In today’s wild buyer’s market and the post-COVID professional landscape, it’s no exaggeration to say that many brokerage leaders are part of one of the craziest roller coaster rides of their careers.
Your organization’s resilience and adaptability, in many ways, are put to the test. These factors largely determine whether your brokerage, and you as a real estate leader, are, and will remain, relevant for years to come.
What makes a company truly resilient?
We’ve all seen flash-in-the-pan companies come and go, powered by great marketing and big budgets but lacking the staying power that defines truly exceptional brands. How can you ensure that you’re building resilience into your organization for long-term success?
Trustworthiness
While trust is generally built during “normal” times, it’s often tested during difficult times. Strengthening relationships and earning the trust of internal and external stakeholders is not only important but outright nonnegotiable in today’s environment.
Developing trust between leaders and employees through effective communication and transparency is an important touchstone in order for your brokerage to leverage what you’ve built.
Your decision-making process has a lot to do with the trust you develop. If you feel you can make top-down decisions without consideration of key factors or various interest groups, you’ll likely miss out on developing buy-in from agents and support staff alike. A much more fruitful approach is to treat decision-making holistically and leverage the insights that a collaborative approach offers.
In a market that’s driven by madness in the field, creating additional pressure not only on agents but also employees, meeting the demands coming from the sales force has taken on a whole new importance. In order to continuously motivate and keep performance high, employees need to trust that they will be taken seriously and supported in exchange for the services they provide.
Responsibility
Bluntly said, organizational responsibility means moving beyond the bottom line. A lot of companies are making money by default, because of the existing strength in the current market, and profits are following. At first sight, that looks like a great place to be.
However, to stay relevant and resilient in the long run, there is a level of responsibility beyond profit. Employees are looking for a compelling company culture, just as agents are. It is your responsibility to provide them with a reason to give their best every day.
If your employees work for your brokerage as a “launchpad” to the next job, you have a culture problem. Employee turnover might become more expensive to you than the cost of simply rehiring.
The success of your brokerage depends on the quality of support staff, which has a direct impact on your agent satisfaction and retention. You want a team that is committed to the brokerage, so make sure you focus time and efforts on both agent and employee retention.
Collaboration
Despite heated competition, current trends in the industry clearly point towards collaboration. Tapping into partners and cross-functional team collaboration — sales, finance and marketing to name a few — has become the not-so-secret weapon in an industry and marketplace that is arguably experiencing all-time-high competitive forces. Putting an even bigger emphasis on collaboration might just be the answer.
To ensure optimal outcomes, synergies from collaborative efforts not only allow for more efficiencies, improved workflow and, ultimately, profitability. Collaboration also allows you to grow and develop in ways your brokerage or team could not achieve alone or without a holistic focus.
Collaboration allows you to succeed in ways that go beyond personal limitations or agendas, helping you to accomplish wins on the bigger-picture goals as well. By listening, collaborating, and understanding what others are trying to accomplish, you and your brokerage can achieve mutual goals, which in turn benefits everyone.
Marion Weiler is a senior business management executive, leadership & business consultant and president at Weiler International LLC, advising brokerage executive teams and real estate professionals during times of business growth as well as crisis. Connect with Marion on Linkedin.
