Brokers perpetually seeking improvement
Recently, I wrote about J. Crew CEO Mickey Drexler as an exemplary leader that real estate professionals can learn a great deal from. He is meticulous, connected, and perpetually seeks improvement.
Yes, CEO behavior can teach brokers how to improve, and those same lessons can be learned at the independent agent level, but it is up to the brokers to lead and set precedent in an organization.
Should brokers act more like retailers?
Real estate is one of the most scattered industries in America- put a million independent contractors in a room and ask them who their boss is, who they serve and what their biggest obstacles are, to see what I mean. After finishing the real estate exam, agents hang their licenses, usually going for a recognized brand, and when they become unhappy, they join a boutique and eventually take the broker’s exam and set up their own shop. This is a common course for agents to take. But imagine if a broker were to set a better example, to touch every part of the process and behave more like a retailer?
I was told a story of a new agent whose broker flew to town and zipped through the office. The new agent had never met his broker and was enthusiastic to get to shake his hand. The broker ran through the office, used the bathroom, waved hi to all and left. The agent had so many questions and was excited that he met THE broker. He became disillusioned when the broker never came back to visit and never answered his calls or questions. This is a common tale.
Brokers, are you tapped in to the pulse of your company? Not just “we have X number of agents aged 40-50 and a retention rate of X%,” but “Joe loves selling homes on the golf course and his daughter is in college studying marketing, how can I be a better resource about golf course living, help him transact more, and maybe I should get to know his kid so we have new talent in the pipeline?”
How Gov. Bush led
Love him or hate him, when George W. Bush was the Governor of Texas, he didn’t start his day locked in his private office, he went to the basement of the capitol where his staff worked and one by one, he stopped by every office and knew their names, their stories and their needs. He treated them like family, even behind closed doors- it was never a PR stunt. I hear rumors that he did the same at the White House. Brokers, do you know your agents like family?
Disney executives test the product
Disney executives are all required to spend days at their sites riding rides, standing in line, buying food, getting pictures taken with characters, and experiencing it first hand. Their fastest way to improve customer experience is to go through it themselves, not as an executive who is called “sir” and moved to the front of the line, but as a cargo short wearing vacationer.
Brokers, do you experience your transactions first hand?
Do you send emails in to the office from a fake account to see how their response is? Do you personally call agents’ cell phones from anonymous numbers and see how many minutes, hours or days go by before a return call? Do you stop by your listings and your agents’ listings and check that the sign still has the proper riders and that the lockbox is where the MLS says it is? Do you go to your agents’ independent websites and see if there is any brokerage branding and that they are compliant? Do you visit their blogs to see if they’re wasting time blogging about “how agents should Twitter 101” instead of market reports or locally relevant information? Are you going through the designation courses yourself to know what they do or don’t offer so you can guide your agents toward what is right for their career? Are you checking out what your brokerage’s website looks like on a smartphone a year after it is launched to see if anything is broken? Are you a trusted resource for your agents that they can directly call or do they have to talk to your gatekeeper?
Or are you one of those brokers who is just blogging all the time about “raising the bar” then doing nothing to raise your own?
This seems like common sense, but apparently it is not for all. It’s simple math- by being a better broker, your agents will earn more, thus will you, but slacking off as most brokers do, or focusing on Twitter and your next internet fame endeavor as a rising number do, you’re a disservice to your agents, clients and yourself.
Gary Waters
January 25, 2012 at 6:12 pm
Brokers, do you experience your transactions first hand?…seems like a pretty devious approach to the business. Knowing your people, training your people…makes for a team that does not require babysitting techniques like this!