In order to have a sales or property management team that achieves great results, a great coach and effective coaching methods is an absolute necessity.

Think of a sales or rental department as an elite sporting team. Each member has their specialty position and skills, and as such, the coaching methods used to ensure their success should be tailored to their individual functions.

Too many principals implement training based on general sales or property management needs, where they should be focusing on individuals’ strengths and weaknesses, and the skills that these people require to excel in their specialty area.

For example, would it be beneficial for Jarryd Hayne to spend all his time training to make the big tackles and hard hit ups? Of course not, because he doesn’t play in the forward line. It would, however, be ideal to use those training methods for a front rower such as Petero Civoniceva.

Is it really a good idea to implement a standard training regime across the whole sales team? Or would it pay to take the time to identify each member’s role, and their strengths and weaknesses, and then tailor training to suit their individual needs.

The reason that players in a sporting team are chosen to represent their country is because they are the best player for that position. The winger is quick, the forwards are tough and the fullback is agile.

In a sales team, the best lister is confident and empathetic, the best seller is great at negotiating and the support staff have an eye for detail. Therefore, tailor training to enhance these skills. Make them market leaders in your area.

Consider joining strong members of your team with other strong members. Cameron Smith & Cooper Cronk are good players in their own right, but as a duo they form a force to be reckoned with. Likewise, band together a star performer with a weaker player in your team. Just as Darren Lockyer can make anyone look fantastic and inspire his team mates to perform, the weaker player will be driven to lift his game.

Another mistake some principals make is not ensuring the sales team sticks to their core market area. In a slow market, it is easy for sales staff to take on listings as business outside of their local or specialty area.

Roger Federer is the greatest tennis player of the 21st century, but he would probably get slaughtered if he ‘laced up the boots’ and ran onto the rugby field. As the old adage says ‘Stick with what you know and what you do best’.

But how do you put this training into practice? By conducting a simple training needs analysis. Sit down with each member of the team and discuss with them what they think their strengths and weaknesses are and what they can do to improve. Then implement training to suit their needs.

It can be something low scale like role playing scenarios they have trouble dealing with, or specific skills based training to broaden their knowledge of their core area. With the introduction of compulsory CPD, the popularity of skills based training has decreased dramatically. But as any proactive coach will tell you, training is the key to producing great staff that get results and remain a cut above the competition.

Just as all elite athletes aspire to be the best and represent their country, does your sales staff aspire to be the best and represent you?

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I’m currently reading a book by Jason Jennings & Laurence Haughton, titled “It’s not the BIG that eat the Small…it’s the FAST that eat the SLOW – How to Use Speed as a Competitive Tool in Business”. It’s a fascinating book.

In Part 2 of the book they discuss Fast Decisions…

“Fast thinking won’t get you very far unless you’re able to quickly process your thoughts and make a decision. Nothing slows down an organization more than paralysis by analysis – the inability to make even the smallest decisions quickly.”

And when reading this paragraph, it made me think of the road blocks that so many of the Gen Y real estate agents are facing each day due to committee meetings & old-school methods being used by lots of agents and the frustration some young agents are experiencing.

Whilst I’m not taking anything away from the wealth of knowledge that the Baby Boomers & Gen X agents can share with the Gen Y agents ( I’m a Gen X agent myself), but the slow uptake of real estate technology & Social Media that exists within our industry means that in many offices Gen Y agents are sent out into the field to do time consuming, ineffective hit & miss ‘old school’ prospecting to build networks.

Gen Y are the greatest networking generation ever.

As a kid growing up my friends either lived in my neighbourhood or were classmates,etc from school. Whereas, Gen Y have hundreds of friends online from all over the place. As I said before, they are the greatest networking generation ever and yet some agencies won’t even let Gen Y agents use a computer.

C’mon!! We are talking about a generation who were literally born with an email address and a mouse in their hand.

If only you could see what I’ve seen some Gen Y agents doing you would be blown away…

The leverage that some Gen Y agents are applying to real estate sales has to be seen to be believed.

They use the internet & Social Media to do a task once and then leverage marketing strategies around that task or use other marketing tools (eg. Personal Profile Video, Blogging, Facebook Fan Pages, etc).

It’s time that Baby Boomer & Gen X agents sat up and took notice of what can be done.

This year Gen Y will out-number Baby Boomers for the first time in history and for the older, more experienced agents, there will need to be a significant shift in thinking & marketing strategies to ensure that they remain relevant within their marketplace and find ways that they can deliver a more streamlined approach to help retain high performing Gen Y agents and at the same time make sure they appeal to the ever growing Gen Y customers.

When you think about it, this is the first time in history where parents have had to ask their kids how to do things. Like, how do I program my new phone, how do I do certain things on the computer, etc, etc, etc? And, this same situation is now happening within real estate agencies & other businesses throughout the world.

Bosses are recruiting to fill in the gaps for their weaknesses in technology, but in the main they aren’t seeking the knowledge required to ensure that they have a better than basic understanding of how online real estate marketing really should work.

