Undeniable Traits Of A Successful Leader

As a real estate broker, you are no longer directly responsible for leading buyers and sellers through the complexities of real estate transactions. Instead, you are now charged with the responsibility of successfully leading your team of real estate agents to reach their potential. While there are many traits and skills that make up what most would consider a successful leader, there are a few that serve as the cornerstones for every broker. As you strive to become the best leader you can be for your team and your business, focus on the development of these must-have traits.

Authenticity

The greatest leadership wisdom taught in lofty places like Harvard has to do with being authentic. Authentic leaders are said to value input and feedback, are positive, truthful, and open. They build trust and generate enthusiastic support that improves both individual and team performance.
Consider that a career in real estate can feel like a roller coaster, full of ups and downs. For some real estate agents, the downs can lead to doubts in their abilities and fears about their future. As their broker-leader, you can help shoulder those burdens by being an authentic leader who has both empathy for their situation, but whose enthusiasm and positivity helps them stay focused and motivated. Being an authentic leader, also helps creates the authentic culture in your brokerage that will minimize turnover and help improve production.

Recognition

There is nothing more demoralizing than having those you look up to ignore your strengths and accomplishments. As a leader, it is your job to give recognition to those agents that perform well and showcase exceptional talents. If you hold team meetings, you may want to consider regularly giving out awards or tokens of recognition to worthy individuals. Certainly top performers should be recognized, but there are many things you can recognize people for. In the spirit of being authentic, just make sure they are recognized for real achievements.  If you look hard enough, everyone has something meaningful they have achieved that you can hold up for your team.

Humility

Everyone makes mistakes. The difference between an average joe and a successful leader is that a leader is humble and willing to admit their mistakes. This is another attribute of the authentic leader, the willingness to admit mistakes. In fact, as a real estate broker, you have a special opportunity to use your hard earned knowledge to save your agents from wasting their own time, money, and resources in the same ways you may have as an agent. By exercising humility and openly leveraging your mistakes into lessons, your entire team can work smarter and will have deeper respect for you as a leader.

Empowerment

One of the first things you had to learn to do as a broker was to stop selling homes yourself. Now the next part is actually empowering your agents to do the selling and make them as good at it as you were. Don’t be a broker who swoops in and personally fixes everything, whenever a deal hits a rough spot. Instead give your team the training they want, the advice and support they need, and the encouragement to be successful. Agents who feel empowered and supported, and who are not micromanaged, will take more initiative and over time will develop into more productive and motivated sales associates.

Accountability

If you strive to lead an all-star team, you must lead by example by being accountable for what you say and do. This really means getting back to some basics like saying what you will do, and doing what you say you will. Since the buck stops with you, some things will naturally float up to your level, and when agents see that you will jump in and handle the big challenges, their confidence in your leadership will grow.

Accountability is actually one of the important skills Weichert teaches its brokers through the Weichert Management Academy. The academy, open to Weichert owners, brokers and managers across the country, teaches attendees all the important elements of building a successful team and managing a successful business. In this training the behaviors that constitute accountable leadership at every level are discussed. Being accountable means employees will feel your organization is solid, and that they are both well supported, and empowered to move their business forward.

There’s Always Room To Be A Better Leader

As a real estate agent, you successfully developed your abilities as a salesperson. As a broker, your focus shifted to being an effective leader. If you think you could benefit from leadership coaching and training programs, as well as a collection of production boosting tools and systems for your agents go to weichertfranchise.com or call 877-746-2067.

Original content posted on https://www.weichertfranchise.com/blog/undeniable-traits-of-a-successful-leader/

3 Tips For Selling Homes To Gen Y

Gen Y, more commonly referred to as Millennials, have now become the most populated generation in the USA, surpassing Baby Boomers. That means that they are one of the largest demographics of home buyers and sellers and are in the crosshairs of real estate agents and brokerages eager to build a profitable business. However, the buyers and sellers of Gen Y are unique in their interests, priorities, and especially their behaviors when it comes to buying and selling real estate. Selling to this tech-addicted generation will require you to be savvier than the competition and to do things a little differently than you did when you were starting out as an agent. Here are three useful tips that can help the modern broker prepare their agents to sell homes to Gen Y.

