Designing your Dream Team

Designing your Dream Team

Transitioning from year to year in our industry is always fascinating.  We look at where we were, we are, and hopefully where we are going!  One thing is for certain, if we want to move forward and not become complacent or stagnant, we must consider doing things smarter and with greater intention.  In other words, some things must change. Often that means transitioning from a solo-entrepreneur into a team status.   Don’t panic. Teams come in all shapes and sizes. Your ideal may be a horizontal team with an administrative professional (licensed or unlicensed) or it may be a vertically designed multi-level enterprise.  There is no right or wrong.  It only needs to fit your mindset, model and business goals.

This Blog entry is dedicated to all professionals in our industry.  If you fulfill the powerful, vital role of Broker/Owner/Manager, only a few terms and roles will need to be changed. The greatest modification is that your consumer is the Agent.  Therefore, please adjust accordingly.  The same tools, resources, systems and principles are vital in all roles.

Right now, pause.  Pause (silently) and think about your future growth and fulfilling your 2018 goals.  What you need more and/or what you need less of?  Odds are, thoughts inclusive of, yet not limited to, these come to mind:

Leads                           Accountability                         Time                            Staff/Support
Education                    CRM                                        Training                       Balance
Systems                      Listings                                    Referrals

Here are the top three things to consider when designing your dream team:

Leverage 

Perhaps the most overused word in today’s real estate world, and for a reason.  Leverage is the secret sauce to add variety, definition, and a viable solution to many of the items listed above.  As we think change and operating our business differently (and different is as wonderful in our industry as disruption), consider the following:  What tasks (jobs) can you give away and NOT take back?

Steps to start the leverage process:

1. Make a list of the following:
   a.  Tasks
   i.  Activities within your daily business
   ii.  Activities from listing to contract
   iii.  Activities from contract to close
   iv.  Marketing to build the business
   b.  Responsibilities
   i.  Specific duties around each activity
   ii.  Detailed and ideal (as if perfected)
   c.  Roles (existing and potential)
   i.  Org Chart Format
   a)  1-3 and 5-year vision
   ii.  Who, what, how, when
   a)  Craft specific job descriptions for each role
   b)  Specify expectations, goals, objectives
2. Evaluate systems:
   a.  Make a comprehensive list of existing systems currently in place to support all real estate processes, procedures and activities.
   i.  Rate each for efficiency and effectiveness
   ii.  Conduct a needs analysis to discern what needs to be abandoned or improved
   b.  Make a comprehensive list of new systems needed
   i.  Rate each with a deadline for implementation
   ii.  Rate for “non-negotiable” to “nice to have”
   c.  Blueprint your strategy
   i.  Match your list of what you are willing to give away and NOT take back (Step 1) with systems (2a and b) to evaluate where you are today and what your next step should be (to help you determine your next hire)
   ii.  Invest as much time as necessary in this step as it is essential and vital to healthy team growth. Begin with the end in mind.
3. Make a list of what your role/responsibility and daily activities will be once Team members are added (as specified in Step 1) completely and systems are executed (in Step 2).
   a.  As the Rainmaker and or Broker/Owner/Manager, how will you invest each day to further grow and build the business?
   b.  What is your strategy for a check and balance of systems running the business?

Talent Search

The most common and most expensive mistake we make in the hiring process is hiring without a plan.  You know, you fall in love with the individuals; their behavior, personality, a kinship and just know you can find the “right place” for them.  Very seldom does this practice lead to success.  Before you start the search, know what you are in search of (see Step 1c above).

Once you have defined the need, we recommend that you hire for attitude and train for skill.  Let’s face it, the true Dream Team had one individual who, although talented beyond measure, was NOT a fit for the Team.  Isiah Thomas, one of the most celebrated basketball players in the history of the game, was not a fit for the 1992 men’s US Olympic Basketball Team (the original Dream Team) because of his attitude.  Keep that in mind.  Not everyone is a fit, regardless of ability and talent.

You are creating a culture, a tribe and a family of sorts.  Unlike your biological members, you have the right, the ability and most significantly the responsibility to build the team well with each player you add.  Do your best and understand that even under the best circumstances, you will make wrong choices.  Adopt and practice the method of hiring slowly and dismissing quickly to minimize the potential damage and impact the incorrect addition will make to the team.

Service and Sustainability

Each addition to the team should add value.  With each hire, you should be able to discern the long-term ROI the member will have on the whole. It may not be immediate, yet there should be an eventual return.

Two key thoughts should always be top of mind when building the Dream Team:

1. Is the Team concept providing an extraordinary level of service to the end-user that you cannot provide as a solo-entrepreneur?   Will the team that you develop bring return business to you?  Will friends, family and associates tell their friends, family, associates and co-workers to use you and your team’s service with their real estate needs?  Currently over 86% of consumers would use their REALTOR^® again, yet less than 15% do.  Why?  They don’t remember us because we have not leveraged talent and systems to hold on to the business we’ve earned.

   Wow!  Pause and think about that for a moment. Please.

2. Do you have an end in mind?  Are you building an entity which will enable you to transfer the ownership of your database and systems to a new owner and earn residual income?

It is often said that simple is seldom easy.  Such is building a Dream Team.  It takes patience, organization, intention and the strength and agility to fail forward.  The benefits are well worth the efforts.

Dream big, execute, and live the life you desire.  Simply stated, be a resource, not a sales pitch.