I hear a lot about threats in real estate these days. Whether it’s about interest rates, inflation, or stagnant inventory, a lot of people sure seem to think that outside forces are the biggest threat real estate professionals are facing right now. If you subscribe to this theory, I’ve got a wake-up call for you: the shifting market isn’t the biggest threat you or your team is facing in real estate.
In a speech by Abraham Lincoln given in 1838, he said, “At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher.” Lincoln’s words should chill you to the bone. The biggest threat to your real estate business comes from within.
In association with Sisu, I recently commissioned a national study on real estate teams, carried out by the Center of Generational Kinetics. Among many interesting findings, our study found that poor communication and poorly defined roles top the list as the biggest threats to establishing a strong team in real estate. Even if you’re an individual agent, these threats should be of concern to you—you work with brokerages, clients, and others with whom these breakdowns in communication and trust could spell disaster.
Poor communication
A famous quote by George Bernard Shaw states, “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” Do you have systems, standards, or processes in place to ensure clear and effective communication? Does the right hand know what the left is doing? If your answer isn’t an enthusiastic and confident yes, you’ve got a threat lurking in your midst.
When communication falls apart, time is wasted, opportunities are lost, and your business suffers. What are you doing to ensure that communication is not only taking place, but that said communication is effective? Measuring how information flows through your business is essential to your success in this shifting market—shore it up now before it rears its ugly head and you miss out on profits, opportunities, or both.
Poorly defined roles and responsibilities
If anyone who you deal with regularly doesn’t understand the relationship in the same way you do, you’re dealing with poorly defined roles and responsibilities. On a team or with a brokerage, this can become quickly obvious, but solutions aren’t always apparent. When dealing with clients, poorly defined roles can be deadly to your deals and kill your commissions.
This is really a function of communication. Clarity in communication is a great start to solving this problem, but the heart of this issue lies in accountability. When people — even clients — aren’t held accountable for their roles and responsibilities, the definition of those roles and responsibilities falls apart. Setting clear expectations from the outset of any business relationship helps keep roles well-defined. Following up after the outset with clear communication and accountability helps stop this threat in its tracks.
This shifting market should concern you not because the market itself is concerning, but because it will be less forgiving of threats and errors inside your team. The biggest threats your business faces are ones of communication, clarity, and accountability. Shore these up now if you don’t want to find yourself hit by a down market. These insights come from our national study on real estate teams. For further insights on teams in real estate, you can access the full study for free on Workman Success Systems’ website.
Get free access to some of the tools and resources used to create success in Workman Success Systems’ clients’ businesses.
