There has been a lot of talk in recent years about the importance of office culture in an agent’s overall success, and rightfully so. Agents need brokers/managers that understand them, and that they can rely on, plus a flexible work environment that offers them the necessary opportunities to succeed.
To defy mediocrity and go “above and beyond” for today’s real estate entrepreneur, that workplace culture must also feature brokers and managers who lead first with a business and technology mindset. It must also include an approach that proactively identifies for the agent potential roadblocks, pain points and financial setbacks—and offers hands-on or tech-based solutions to problems before they disrupt their ability to earn a living, the process and their client relationships.
My overall goal is to deliver the extraordinary to our relentless sales professionals, so they, in turn, can do the same for their home-buying and -selling clients. For me, it’s my love of identifying problems and finding solutions that enhances my excitement as manager of the Campbell, Calif., office of CENTURY 21 Real Estate Alliance, and it has helped me triple our agent count in the last 12 months.
Here’s a breakdown of my approach:
From a business perspective, it’s critical that I sit down with each agent and discuss financial planning options based on their personal goals and ambitions, while understanding which markets they are planning to target.
Then, I show them the best path to use to navigate our system, from a local and brand perspective, to help them reach (and exceed) their goals. For instance, if an agent is heading for commercial, I arrange to have them meet commercial experts within our community and learn from their experiences. My experience tells me that smart people learn from experiences, and smarter people learn from others’ experiences. Overall, agents need to know that they are individual business professionals, not just salespeople.
From a technology perspective, I use workshops and seminars to demo and show step-by-step how to best leverage new products and tools available exclusively to CENTURY 21® brand professionals. This approach releases a lot of the tension typically associated with learning new ways of doing business, allowing for the ideation and sharing of ideas to free up time and generate new business.
Agents like having a manager with a business and technology mindset because it brings a lot of value to their vision and business. They tell me it keeps them motivated to learn, grow and stay on top of the changes happening in the industry. Best of all, they are happy, and they want to stay with us because they feel valued and appreciated.
On a similar note, while these are some of the structural items I’m discussing with my agents, I’m also doing the same with my peers in management. We brainstorm together and use these ideas as a company hub or platform to help bring about better outcomes. We watch the results, then the cycle of identifying problems and finding solutions for agents and the overall company begins in earnest again. It’s a never-ending process, but one (that if done well), keeps our offices profitable and affords our agents the opportunity to deliver memorable moments along every step of the client relationship.
Sev Daudert is manager of CENTURY 21 Real Estate Alliance’s Campbell office. For more information, please visit www.century21.com/careers/learn/why-c21.
