All brokers understand the importance of keeping everyone in their organization feeling positive about themselves, their work and their ability to generate future growth. That being said, sometimes when you try to lift people’s spirits and help them increase production, you border on “nagging,” which makes many agents unhappy and even uncomfortable. The trick, or the balancing act, is to maintain a culture of empathy and support where agents feel that they are valued, while also encouraging them to be more efficient by working on the fundamentals and building their sphere to drive sales.
It’s this mindset that helps us maintain our competitiveness as one of the largest companies in our market. On a more granular level, I refer to Simon Sinek’s “Start With Why,” or the importance of explaining why we are an organization that is more innovative, more profitable and earns greater loyalties from our sales professionals, clients and employees alike. Why is it that our systems, our coaching and learning platforms, and our culture are agile enough to consistently deliver the extraordinary and earn the highest quality service ratings in the industry?
To drive our “why” forward, we mastermind regularly on this dynamic industry and its changing learning curves, all while maintaining integrity in developing the personalized skills each professional in our company needs to exceed customer and client expectations. We have the hard-earned reputation as the brand with the highest name recognition; however, this is a mixed blessing in that we work every day to ensure that the community and the industry view us as forward-thinkers and industry thought leaders.
Secondly, recruiting agents remains a primary focus. Today’s challenge is that our competition is offering huge commission splits, and many sales professionals have been sold into believing that this is the best way to earn a living. Once we get to that point in the conversation with a new agent—or one looking for a new place to call home—we’re able to show that our value proposition and the subsidization of many of the related expenses necessary to build a real estate business are so strong that we move past the commission resistance.
As a company, we practice what we preach: the fundamentals. The office exudes an atmosphere and professionalism that homebuyers and sellers feel comfortable conducting business in. We’re the only brokerage open on Saturdays, the only company that hosts open houses every weekend, and we offer our people floor time (pre-COVID-19 and thereafter when the Governor allows). Lastly, the office is where I hold my managers most accountable: to recruit, retain and drive growth.
The balancing of our in-house culture with agent efficiency and production growth is a tough balancing act, but one that separates us from the competition. It’s our client testimonials and third-party reviews through RealSatisfied and other venues that help prove that everyone we touch is happy with their experience. We hold that in high regard, and it serves as our cultural foundation and the inspiration for agent efficiency and growth.
Debra Roth is an agent with CENTURY 21 Best Realty in Coos Bay, Oregon. For more information, please visit debraroth.c21.com.
