Managing a real estate office is no easy thing, and unless you have a "specialist" that knows its nuances as your ally, you should evaluate the potential losses you haven't evaluated because of it.
I’ve heard it said that a manager at a real estate company is as useful as any of the fixtures one might find in such an office. This could be at a first glance, after all, if a manager is the most notable resource in a firm, it shouldn’t be for his/her hands-on participation, but for the results his effective administration ignites. In spite of what some may think about this key role, if you’re dealing with a trained, experienced professional, if you pay close attention, you just might hear the hum of that optimal operation. Forward thinking brokers forge ahead with a good lieutenant realizing that if nothing else, that person takes the brunt of the burdensome day to day responsibilities which would otherwise tie them up. What follows are some observations of how a manager achieves the best for all concerned, making him/her a most valued commodity in the process.
My first excursion into management at a real estate office was an eye opener, and a great springboard to launch a career. While I didn’t know it then, the role I thought was the epitome of achievement was a far cry from that, so far as the business owners were concerned. They underestimated the importance of this key person and thought it to be an unnecessary expense. And though they were averse to pay a good manager, they realized that if none of them invested their time managing the office, (or as they put it “babysit” the agents), they had to hire someone to do it, lest their business run amuck.
However, before getting ahead of myself, my immersion into this role came from a chance transaction with one of the principals at a local Century 21 franchise. In consummating that transaction the owner asked if I might be interested in a management position at his firm. After lots of discussions, a few group interviews, a thorough analysis of their situation and the existing staff, I was offered the position. This set into motion a course that would result in an unprecedented growth and productivity in just 12-months after assuming this charge.
Progress came at a rapid pace as a result of a careful orchestration and management of tasks, effort and time. Nevertheless, the improvements I initiated through a new operating procedures made my job that of monitoring systems and insuring they worked optimally, while maintaining high standards by means of simple checks and balances, and constant and specific training – on everything relevant to the strategies. As the staff and owners adapted to the changes, alliances were forged creating a cohesiveness that was unshakable – people rallied behind each campaign presented, and implemented innovation of their own, following one-on-one coaching. Adopting the mindset of “CANI,” popularized by Anthony Robbins in his 1986 book titled Unlimited Power, I modeled all aspects of the company’s culture around the philosophy of Constant And Never-ending Improvement, and the training I developed for the staff was progressive to that end. The company owners discovered how a good leader with a simple plan can achieve great things. Of course they loved the results – sales of over $36 million, with an average price of $150,000; more than 220 home sold, with a staff of 18 agents, an average of one house per agent per month! A true win-win-win situation.
To better appreciate how this unprecedented turnaround came about, keeping in mind that this 10-year old firm had up to this point never achieved this level of performance, let’s look at an excerpt from a little book I read a few years later -- Michael Berger’s The E-Myth, which emphasized five key principles, to achieving optimum results (in any business). What follows are those principles, which I used innately even before reading this excellent book:
Life: Your business is a way to get more out of your life. It is more than just a job you have created for yourself, but rather, it is there to serve you.
The Law of Objectivization: View your business as separate from you - as a product of you - and you will be able to reinvent it. It is about taking a step outside of your business, and looking at it objectively.
Working ON it not IN it: The business as a whole is the product, not the things or the services the business produces. You need to be focused on building your business, not merely cranking out products or services.
Systemization: View your business as an integrated system. The system does the work, and people run the system.
Business Development Cycle: The task of the owner is continuous development of the business through the ongoing process of innovation, quantification, and orchestration.
Essentially, my work mirrored these principles. In addition to being the conductor of the various tasks as noted above, one key function was to always be striving for greater accomplishments – through the staff and systems. Early on I adopted a tenet popularized by a phone company: “Telesis,” or progress intelligently planned, which reminded us of our focus.
Applying this principle, I participated in and graduated from NAR’s Council of Real Estate Broker Managers training that urged almost identical strategies…
- Develop effective sales associates who are aligned with the company’s culture.
- Identify and implement the critical elements of a learning program.
- Understand & adjust your leadership style based on the individual and the situation.
- Develop the skills necessary to coach, mentor and hold people accountable.
- Align your recruiting & retention strategy as part of the sales development process.
- Harness performance strategies to ensure agents will reach their full potential.
While this summary of my initiation is important in order to understand some of the steps to achieve a highly effective operation, it is but a backdrop to something a bit more comprehensive -- the question of when a brokerage ought to consider hiring a manager, and to what end.
Yes there is an added cost in hiring someone to do what you could do yourself, (sounds like the FSBO mentality to use a real estate axiom), but the benefits far outweigh them. After all, real estate is challenging, fraught with risks, inconsistent production, and turnstile-like approach to getting into the business, huge rewards, and extraordinarily successful performers; and while there is no cookie cutter formula for managing it all, so long as what you do is effective and simple enough to follow, it is all well and good. There are many factors that could make this job less time consuming or risky, but, there is little room to do it all or as thoroughly so as to avoid exposure and the high turnover rate.
Essentially the manager is a steward for the owner. S/he ensures that the owners vision, even if it were to only come in to collect a check, two or three weekly, is carried out with no significant strings attached (in reference to possible problems after the fact); in other words, risk management.
A manager’s primary role is to make it all work, and work well; profitably; seamlessly and consistently. As the leader, people will tend to follow the examples you set, and while a good producing agent sets a great example, such an agent typically isn’t the best choice for management – there just isn’t sufficient time to take someone under your wing without suffering setbacks in your own production. As the sales manager, you perform many roles. The key is to work on getting the most of all the resources and people, and to produce the best for the customer, all while keeping a tidy profit in the end.
If a manager is anything, s/he is certainly no babysitter. A manager is a most valuable resource, a commodity, an ally. And, as one risk manager commented at how this manager successfully diffused a tumultuous, high risk liability claim against the owner of another Century 21 franchise, by three attorneys vying for the same house, “…he is worth his weight in gold!” In other words, a true manager, someone with the temperance, patience and foresight to give his full commitment and do his best for your cause, is priceless, and a key person you will gladly want to invest in for all benefits and structure you, your staff and your customers will come to enjoy – a formula that leads to Telesis.
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