1.  Ad Content That Doesn’t Sell!

Millennials grew up in an age of digital marketing with its ever present ad mechanisms, making them somewhat impervious to more blatant forms of advertising. In fact, the more that you try to directly sell members of this generation, the less effective you will be. That’s not to say advertising is ineffective here, but the style and nature of the content has to be more helpful, relevant, or entertaining and less overtly service focused.

Millennials respond to creative that is more visual and will be attracted to video content using mediums such as Facebook newsfeed ads. And don’t forget Instagram. Offer free and convenient tools to help, like an online mortgage calculator, or a downloadable neighborhood or local school analysis. The more free tools, tips and services you can offer in your ads, the more likely this generation is to trust your agents, and your brokerage.

2. Supply Your Agents On-Going Training

Now, more than ever, the technology and platforms that are used to reach buyers and sellers are complex. Furthermore, they are forever evolving and shifting in popularity. If you want to enable your agents to close deals with the Millennial set, you’re going to need to provide them with ongoing training on topics like social media, mobile marketing and digital marketing, in general.

This is an area where big name real estate brands sometimes have an advantage. Weichert for instance, has both proprietary technology and processes that make marketing to Millennials (and everyone) less complex and more efficient. Add to that the training provided by Weichert training teams and its ongoing University approach, and you leverage a powerful educational infrastructure that keeps you and your team on the cutting edge.

3. Enable Prompt Follow-Up

Growing up in the most technologically advanced era in human history has had many effects on Gen Y. One of the largest is their increasing desire for instant gratification. This means that when a Millennial expresses interest in buying or selling a property, or has a question about a property or a town or neighborhood, they expect to hear from an agent right away. In fact, agents that fail to follow-up with a lead within 30 minutes or less, will usually fail to convert that lead. They simply won’t wait to hear from you.

What is your system for getting immediately back to leads, however and whenever they come in? Do you pass the 30 minute rule, even in the off hours?

Brands like Weichert have systems in place that help the agent both get leads and automate the follow-up. Once a lead comes in, Weichert has a call center that handles pre-screening and forwarding, putting incoming leads into the hands of a live agent within minutes. Accepted leads are then fed directly into the brand’s proprietary CRM. As a broker you need to consider tightening up your lead response times and follow up to be sure you’re making the most out of your opportunities.

How To Plan The Future With Gen Y

As an experienced real estate broker hoping to attract business from the country’s largest demographic population, you understand that your agents require advanced technology and training. You also know that trying to supply all of that tech and training on your own can be a challenge. If you feel that you could benefit from a system of tools and access to the most advanced training programs for selling to Millennials and any consumer category, think about teaming up with Weichert.

For more information about our proven strategies and resources go to weichertfranchise.com or call 877-746-2067.

Original content posted on https://www.weichertfranchise.com/real-estate-crm/3-tips-for-selling-homes-to-gen-y/

5 Fun Ways To Build Winning Real Estate Team Chemistry

As a broker, it may often feel as though you have a to-do list that is a mile long and always growing. Sometimes this can lead to neglecting things which may not be as urgent, but which are equally important and integral to the big picture of your brokerage’s success. For many brokers, team building exercises are one of those things that typically falls through the cracks. Brokers may view their agents as silos who mostly work independently or for whom such comradery has limited value. As everyone knows, growing a brokerage has constant challenges related to recruitment and retention. The fact is that team building activities are beneficial to you, your agents, and your overall mission of growth. So finding a way to incorporate these activities can be an investment in achieving that.

Here are a few of the benefits you can expect when you choose to engage in regular team building exercises:

• Creation of a positive work environment.
• Increased loyalty which means a decrease in expensive turnover of your agents.
• A team that is more supportive of helping one another grow and be successful.
• Buzz on the street about how engaged your brokerage is in supporting its agents.
• A team that is more engaged and more productive.
• Enhanced problem-solving skills and creativity shared among your agents.

