Fact #1 Agents do not “steer” buyers to homes with higher buyer agent commissions. Analysis of over one million home sales transactions taking place across six states and the District of Columbia between 2020 and 2023 shows no such relationship between sales activity and commissions.
💰 Fact #2 Commissions do not drive up home prices. Reports on the settlement have suggested – and in many cases, outright stated – that high commissions are causing high home prices. In this high-cost housing market, it is understandable that people are looking for someone to blame for high home prices. The primary drivers of home prices – properties of the home, qualities of the neighborhood, inventory, mortgage rates, demographics, labor market conditions – are all very much beyond our control. However, it is these supply and demand factors that drive home prices. It is clear from recent transactions data that there is no relationship between the offer of compensation to the buyer’s agent and home prices.
⚖️ Fact #3 Listing a home on the MLS creates an open and fair housing marketplace. Under the proposed settlement agreement, NAR agreed to create a new rule for MLSs prohibiting a blanket offer of compensation to buyers’ agents in the MLS system. The change means only that offers of compensation cannot be communicated via the MLS as they currently are able to do, but buyers and sellers can still negotiate who pays what. The mechanism by which buyers and sellers can negotiate and communicate about commissions is still unclear.
The MLS creates an open, efficient, and fair housing marketplace. When brokerages hold listings off the MLS to sell as “private” or “office exclusive” properties, they are keeping information about available homes for sale from a lot of prospective buyers. Public real estate websites and apps, where buyers and sellers browse for homes, rely on the nation’s local MLSs to get their data. The MLSs set rules so that the listing data is accurate and consistent, and then the MLSs feed that information to hundreds of thousands of websites and apps, making the information widely available to consumers.
👩🏫 Fact #4 Homebuyers highly value a knowledgeable, professional buyer’s agent. Narrative around the litigation and settlement have suggested that buyers’ agents have become less necessary. The argument goes that since home shoppers can now view homes online, buyers’ agents are not as important and therefore do not “earn” the compensation they receive.
Buying a home is the biggest financial decision most people make. Consumer research has consistently shown that homebuyers value working with a real estate agent. According to the 2023 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 90% of homebuyers said that they would use their real estate agent again or would recommend their agent to others.
We practice our phone conversations. We practice our listing and buyer presentations. We practice overcoming objections and challenges throughout the transaction. One of the most overlooked areas that we could be practicing is with our CRM.
No, it’s not as exciting as pretending to be a frustrated house-seeker on the phone, but ensuring that your team knows how to effectively use the database will accomplish a lot. It will help you keep your data integrity high so that everyone can know exactly where each lead is in the process. It will prevent leads from falling through the cracks. It will help you identify areas for improvement so that you can better coach and inspire your people to achieve their goals.
By keeping the basics in front of your team regularly, it allows them to have short reminders of what they should be doing and avoid a major overhaul by letting things go for so long that no one is rowing the boat in the same direction anymore.
Use our curated playlist to help you cover these basics with your team by reserving a spot on your sales meeting agenda for training and watching one of these videos together as a group!
Your tech stack includes any digital tools or software that you use to power your business. There’s an offer on every corner to solve all of your problems and it can be hard to sort out what truly solves your pain point or is just an exciting new thing to try.
In addition to your budget, there are a lot of things to consider when making these decisions. In the below video, we walk you through the decision-making process and offer strategies to use to ensure that you are making the best decisions for the health of your team and your wallet.
We also offer you a list of our Tech Stack Recommendations. These are tools that our clients all across North America use to run successful teams that we have a great experience with and would recommend to others to use. Each tool is linked to their website so that you can learn more or set up a demo!
Enjoy!
⭐️ Special Note for our Amazing Clients: Please chat with your Account Manager before signing up for any new integrations or tools so that we can give you insights as to whether or not you truly need something and we can also likely save you money!
Success isn’t just about transactions in our industry; it’s about fostering a positive and collaborative team culture that drives growth and prosperity. You can’t retain talent to grow your business without a healthy team culture, and this often-neglected subject plays a pivotal role in shaping high-performing teams.
A positive team culture sets the tone for how your team interacts, communicates, and collaborates. A thriving culture breeds motivation and productivity, leading to better client experiences and increased revenue. Research shows that companies with strong cultures outperform their competitors, so putting effort into something that has such a tangible impact on the bottom line is a great use of your time.
