We all want to be better, but many find it hard to make the time and put in the work. The fact that no one wants to be graded, reviewed or criticized when it comes to their business — or how they conduct it — can make prioritizing training an uphill battle.
If COVID-19 taught us anything, it’s that we need to be strong, strategic and adaptable. That’s why now’s the time to hone your team’s skill set and make sure everyone is up to speed on their current training.
Weekly or daily training and check-ins are more important than ever — even if they have to be done online these days. Hunger doesn’t create sales. Instead, an “I can” and “I know how” mentality cuts through the chaos to reveal opportunity. That’s where training needs to start. What do our agents believe right now? What’s our story of success?
Are you training to prepare yourself and your team to thrive in the opportunities you have? What do team members need to know before they are handed valuable opportunities? Are you listening?
Team culture is what we do and say when we think no one is watching. Are you paying attention to the values and beliefs that create the words and actions?
Team members may want and demand opportunities, and it’s up to you to prepare them for success and ensure a high likelihood of return for the business.
Practice and playback
A lot of real estate teams overlook practicing key steps in their sales process (like scripts and presentations), which puts them at a disadvantage when it comes to competing with agents or teams who are consistently practicing their material.
It’s crucial for your team to have a daily or weekly allotted time where you all come together to ensure the conversations you have with your clients are seamless and professional in every aspect.
A lot of teams look to practice in order to improve and master their sales process and scripting. Practice and record these run-throughs with your team members.
Watch the practice videos with your team before your meeting, so they’re able to understand what the team’s expected standards are. They’ll always know there’s room for improvement.
Improve
Mastery is nuanced. Mastery turns what you’ve consciously practiced and learned with a presentation and script, and reinforces new neural pathways every time you practice it. Or, it alters that same slide or script until you eventually create an unconscious pathway in your brain where very little to no conscious processing is required.
This is when you successfully turn something that you consciously knew you didn’t know into something you know — and, finally, into something you know unconsciously, without it requiring a moment’s thought.
This is where you can give a presentation while focusing 100 percent on your client. The presentation no longer requires any mental bandwidth or conscious focus. When your finger clicks to the next slide on your laptop, you don’t even have to look to know what information is displayed on the screen.
Repeat
Never stop practicing with your team. In order to stay strong, strategic and adaptable, your team needs to be on the same page and stay consistent with their delivery methods.
One of the biggest indicators of a person’s ability to learn and set new habits is that individual’s personal belief that he or she can change. According to Charles Duhigg’s The Power of Habit, people must believe in their capacity to change in order for that change in habit to be permanent.
In a time when board, brokerages and licensing bodies struggle with lower attention spans, and seek ways to make training faster, more dramatic and requiring less of our time and attention, I have a simple question: Does it work?
We know the brain requires tension to learn — just like a muscle requires tension to grow at the gym. We can learn the equivalent of decades of sales expertise in several weeks, and practice that knowledge until we own it.
All to say, in order for your team to have cohesiveness, constant support and success with their presentations, it’s absolutely crucial for you to practice scripts and review their presentations, while also offering ongoing training support.
All opportunities matter. We know that communicating in a way that resonates with short and long-term potential clients is vital to success right now. That’s why we need to invest in the training systems to create a platform where you will be delivering consistent, predictable results.
Kathleen Black is the CEO of Kathleen Black Coaching and Consulting in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. Connect with her on Instagram at @kathleenblackcoaching or through her website ItTakesa.Team.
