Recently, going into the doctor’s office, I watched the team work. A friendly receptionist greeted me with enthusiasm and asked for my method of payment, so I showed my insurance card and made a co-payment. After waiting 30 minutes to see the doctor, I was called by a nurse practitioner (I guess even nurses have assistants) who weighed me and took my blood pressure. I was then brought into an examination room where I waited for what I thought would be the doctor. To my surprise, the nurse came in and asked me some questions, filled out a couple more forms, then said she would be right back. Lo and behold, a knock on the door with what should have been the doctor produced the physician’s assistant (PA) who was professional, friendly and knowledgeable. He completed his exam, made some recommendations and sent me back to the counter to schedule a follow-up appointment.
I never saw the doctor whose name was on the door. Was I disappointed? Did I feel cheated? The answer is no. All of my needs were met, everyone was an expert at their job, and I felt better after leaving.
This exact experience occurs all over the place on a daily basis, whether it be at the dentist, the doctor, the gym, the grocery store or pretty much every other business that has employees. All of these companies work as teams to create what they hope to be an amazing client experience.
As teams become more and more popular, it’s because they make sense. I’m sure the doctor could have greeted me and done all the preliminary work, because in her mind no one person would ever do the job as well as she could, but she’s discovered that she needs to focus on the most important and profitable part of her business: surgery and post-op care.
With the complicated nature of the real estate transaction, downward pressure on commission and the amount of information and misinformation available to our clients, it’s more important than ever to make sure you have the ability to focus on the most important part of the interaction so that the client is better served. By hiring specialists in each area of the interaction, everyone wins.
There’s no right size for a team. Every person has to decide how much they want to grow. We’ve discovered that the better the service the team provides, the more opportunities present themselves, which allows the team to grow organically.
Key positions on a team include:
- The team leader
- Administrative assistant or client care coordinator
- Buyer’s agents
- Showing assistants
- A listing partner (when ready)
Additional positions that can be added to a team include a sales manager, transaction coordinator, marketing department and runner.
Whether you’re a single agent or part of a large team, look at your business and ask yourself whether people are being underserved because of your inability or lack of interest in delegating to specialists. If the answer is yes, consider how your next visit to the doctor’s office would differ if there wasn’t a team in place.
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.