According to research conducted during Gallup’s State of the American Workplace Survey, having a good friend at work can boost one’s engagement level by up to 50%. (1) Team building helps to foster those relationships. Here are five ways to build winning chemistry amongst your agents through team building exercises.

Team Building Exercise 1 – Share The Mission Of Your Brokerage

Of course, everyone working in real estate is hoping to make a good living at it. Selling lots of big homes, being a million dollar agent is the dream of every serious real estate agent. But your mission as a broker and the person responsible for helping achieve this has to be better than just “make a lot of money”. Helping people buy the home of their dreams is a tremendously positive and impactful service you provide. Your mission statement should reflect this.  It should be formal, and it should be a collaborative effort between you and your team that you revisit periodically. It should include things like how you will present yourself to clients and the community, how you will treat your clients and partners, and how you will delight and exceed expectations at every step of the process. A jointly developed, “feel good” mission for your brokerage creates team cohesion around a common set of principles beyond “make a lot of money”. Print it and post it proudly in your office.

Team Building Exercise 2 – Develop And Incentivize Mentor Relationships

As agents are new to real estate and new to your team, they are usually in search of guidance and support from more seasoned agents that can show them the ropes. As a broker, your success derives from your agents continuously growing both personally and professionally so that they can close more deals. The larger you grow, the less time you will have to be able to offer that coaching to your agents on a one-on-one basis. Mentorships are valuable among your agents as it will save you from having to mentor each member of the team yourself individually. Develop a program in which more successful and experienced agents mentor new team members, welcome them, and help them become acclimated to your policies, practices, and strategies.

Team Building Exercise 3 – Have Weekly Meetings and Awards

Even if you believe in fostering a strong sense of independence in your agents, it is wise to keep all of them grounded to your overall success as a team. One way to do this is to bring the team together regularly for a fun, open discussion with some monetary reward and recognition for significant achievements. You may want to present them with fun certificates for them to display in their offices, as well as, gift cards or cash. Holding these meetings puts you out front as their leader and keeps you connected to the team in a more personal, fun way. Plus, the positive incentive will further reinforce your agents’ productions levels and loyalty.

Team Building Exercise 4 – Sponsor Non-Sales Group Activities

Of course, sales are a top priority to both your agents and to you as their broker. Without sales, nobody eats. However, bonding together as a team should not always revolve around driving more sales. One way that you can encourage more engagement amongst your agents is to sponsor non-sales activities. Ideally, you would do this for teams that achieve something significant such as attracting the most new agents to the team, developing a new streamlining process, closing the most sales for the period, or successfully incorporating a new technology. When you do this, other teams within your brokerage will take note that you are supportive of such healthy practices and become motivated to work harder themselves.

Team Building Exercise 5 – Become Volunteers and Role Models

In addition to creating a positive public image for your brokerage, your agents working together for a greater good is a powerful shared experience. Try to choose a cause that is meaningful to your agents, and in line with your brokerage’s values, to increase their engagement and participation. If you hold monthly meetings, present your agents with two or three options that are all aligned with your mission and will require your team to work together cohesively to move the needle forward for the cause. Then have them vote on the cause that they would prefer to support. Send out reminders leading up to the event and generate additional interest on social media. Following each charitable event, be sure to thank your agents, share the difference that they made, and highlight the importance of working together as community role models, not just real estate professionals.

A Worthwhile Investment In Your Growth

Some of these team building exercises are easy and simple to do, while others require more time to plan. Whatever time you can spend here however, is well worth the investment. As your team grows stronger together, your brokerage will become a place everyone wants to be a part of, and no one wants to leave.

At Weichert, we offer support to our affiliates so they can accomplish many of these types of activities and strengthen their brokerages. National and regional Awards & Recognition programs, workshops and conferences, inspiration and public relations support for community involvement and one-on-one coaching to develop solid recruiting and retention programs are just some of the many things we provide. Ours is a people-first philosophy based on building and cultivating relationships, whether it’s a client or an associate.

