Growth Factor #5: Bring Meat to the Table

The “Top 5” Growth Traits of a Successful Real Estate Team (continued)

Many agents believe that growing a team in the midst of today’s market conditions is for the foolhardy. The opposite is true! The challenges of today’s marketplace are actually causing highly trained, experienced agents to consider team opportunities who may never have done so when their business and income was more predictable. If you’re thinking like a business owner and entrepreneur, you know that the best of opportunities often present themselves in the toughest of conditions. By nature, most individuals will play it safe in challenging times. But consider the words of one of the most successful businessmen in the world, Warren Buffet, who defined his investment philosophy as “being fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.” For a Team Leader, some of the best deals in this market may come in the form of high quality, well trained producers who are fearful of riding through this economic storm alone.

Keep in mind, though, these Agents are not only looking for confidence and leadership, but business! The consistency of the business they have enjoyed, especially over the last 5 years, has thinned out as a percentage of that Agent’s past clients delay their plans in real estate, in addition to their usual referrals of friends and family members who may have also put their real estate dreams on hold until the market his “bottom”.

A saavy Team Manager who is targeting a variety of business sources, including opportunities unique to the current market such as foreclosures and short sale business, is positioned to “feed the masses”, which is what business planning for a team is all about. Developing a team business plan is a specialized and necessary process that should address exactly what sources you will target, the amount of business you can expect from each source, what portion of that business will be shared with each Team Associate, and a master budget that ensures the income goals of ALL team members can be met.

Conclusion

Creating an environment of interdependence among a team of independent salespeople sounds like an impossible feat. If you have already made an effort at growing a team without applying the traits and principles discussed, I’m sure you feel like it is one! Hiring Agents to share the workload does not make a team. A team is really a microcosm of a real estate office, requiring an intentional daily focus on systems, relationships and quality leadership in order to become healthy and productive. If these are lacking, you may as well install a revolving door at the entrance of your office or allot plenty of time for renegotiating splits with your Team Associates in order to keep them. If you’re willing to put that same time into understanding these Top 5 Growth Traits of a Successful Team, new levels of success and profitability can be just a few new team members away!