What Your Agents Secretly Want From You

March 15, 2016

Ann Pope

All it takes is one slip up from a lender, one angry call from a client, and everything hits the fan. Generating leads, following up with them, and nurturing them past closing all takes a toll. Your agents are on the go, showing houses. They still have regular office duties to fulfill. And business is never during regular hours. So, what do your real estate agents secretly want from you?

They want simplicity. Let’s explain.

Why Simplicity Sounds so … Simple

No duh, right? We all want our day to be easy and laid out for us, but life is never like that. Unfortunately, that shouldn’t be an excuse to make your real estate team’s work complicated. Real estate is not a two-step process. It requires a lot of hand-holding, and agents need all the help they can get. Simplicity should be a goal you continue to chip away at.

We all know what happens when speed clashes with complexity. Take a gander at any government agency. Immediately, you’ll picture red tape.

Things slow down as boxes get checked by various people. However, you know in real estate, people want to move fast. It’s usually the first agent who contacts a lead that gets their business. When homebuyers find a house they like online, you have to be quick to see it and make an offer. Otherwise, you could lose it to another buyer.

Simplifying the business of real estate impacts agent productivity. It impacts customer happiness. And it impacts your business reputation (i.e. your brand).

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How to Simplify Work in Real Estate

There are 3 areas where you can assist real estate agents:

Software solutions are designed to solve specific problems. When you look at your real estate business, what places need help? What core aspects of running an office could be ramped up with technology? Real estate systems like a CRM (or lead management software) can handle a lot of daily tasks to help you focus on what really needs attention. When you’re looking to simplify the work, technology can help automate a sizable chunk of it.

Teams operate better when they know the game plan. In real estate, this means having processes. When you generate a new lead, what’s the process? How do your agents follow up? Do they call or email? When do they reach out? Giving your team a list of action items (i.e. to-do’s) helps prioritize their thinking. Instead of thinking, “Okay, who do I need to call next?” they think, “Let me reach out to John and see if he wants to see the house on Elm Street.”

Technology can do thousands of things. Think about all the capabilities of Apple’s iPhone or Google’s search engine. But we can’t tap into that power unless we’re trained on how to use it. The same goes for processes. Listings out to-do’s isn’t helpful, if they don’t understand the proper way to complete the tasks. Always. Be. Training. Work becomes easier when everyone is on the same page, not asking hundreds of questions.

Simplifying Real Estate Leads to Motivation

If you’re spending the money to make your team successful, shouldn’t you require something of each team member? Set a work goal for them, but match it to their personal goals. For example, one of your agents wants to buy a new car at the end of the year. Sit down with them and map out what exactly they need to do, how much to set aside, how many homes they need to sell, etc. Do this until you have a clear plan for them to reach that goal.

Find your agent’s motivation for getting out of bed each day and remind them of that on a daily basis. Setting goals give everyone something to strive toward.