This means that operating systems within the agency are developed around old methods which normally make things less efficient and leads to frustration from employees and customers.

I understand, for a lot of agents, learning about computers is one of the last skills sets they are interested in learning.

I’m not suggesting agents need to turn into computer geeks, but they need to get a basic understanding of why web 2.0 is important and the psychology of the internet and embrace internet marketing strategies so they can use them to leverage their time & resources more effectively.

Plus, at the same time, find ways that they can use technology to deliver a better end user experience so that customers will want to deal with that agency and/or recommend them to their friends.

It’s not enough to have your listings uploaded to the major portals, having a company website and database software. you need to understand why customers aren’t doing business with you & what you can do to build more trust over the internet and use strategies that help to convert website visitors into clients on an ongoing basis, 24/7.

I feel disappointed when I hear about good young agents leaving our industry or going out on their own simply out of frustration and a lack of vision from their leader.

I know of a number of agents who have left companies simply because they felt held back due to lack of vision from their boss and have ended up opening up an agency down the road as competitors. Which is something that is becoming easier & easier for agents to do, especially with the emergence of virtual agencies & the current National Agency Licensing regulations.If an agency wants to move forward and retain their Top Performing Gen Y agents, they really should sit down and spend time listening to some of the ideas of the Gen Y agents rather than sticking in the comfort zone of “this is how I did it when I started out in real estate so that’s the way Gen Y agents should do it too.” (Wrong)

If agents continue doing the old things they will simply frustrate the good new recruits out of the industry and end up employing a team of people who lack innovation, inspiration and will find themselves heading down the wrong track where there is only a dead end.

Gen Y’s love being part of a fast thinking business that embraces change.

Step out of your comfort zone and don’t hold your Gen Y’s back and stop killing off their enthusiasm by using those boring ‘old school’ strategies that all your competitors have all gone back to doing simply because that’s all they know.

Look for new and exciting ways. Innovate, Inspire & Embrace Change Faster.

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We all know Coronas as that delightful Mexican beer that goes down an absolute treat on a hot day, especially with a little bit of lime in the top. They are standard in Mexico, kind of like a VB or XXXX, but here they are considered a “top shelf” beer.

Late last year I was given the opportunity to come down to Ray White NSW in Sydney and find out what would be involved in the role of Chief Auctioneer. I have since decided to take up this opportunity and I’m living in Sydney and loving it but on this trip I was just getting the lay of the land and talking to people.

One day I was on an office visit with the CEO of Ray White Corporate NSW, Stephen Nell. It was late afternoon, about 5:30, and the Principal offered us a beer and we of course accepted. Three beers were put on the table – a Carlton Cold, a Tooheys New and a Corona. I was given the option to pick first and straight away I picked the Corona as it is my favourite beer and was the best on offer by far. The CEO was amazed and pointed out, not in a rude way, how times had changed and that there is no respecting your elders. He said that if the situation had been reversed he never would have picked the Corona.

I thought about this for a millisecond and took a very quick sip of the Corona so neither Stephen nor the Principal could have it.

Now, the whole point to this story is that as a generation, we do respect our elders a great deal. We know that we can learn a lot from them. However, this does not mean we are going to let them have our favourite beer or stop us speaking up when we think something is wrong. Although they have the experience, we can often offer a fresh perspective on things and we should never underestimate the value of that.

In my opinion I think it is really important to know exactly what it is you want in business and life and if you go for it you will be amazed how many times you will get it. At the end of the day I know what it is I want and where I am going and, when a choice of beers is in front of me, I will always take the Corona.

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In a market such as the one in which we find ourselves today, agents need to have a rapport with their current clients to be able to work with them in achieving the highest possible sale or rental price for their property. They also need to look to past clients for future business.

Real estate is possibly the industry which most relies on referral and repeat business to ensure continued success.

How do we make sure that the clients and customers we deal with today will come back to us in the years ahead? The answer is relationship banking.

Think of the relationship that you have with a client as a bank account. To keep that client happy you need to ensure that there are always funds available in that account.

To do this, deposits must be made. Things like returning phone calls promptly, providing detailed feedback and going that extra mile for your client are all forms of deposits.

Once the account is in credit, you have built a rapport with the client and they should now trust you with the sale or management of their property. If necessary, you can now look to make withdrawals from the account. If you need to adjust the price, arrange an inspection after hours or if we make a mistake and leave the living room light on after an open house inspection, we possibly have enough credit to cover this.

While dealing with their vendor, an agent provided a comprehensive weekly report outlining how many inspections had taken place, what prospects there had been for the property so far, and what kind of prices these people were gravitating towards.

The agent also made regular contact with the vendors to make sure they were satisfied with the job he was doing. After their property had been on the market for six weeks without having any offers that met the vendors’ desired target, the agent met with them and discussed reducing the price in accordance with what the public thought the property was worth.

