@properties Christie’s International Real Estate executives Amy Corr, EVP of Culture and Development, and Kevin Van Eck, EVP of Innovation, provide broker insights and tips every other week — exclusively for Broker Edge readers. Grab a cup of coffee and watch the full video for a more in-depth look.
As we wrap up 2022, in this week’s video column, @properties Christie’s International Real Estate executives Amy Corr and Kevin Van Eck review their six favorite tips on how brokers have inspired their teams and staff to success.
Leadership before friendship
While it’s important to develop meaningful, friendly relationships with your agents, it’s important that you always are perceived as the leader. Especially as we move into a changing market, your team wants to work with someone who has a great strategy, is confident and knows how to manage any real estate challenge.
A professional relationship built on friendship isn’t a good foundation for growth and retention. Be a great leader, and the friendship will automatically follow.
Engage and communicate
Be engaged and make sure you communicate. In this unsettled market, you need to be present, communicating and showing confidence to your agents — even if you don’t know everything that’s happening. If you don’t feel confident, your agents won’t either.
Training for team members
Team leaders aren’t always the best trainers and mentors. Stepping in to provide training for team members provides them with the skills they need to be successful, and provides value to the entire team – including the team lead who doesn’t have to do it.
Rollouts are more important than you think
When launching a new program or tech, you MUST make it a big deal otherwise your agents won’t think it’s important. You need to think through, plan and roll it out correctly, otherwise you won’t get the adoption they need and you want.
Offer a variety of coaching and learning options
Make sure you are looking at your agents and their needs, and offer them a variety of different training and coaching outlets. Whether it’s a large or small group session, via Zoom or in-person. Don’t hesitate to use external and internal programming to provide training to agents at any level.
Double down on your growth
Focus on the most important things that your agents will use to be able to grow. And that will also create exposure for your brokerage by creating volume, transactions, and recruiting growth. Now is the time to double down while other brokerages are pulling back — it comes back to confidence that this market is cyclical.
Know how you are going to come out of this time period stronger than when you went in and how you are going to make sure that your agents are attracted to you because they see your confidence and investment in their future.
We don’t know what the market will bring or control what it will do, but we can control our actions and what we focus on. Now is the time to seize market share and opportunity.
Kevin Van Eck is the EVP of innovation and education at @properties Christie’s International Real Estate in Chicago, Illinois. Connect with him on Instagram or Facebook.