Creating a healthy, positive team culture takes time and dedication, and for best results, you should build it into your everyday practice as a leader. Yep, “practice.” Good leadership isn’t an exact science, and none of us nail it every single day, myself included. But by building into practice efforts to consistently build and reinforce your team culture, you will see rewards for many years to come, regardless of what the market is doing.
Ways to Practice and Develop a Positive Team Culture
🎙️Clear Communication Open and transparent communication channels lay the foundation for trust and collaboration within your team. Encourage honest dialogue, active listening, and feedback loops to foster a culture of respect and understanding.
👓 Shared Vision and Values Align your team with a common purpose and core values. When everyone is working towards the same goals, it creates a sense of unity and collective accountability. Discuss core values often and celebrate those who embody them while addressing those who do not. Core values aren’t effective if they aren’t strictly adhered to by everyone on the team.
💪 Empowerment and Autonomy Empower your team members to take ownership of their work and make decisions autonomously. Providing autonomy fosters creativity, innovation, and a sense of ownership, driving individual and team success.
🏆 Recognition and Appreciation Celebrate achievements, big and small, and acknowledge the contributions of each team member. Recognizing and appreciating efforts boosts morale, strengthens team cohesion, and reinforces positive behaviors.
👩🏫 Provide Opportunities for Growth and Education Invest in the growth and development of your team members through training, coaching, and mentorship programs and opportunities. A culture that prioritizes learning fosters personal and professional advancement, driving long-term success and by creating career advancement paths you will empower your team to reach their full potential and stay engaged in their roles.
🥰 Foster a Supportive Environment When team members feel valued, respected, and supported they will not only want to stay in your organization, but they will encourage others to join as well! Show empathy and compassion by understanding their individual needs, challenges, and aspirations. Demonstrate a willingness to listen and provide support so that you can foster trust.
👂Regularly Solicit Feedback Ask regularly for suggestions to improve the team culture and working environment. Actively listen to their suggestions and concerns and take proactive steps to address any issues or areas for improvement.
👔 Encourage Work-Life Balance Respect boundaries, encourage time off, and support flexible work arrangements when possible. A balanced lifestyle leads to happier team members who are better equipped to perform at their best.
😇 Practice What You Preach Here are a few totally random, made-up examples to illustrate what happens if you do not practice what you preach:
If one of your core values is honesty and your staff regularly catches you lying to them, it quickly erodes trust and confidence in both you personally and the business.
If you promote work-life balance, texting your staff before or after hours or on weekends sets the stage for never being able to step away from work because it is constantly being brought to attention.
If you are the reason why your party gets asked to leave a popular restaurant, people inside and outside your company will question your business practices and professionalism, and think that kind of behavior is acceptable to repeat on future occasions.
A fit person typically has a fit business, so recognizing that you set the tone for professionalism and what is appropriate for the team is crucial to building a strong company culture that will support your entire team for years to come. Without this last element of practicing what you preach, most of your other efforts will be wasted.
It begins with us. Take a moment to do some real self-reflection and then get to work! You can do it!
Whether it is a bombshell NAR settlement agreement, market fluctuations, regulatory shifts, or a global pandemic the landscape we navigate can be tumultuous and ever-shifting. Since change is the only constant, it is crucial that we not only adapt to these changes but also lead with confidence and resilience to develop our businesses so that they can withstand any conditions. Use the strategies below to ensure you provide effective leadership to those who count on you when they need it the most.
📰 Stay Informed, Stay Ahead Dedicate time weekly to learn about the latest industry trends, market conditions, and regulatory changes. By staying informed, you can anticipate potential challenges and proactively develop strategies to address them. As RuPaul says, “You don’t have to get ready if you stay ready.”
📱 Communicate Transparently, Early, and Often When things seem uncertain, open and transparent communication is paramount. Communicate with your team early, even if you don’t have all of the information to fully form a path forward. When you don’t communicate, it’s common for those you lead to fill in that absence with their thoughts and guesses as to what is going on and they will often assume the worst.
Stay ahead of this by offering town hall-style meetings where your team has a forum to express their thoughts and concerns openly. If you don’t feel comfortable yet answering their questions: let them feel heard, document their thoughts, and share your response with the entire team once you’ve had a chance to marinate on the new information. If it is a sensitive topic, create a path for them to anonymously have their questions asked and answered.
Being transparent and forthcoming with information will also help you navigate big shifts and retain your talent. If your team is lacking information and clarity, they will turn to outside sources for leadership and their trust in you will erode.
⚖️ Focus on Core Values Remind your team of the values that unite you and reinforce the importance of staying true to those principles. Upholding integrity, professionalism, and a commitment to excellence can instill confidence and trust in your leadership.
