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If the first rule of real estate is location, location, location — then the first rule of leading a successful real estate sales team is support, support, support. If you’ve risen to the top of your game, so much so that you’re leading a team of agents, you’ve likely walked in their shoes, faced the same challenges and know what it takes to grow and thrive.
It’s the primary job of any great leader to remove the obstacles facing their team and provide a support system that breeds success from the top down. Here’s how to execute a plan to give your team what they need to grow their business and successfully serve their clients.
Create a clear service structure
The main job of an agent is to advise and support their client, whether that’s thoughtfully pricing a home for sale, weighing the timing of a market launch or guiding them through the transaction process. This is why it’s vital that a team leader, which in many cases is the brokerage itself, handles the other details of their business.
Who provides IT support, marketing support, the day-to-day details it takes to run a client-facing business? As an example, at The Agency, we have single points of contact for these matters. We have an Agent Experience Manager dedicated to each agent to help with everything from ordering business cards to placing signs and providing IT support.
Each agent also has a dedicated Marketing Account Manager who provides one-on-one strategic planning and creative support. The support staff and level of service you offer your agents can be invaluable, saving agents time to focus on what they do best: advising clients and selling real estate.
Offer training opportunities
Invest in your team’s education, whether they’re new to the business or have been at it for decades. What new training opportunities do you provide to help them grow and adapt to an ever-changing marketplace? Many agents find their niche over the years, whether they want to focus on high-net-worth clientele, first-time homebuyers or new development projects.
Provide a path for them to grow their skillsets, knowledge and expertise, and more importantly, make these opportunities easily accessible. To offer training and education opportunities, we built The Agency University, where agents can level up on everything from social media strategy to refining their personal brand. Having an education platform allows agents to develop on their own time and on their own schedule, a vital service for busy agents on the go.
The details in the data
While real estate is a highly personal business, arming your agents with vital economic and market data, on both a local and national level, helps them provide even more insightful guidance to their clients. Keeping them up to date on market shifts, economic conditions and the housing market as a whole positions them as experts in their field. There are many ways to do this.
At The Agency, we bring in economists and mortgage experts to speak on the latest conditions during our sales meetings and agent workshops. Consider ways you can present what is happening in the market to inform your agents and their clients. It is important to utilize the latest market data and put it in perspective for agents clearly and concisely so they can rely on it in a pinch.
Provide best-in-class systems and tools
When it comes down to it, the day-to-day work of running a real estate business requires the best tech systems and tools on the market. What CRM are agents using, and how are they using it? How do they track which of their marketing tactics is providing the most return? How can we as leaders leverage technology to make it simple for our agents to focus their time and efforts on their clients?
It’s my belief that our agents don’t need to be experts on every new technology system or marketing tool to be successful in their business. Through our recent acquisition of Triplemint, we aim to continue to develop our CRM system and tools to make staff more efficient for agents. In today’s climate, you must always stay at the forefront of innovation, so your agents can remain focused on building and maintaining their client base.
Finally, the key to great leadership is an open door. The agents on your team rely on your expertise for a reason. They believe in you, your way of doing business and your strategy for success. Keep the door open to provide advice, insight and support whenever needed, and your team is destined to be grateful and successful, both personally and professionally.
Mauricio Umansky is the founder and CEO of The Agency in Los Angeles. Connect with him on Instagram.