For more information on how to support your team for growth and continue to move forward, call 877-567-3350 or visit weichertfranchise.com.

Sources:
(1)http://www.gallup.com/services/176708/state-american-workplace.aspx

Original content posted on https://www.weichertfranchise.com/blog/5-fun-ways-to-build-winning-real-estate-team-chemistry/

Never Miss An Opportunity Again to Lack Of Follow Up

As a dedicated broker with a desire to grow your team and increase their production, you can’t afford to ignore the importance of follow up. Whether a lead is purchased or organic, it will require prompt, consistent, and personalized follow up if it will ever transition from a contact to a client. In fact, statistics show that for every 100 leads that an agent acquires, only 1-5 of them convert to business. If you and your team of agents are ever going to reach your goals, every lead will need to be treated like a VIP.

The Value Of A Lead

To really set the stage for how important follow up is, it helps to remember that a lead is so much more than just a lead; it is a lifetime opportunity. It is an opportunity to close multiple deals with that buyer or seller, and everyone that they refer to you. As a broker, you already understand that point because you have paid your dues and served your time as a real estate agent trying to build a business. You also know that it is far more expensive to find a fresh lead than it is to acquire deals from an existing client. For all these reasons and more, facilitating follow up by offering training, tactics and tools for your team, should be high on every broker’s priority list.

The First Follow Up Should Be the Fastest

In today’s fast paced world, it is more important than ever that a lead receives contact within 30 minutes of “raising their hand” by phone or online. It is not uncommon for qualified leads to fall through the cracks because they don’t receive the immediate and necessary attention they deserve from overwhelmed agents. In fact, a Harvard Business Review study concluded that nearly 71% of all qualified leads are never followed-up with because it can be so challenging to execute without the proper tools and systems in place. Yet, the fact remains that the faster they get a response, the more likely those leads are to become a client.

For example, Weichert, understanding these lead dynamics invests in a highly sophisticated national lead processing center which screens all calls and web queries, then transfers qualified leads to local Weichert agents across the country within minutes. With so many agents competing for leads, it is this kind of turnaround and responsiveness that really maximizes the engagement rate within a brokerage.

Keep Clients Close

The commitment to consistent follow up should not waiver after the sale–or even if a sale is not made. To extract as much value as possible from each client engagement, there should be continued communication on birthdays and anniversaries, as well as, newsletters, market updates, and other valuable content. This is one place that a Client Relationship Management tool (CRM) can really be valuable. By using a CRM to keep track of these relationships and creating a schedule to maintain that consistent, regular contact, your agents will get in front of more and more deals without having to work harder than necessary. As an example, the WeichertPRO CRM empowers agents to achieve success by nurturing their leads with automated, yet personalized emails, easy advertising of new listings, Open Houses and more. All of this having the effect of reducing the number of potential sales that slip through the cracks. Regular promotion, planning, and timely follow up are all part of the WeichertPRO CRM’s wheelhouse, making it an invaluable tool for both agents and brokers alike.

Strike a Balance Between Automation and Conversation.

The founder of Weichert, Realtors®, Jim Weichert, will tell you that selling real estate is nothing if not personal. He is famous for saying that “people buy people before they buy your product or service” and it’s that people-first philosophy that pervades everything Weichert teaches their affiliates. So by all means, use the latest technology and real estate CRM systems to stay front of mind with your clients and to follow up with regularity. But making these automations as personalized as possible, and supplementing them with actual personal contact, is the key to effective follow up, and building your business for the long haul.

A national call center and proprietary CRM are just two parts of a full suite of systems and programs available to Weichert affiliates. If you are looking for a blueprint for success that you can plug your business into, contact Weichert Real Estate Affiliates, Inc. at 877-746-2067 or go to weichertfranchise.com for more information.

Original content posted on https://www.weichertfranchise.com/blog/never-miss-an-opportunity-again-to-lack-of-follow-up/