Whether you’re an individual or a team, building your real estate practice isn’t necessarily hard; however, building a successful seven-figure business requires effort, planning and strategy. We’ve learned that the difference between the average and the exceptional is that the exceptional actually do the activities that everyone else knows they should do, but very few actually do.
Many people define teams as a team leader, an assistant or client care coordinator and one or more buyer’s agents. While this is a good description of a team, it’s not the only one that works. In fact, teams come in all shapes and sizes, and often consist of single agents who have developed strategic partners, virtual assistants and contract-to-close assistance without building a “traditional” team.
The Value of Strategic Partners
Most agents think about strategic partners as lenders or others who pay for a portion of their advertising and marketing. With the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and local regulations, it’s critical that you follow the rules of engagement and make sure your relationships are compliant, legal and ethical. That said, we’ve learned that strategic partners are much more valuable than whatever financial contribution they may choose to make to your marketing strategies. A great strategic partner does the following:
Provides best-in-class service – As agents and brokers, we pride ourselves on doing the right thing and providing exceptional client experiences. If you have strategic partners that don’t adhere to this philosophy, you’re setting yourself up for negative reviews and poor client referrals, possibly eliminating future transactions. Your partners must be the best.
Assists in lead generation and follow-up – When combining for lead generation and conversion, your partners can and should be part of the follow-up and sales process when possible. We recommend our lenders call the prospect prior to a listing appointment to make sure they know that we’ll do our best to qualify each buyer so that the seller can make the most informed decision when dealing with multiple offers.
Honors the lead source – Where much is given, much is expected. When we give business to a lender to pre-qualify, it’s critical that we track conversions and follow-up, and that once the client is approved, they come back to the source that referred it.
Is present and participates in team energy – We always invite our strategic partners to be involved in our team huddles, role plays and prospecting nights. Not only does this allow them to get to know our agents, but it also allows us to help them learn how to prospect and grow their business as we grow ours.
Shows up at opens, client events and gives back to the community – Great partners look for opportunities to be present when we’re with clients, and within the community. They show up.
Is more interested in doing the right thing for the client than the money they make – This shouldn’t have to be said, but partners who focus on the client rather than the sale or commission will do a better job. The money will follow for everyone involved in the transaction.
Choose your partners carefully, make sure they exhibit the same core values you have, and involve them in the activities that generate greater results for everyone involved.
Verl Workman is the founder and CEO of Workman Success Systems (385-282-7112), an international speaking, consulting and coaching company that specializes in performance coaching and building successful power agents and teams. Contact him at Verl@WorkmanSuccessSystems.com. For more information, please visit www.workmansuccesssystems.com.
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