Working with a team in real estate presents some challenges. Part of the issues you will face is motivating the individual agents to learn the market, gaining loyalty and building internal relationships.
Most agents mistake “the market” for just the homes for sale in your farm area or homes for sale in general. Let me inform you that “the market” is not limited to just homes for sale.
“The market” is also your town, your surrounding areas, your entertainment, your home value, as well as individual subdivisions your market offers. You can also view “the market” as your team unity.
So, in order to learn “the market” it is important to work with your team in learning and participating in activities that promote education that will allow you to build relationships as well.
Here is our weekly, monthly, six-month and yearly plans of action:
Weekly plan
On Monday: Announce the area of town you are going to study. It can be a subdivision, radius miles or a specific area of interest. Make sure that the homes in the area that you pick are within the niche price range you want the public to associate your team with. Send the team off to study the listings on their own.
On Thursday: Pick three or four homes in the area you picked to view and schedule a team tour for Friday morning.
On Friday: The team tours the three or four homes you chose. When you arrive back to the office, discuss what it is that you liked about the home. What are the selling features? What’s the attraction to the home? How is the listing agent marketing the home? If this was your listing, what would you do different?
(This really should only be a three hour activity for the week.)
Monthly plan
Pick a date, like every third Thursday or something that is consistent and easy to plan around.
This is the date that you do a team activity, and here are some ideas:
- Hike a local national park.
- Do a restaurant hop for lunch.
- Explore city parks.
- Go to a local play.
- Attend a city council meeting.
- Tour a local business.
- Brainstorm upcoming team activities, and allow team participation with choosing the activities.
Six-month plan
Attend Inman conferences on the Pacific and Atlantic Coast.
12-month/yearly plan
Do a weeklong team and partner vacation. It can be local or a camping trip, ski trip or a tropical getaway. Doing activities such as these with your team will build confidence in each other as well as relationships that are going to last a lifetime. Offering something other than “work, work, work” will build loyalty and give your team something to work toward.
P.S. It is important to blog and post on all social media about you and your team, everything you are learning and how you are the experts in “the market.”
Melinda Goodwin is a luxury real estate expert in St. George, Utah.