Your Role as the Team Leader

So let’s assume you have the perfect hire or the perfect staff.  What then could possibly go wrong?  You!

As the boss, unless you are big enough to have a general manager, you need to manage your people! In our years of coaching many elite agents across North America, we have seldom encountered a rainmaker who was also a great boss.

Why?  Well because they were never trained to be one.  And most likely the whole administrative management side of the business is of little interest to you as well.  When we coach you privately, if you choose to have us do so, we can help you hone your skills in this area.  Here are a few key tips that you can put into action right away.

Tip #1:  Make sure each staff member’s role is clearly defined and written down.  It is important that you hold them accountable for their individual roles.  It is good practice to have staff cross-trained to cover for each other, however, each person must be 100% clear on what they are responsible for on a day-to-day basis.

Tip #2 - Admin:  Block time in your schedule to meet with your admin daily, ideally twice a day: once at the beginning and again at the end of the day.  These meetings do not need to be long meetings and can even be conducted as you drive into the office or to an appointment.

Let your staff know they need to be well prepared for the meeting, keep the explanations short and to the point.

In these meetings you will want to review:

• Items completed/not completed in the previous day.
• Items you need their assistance with today.
• Questions you have for them and questions they have for you.
• Review their to-do list and help them prioritize.
• Remind them to send you an end of day email outlining briefly all they accomplished in their day and any important updates they feel you may need.
• It may be good for you to send assignments via email. Print the assignments out and put them in a folder that is designated to that particular staff member (or electronic file if you prefer), this makes it easy to quickly review all previously assigned action items, track progress on projects and review future projects that may be on the wish list to take action on.

Very important:  When you meet with your staff give them 100% of your attention!

Be very clear in your assignments, timeline, and priorities.  Do not leave it up to them to figure it out.

Be careful not to overload and overwhelm them.  We are not always accurate on the time we assume a project will take to complete.

Ask them for an estimate on the time it will take to complete, ask them if they are going to be able to fit it into the day.  If their day is overfull you may need to help them prioritize what can be moved to another day. It’s like triage in the emergency room, whatever is bleeding out gets the attention first!  If you have multiple administrative people on your team, make sure you are assisting them in knowing who they should delegate to if it is appropriate for them to do so.

Tip #3 - Buyer Agents:

• Touch base with them each Monday to review their hot leads for the week and results from the weekend. Ask about conversion challenges and how you can assist them.  Help them set their goal for the week.
• At the end of the week touch base with them on their activities planned for the weekend and progress, they have made in the week.
• Once a month review their lead pipeline, results from the month and set goals for the next month.
• Once a quarter, conduct a quarterly review. Analyze their gaps, determine what additional training they need to succeed, and set next quarter goals.
• Annually work with them to create a business plan for the upcoming year.
• Make sure they are doing their assigned activity to generate new business for the team.
• Monitor their conversion ratios and how long it takes them to convert each buyer so that you know where they struggle and what extra training they may need.

Tip 4 - For the Listing Specialist:

• Meet with them at least once a week to conduct a quick listing analysis.
• Review their upcoming appointments for any help they may need.
• Make sure they are working daily on their scripts and skills.
• Review their activities to create new business.
• Review their listings taken ratio monthly.
• If they are responsible for calling and updating the seller make sure they are making their weekly calls.

Assist them in obtaining tough price reductions, winning listings they feel may be difficult to win, and handling complicated negotiations.

Author Bio: Debbie De Grote

Debbie is not only considered to be one of the most experienced and most in demand real estate coaches in North America she also has a track record as being an outstanding top selling real estate sales person.  Debbie was ranked number 1 in listing and sales for Century 21 in Los Angeles and Orange County, number 3 in the nation and number 10 internationally