🧘♀️ Embrace Flexibility Encourage and coach a mindset of adaptability among your team members. Empower them to embrace change and seek innovative solutions regularly so that when circumstances demand it of you, it will be muscle memory and not a new strategy to learn on top of everything else. By fostering this culture of flexibility, you are positioning everyone to thrive regardless of the environment.
👔 Lead by Example Oh, man, this is so important. Demonstrating confidence, calm, and resilience in the face of adversity is a must for leadership. Your team is looking to you for guidance and inspiration and if you don’t practice what you preach you won’t be able to instill and cultivate these qualities in others. If one of your core values is honesty and your staff regularly catches you lying, they aren’t going to respect you…or stick around. You’ve got to walk the talk and practicing this in all areas of your life will give you a huge leg up in developing your leadership skills.
👩🏫 Don’t react, Respond This one is a game-changer. When you receive information, it’s best to assume that you know less than half of the complete story. Instead of jumping to a decision, ask for a recap of what happened from the other parties, and look at records or research yourself on the situation or topic. Then, after you have a more complete view, respond with your opinion or a directive on what should be done next. I promise you, it can wait until you have more information.
❤️ Foster a Supportive Community Encouraging collaboration, mutual support, and camaraderie will help your team to feel comfortable expressing their suggestions and concerns. While no one likes to hear complaints, learning about others’ points of view is a fantastic way to learn. Embrace this to build a strong support network within your team and the sense of stability and reassurance they will receive will ensure that your business thrives for years and years to come.
It’s the worst feeling to hear that your phone number is coming up as spam. You aren’t spam, you’re calling because you’re the best person available to help this person buy or sell their home in a 100-mile radius! How dare they do that to you?! Well, they dare and they are doing it to the best of us right and left! While there is no way to completely eliminate this challenge, and if I’m wrong please reply to this and share with me so I can learn, there are some strategies you can use to reduce your chances of getting the big S on your number.
📱 Avoid cold-texting or cold-calling leads. Ensure that they have opted in to receive these types of communications from you.
📱 If someone has opted in for texts, send them your contact information right out of the gate by way of introduction, including your phone number. Their phone’s technology will likely pick up that information to be someone they may know rather than something it should block as spam. For example: “Hey! I just received your message about my listing at 123 Beach Street. I’ll be happy to send you more information on that home and others like it! – Kris McDonagh, Amplified Real Estate, 555-555-5555”
📱 Add the number you use to prospect to your phone’s v-card, your email signature, social media, and website. By having your phone number readily available online when searched you will improve the credibility of its connection to you, a real person, and one hell of a real estate agent.
📱 Request for your new contact to save your contact information to their phone. Most will, just in case you turn out to be somebody they do need, and it will increase the chances that they will answer the phone the next time you call to help them further.
📱 Check the reporting within Follow Up Boss to check for red flags that signal to carriers that you are spam. You want to avoid having too many calls that don’t connect, unanswered texts, and a high number of opt-out responses. Reflect on your prospecting efforts and adjust so that your efforts are resulting in longer quality calls and responses to your texts. To find this: Click Reporting in the top bar, then Calls and filter from there.
📱Research and test any new phone number you get before you order anything with the number printed on it or begin using it widely in case it was used previously for something you don’t want to be associated with or it has already been marked as Spam.
📱 To clear the spam flag from your Follow Up Boss number, visit https://www.freecallerregistry.com/fcr/#submitform and fill out the form. You can include your team’s numbers on the form and submit it once for the whole team as well.
When the form asks for the “Service Provider,” type “Twilio.” Once you submit the form, the carriers will review it and reset the Spam label for any numbers that were flagged. Each carrier’s spam provider will email them as they respond to the form. It’s worth noting that numbers can be flagged as spam again after being cleared, so be sure you are following FUB’s calling and texting best practices to avoid being flagged as spam again.
Example:
Phone Number: Enter FUB number
Click Send Verification Code.
I believe my calls are: Real Estate
Contact Name: First Last
Company Phone: (555) 555-5555
Email: name@business.com
Note: the verification code will go to this email
Calling Company Name: Your Business Name, LLC
Calling Company Address: 123 Main Street, Anywhere, US 12345
Calling Company URL: www.businessname.com/
Service Provider(s): Twilio
If you have any other tips that you’d like to share with the community, reply to this email and we will add them to our guide and give you credit!
The good news is that you are having this challenge because you are doing the work and calling the leads! Keep going, continuity is the secret to success.
