Change is hard. Even people who crave change often react with apprehension when they are confronted with the unknown. It might be exciting and full of opportunity, but it also has its share of challenges, potential setbacks, and new problems to solve.
I’ve spent many years helping agents and brokers develop teams to help them expand their business. And while there are many who, when the time comes, are eager to jump in and embrace the changes a team will bring, there are always those who can’t quite get there. Even if they are too busy to do anything but work, even if their business is growing faster than they can sustain, building a team remains a bridge they can’t seem to cross. Why?
In my experience, the most common reason agents have for not starting a team, even when doing so would improve their lives, is simply that they don’t want to relinquish control. And I get that, believe me. As an agent, you spend unbelievable amounts of time and energy getting your business off the ground. You build up a clientele and establish a certain level of service your clients can come to expect. What if your new team members can’t provide that level of service, and the business you’ve put your heart and soul into suffers?
This is a legitimate concern. But it’s based on the assumption that just because up until now your clients have only worked with you at every stage of the transaction, they will only want that going forward—and that’s just not true. Consumers today want to deal with experts and specialists. Their dentist works with several dental assistants and hygienists; their lawyer works with clerks; why should you be different?
Ask yourself—would a client be better served by a team of specialists who can devote the necessary time to the client’s needs as they arise, or by one person juggling the various demands of many clients at a time? You might be good at your job, but I can guarantee you aren’t that good, and besides that, the business isn’t about you! Why do the work of five people when you can do the work of just one—and have a more profitable business to boot?
It all goes back to control, and coming to the point in your life where you are ready to relinquish a measure of that control in order to invest in the future of your business — and yourself. If you find yourself in this dilemma now, ask yourself: Is your family (or whatever else you are setting aside while you’re at work) worth $25 an hour or not? Is it worth investing in a transaction coordinator, or is maintaining your current workload still the best choice? No one can make this decision but you—but if the answer you come to is, “Yes, my family is worth that much to me,” you’ll only be shortchanging them if you continue to do everything yourself.
You have control over the choices you make for your business and your life, so use it to make choices that will benefit you in the long term. Building a team is difficult and full of uncertainty, but is going it solo really any different? If you know that a team is the next step for your business, the only thing holding you back is yourself—and you were made to change!
Verl Workman is the founder and CEO of Workman Success Systems, a real estate consulting company that specializes in performance coaching and building highly effective teams. Get free access to some of the very same tools and resources he has used to create success in his clients’ businesses.