The vendors agreed immediately, not only because of the evidence that was presented to them, but because the relationship bank account was in credit due to the deposits the agent had made throughout the marketing program.

The relationship account can never go into overdraft! To guarantee a strong affiliation with the client, the account must always remain in credit. It is easy enough to ensure this by making positive deposits and limiting the need to make withdrawals.

Should an account go into debit, the agent runs the risk of performing to a lesser standard than expected of them, or losing the business all together. Not only does this mean a loss of income, but it also leaves the agent vulnerable to criticism and bad references to the clients’ friends and family and therefore no referrals.

A past client of mine was relocating to Queensland from Wagga. Being an elderly lady with no family in town, she found it hard to obtain boxes to use for the move.

I had a relative in town who managed a retail store, so I arranged for a short period of time for the boxes to be kept. At the end of the week, I collected them and took them to the client who was absolutely astounded at the gesture.

Such a small thing which took me one phone call and half an hour of my time meant so much to her and added a huge deposit to the relationship bank account.

In return, a subsequent three listings were referred to our agency by her. It is that easy to be a master of relationship banking!

As with bank accounts, over time you will receive interest so long as you keep boosting the account with deposits. This interest is seen by way of repeat and referred business.

Relationship Banking Via Your Database

It is imperative to maintain an up-to-date database of all past clients and keep in regular contact with them.

There are a variety of ways to do this. Some agents will give clients and customers a bottle of wine or some other gift once a property sale has settled, but there are far too many that don’t follow up after this.

All agents should make contact with past clients at least every 12 months. And it should be something a little more personal than a mass mail-out announcing that you have ‘Just Sold 1 Smith Street – Looking for Similar Properties’.

It could be something simple like a Christmas card or a lotto ticket or gift voucher on the anniversary of their purchase. By doing this, not only are you keeping the account in credit, but when it comes time for them to sell or buy, your name will be the first they think of.

The worst feeling as a real estate agent is to open up the real estate section of the local paper only to find that a property you sold 12 months ago is back on the market but with a different agent.

Why didn’t the vendors come to you? Was the service you provided them less than satisfactory?

The truth is that you probably did a great job as their agent at the time, but have lacked the follow up needed to get the repeat business. The competitor agent probably got lucky and just happened to cold call the vendor while they were contemplating selling.

You cannot rest on your laurels and wait for business to walk through your door just because you think you did a good job last time.

Every highly successful agent is also a great communicator and relationship banker. They understand the importance of maintaining a positive balance in the relationship bank account and that to be proactive is the key to repeat business and maintaining the relationship bank balance.

Not only will maintaining the accounts go some way towards getting repeat business, but it will also lead to referrals from these past clients.

Almost everybody has a friend or relative who currently have, or are considering putting, their house on the market. So if you have sold 30 properties in the last year, you have 30 past clients who know at least one other person each considering selling.

If you have maintained the relationship bank accounts with these past clients, they are going to tell their friends and relatives what a great agent you are and you will most probably get a call from them and the chance to list 30 properties without knocking on a single door!

On the flip side, if you have not maintained the account, your balance will be whittled away with bank fees and charges, and your past clients will not even think to tell their friends and relatives about you because you have simply done the job you were paid for and nothing more. They see you as an ordinary agent, not an extraordinary agent.

Your past clients and customers aren’t the only source of referrals. Everyone you have regular contact with is a potential client, as well as a potential referrer.

Therefore, we also need to make sure we are maintaining a positive relationship banking account with these people. They could be your hairdresser, community leaders, your children’s school teachers or restaurant owners. The possibilities are endless, but only if you keep the account balances in credit by making regular deposits.

Any referrals that you receive should be appreciated, and as such you should demonstrate your appreciation. There are strict penalties under the Property, Stock & Business Agents Act (2002) for inducing clients and customers through a third party, however a bunch of flowers or a nice bottle of wine to someone who refers you business is not classed as a commercial inducement arrangement.

By rewarding the referrer, you are making yet another deposit into that relationship account!

Relationships really are the new currency of the real estate industry. Relationship banking is creating growth and profit through caring and connection and is long lasting with endless possibilities to produce results. It is a skill that the majority of agents do not fully use to their advantage, but for those who do, it creates real wealth through long lasting associations.

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As an ex-elite athlete I was taught to only be affected by things within my control. i.e not getting angry because it was raining during an open house. What I have found over the last year is that more and more young agents are being affected by things outside of their control and it is completely throwing them off their best game.

My advice to everyone is to stay focused. Don’t let things like a buyer falling over because they cannot get finance alter your positive attitude. It is really important when times get tough that you aren’t distracted.

Stay focused on what you know best, stay focused on what is directly affecting you & stay focussed on your goals.

We cannot change whether interest rates go up, we cannot change whether the government passes new legislation- so get on with what you do best!

My 2 cents for this week. Have a great break everyone.
See you bright and early in the New Year.
Braden

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