How to counsel a broker in a tailspin and help them find their path to success.
It’s no secret that the role of the managing broker continues to evolve. The greatest value a managing broker can give to their brokers is in being a coach. Effective real estate managers understand that as each broker grows, so does the company. When we have successful brokers who find themselves in a tailspin, it’s more important than ever to assume the role of the coach, as this can become contagious within an office. A broker who feels their business is trending downward may begin to make desperate decisions that will damage both their business and the company. Working with a broker as soon as this is apparent is important, even if the broker doesn’t come to us proactively.
Perspective
When coaching, it’s important to first realize that our perspective must change from a company-focus to the individual’s perspective. Our goal should be to help a broker achieve their potential and to become the broker they want to be. Our brokerages all have initiatives and company goals, but in order to implement change or reach those goals, we need to focus on the individual broker and help them realize their goals. We need to look at our broker as a peer, and we must demonstrate understanding and listening skills, as well as a willingness to be candid in our feedback, positivity and energy.
Process
There are five main steps in coaching brokers, each just as important as another. It’s important to follow these steps to reach success, and establish a relationship based on trust, mutual respect and an aligned commitment.
1. Confirmation
We must ensure that our brokers know that the meeting is to help them reach their goals. It’s important to actually say it so that we are allied in the process that follows. We want confirmation that the broker wants out of the slump and that we’re there to support them. We have to state that we believe that they can do it.
2. Ask and Listen
A personal coach of mine (and many others, I’m sure) said, “You can’t solve the problem before you actually know the problem.” Too often, we stop listening and launch into a cookie-cutter solution before we understand what is happening. Presenting before understanding may alienate the broker and create confusion, creating a barrier to success. Asking questions and actively listening, then finding your next question in their answer is the way to understand what’s taking place. When you feel like making a statement, ask another question. Don’t stop until there’s nothing left to ask, taking notes through the conversation.
Ask:
- What are their previous actions?
- What are their current activities?
- What do they think is going well?
- What could they be doing differently?
- What do they think is missing?
Don’t dismiss roadblocks in a broker’s personal life that might be affecting their desired performance. There are many books on question-based everything that can help focus on asking and listening. Ultimately, by the time you’ve exhausted every question possible, you should know where the broker is, where they were and where they want to be, and the broker should feel heard.
3. Analyze
Take a high-level view of everything you just learned about the broker. The key is to analyze what is different now versus when they felt successful. Determine what has changed. Make lists as you discuss. Many times brokers move away from the very actions that created their initial success. For example, many experienced brokers dismiss open houses as an income-producing activity, when open houses are one of the best ways to create exposure, meet both buyers and neighborhood owners face-to-face, add to a database and replenish the business pipeline.
Review the list of current activities. Sometimes brokers will have “too much” business and the focus on relationships and service falls by the wayside, resulting in a lack of new business in the pipeline. When relationships aren’t the focus and a broker becomes transactional, the number of referrals drops. It’s important, then, to look at what resources a broker can use to “focus on the vital few” activities that drive their business, and delegate the remainder.
Lastly, look at what the broker should quit doing. There’s a negative connotation with being a quitter, but Seth Godin wrote in
The Dip that the true secret to success is quitting. Recommend that brokers read
The Dip, as it talks through how anything worth doing leads to a dip. Those that stick it out and make it through become successful because of the activities, goals or projects that they quit.
4. Form a Plan
There are a few key rules of planning, one of which is to keep it simple, especially in real estate. If it’s complicated, it’s not going to happen. The plan has to feel attainable, even if there are stretch goals involved. Break down the plan into small pieces. We’re very good at making annual sales or income goals and, for example, making a plan to create an enormous marketing campaign. That can be daunting, which results in these actions ending up on the same to-do list 365 days later. Break it up into daily actions, make the “perfect week,” and ensure that it is consistent. When actions are not consistent, the results (read: transactions, volume and income) are not consistent. Ensure that the actions set in the plan are clear and that the broker agrees that they are the steps to take to achieve the goals. Lastly, confirm with the broker that they are committed, and share your commitment to helping them.
5. Follow Up
This is the concrete that holds the plan together. It has to be driven by the broker with commitment from the managing broker. Asking the broker as to how, when and at what frequency they want us to check in is imperative. Only make commitments you can keep, however. A broker once asked me to text them every morning at 6:00AM to ask them what they were going to do for their business that day. Politely declining, I suggested a more realistic way to ensure that I was playing a role in their bounce-back. The follow up needs to be frequent enough to keep the broker motivated and on track, but not so frequent where it feels less like a mutual route to success and more like a manager/employee relationship. With follow up also comes the opportunity to start the process over, if needed.
Coaching is the best way to earn loyalty and develop a long-term relationship resulting in success for the broker, the managing broker, and the brokerage. Assisting brokers through a downturn in their business will generate the win-win needed to create and sustain brokerage retention and growth, while helping each individual broker reach their goals in becoming the broker they wish to be.
Kevin Van Eck
VP of Training and Brokerage Services/Managing Broker, @properties
