Above, from left, Heather McColaugh, John Clidy, Aaron Kardell, Matthew O’Connor and moderator Jackie Louh
As we head into the new year, agent productivity is a hot-button topic, especially in an industry in which time management is key to getting things done in an efficient manner. During the hustle and bustle associated with the last few weeks of the year, as real estate professionals prepare themselves to hit the ground running as 2025 unfolds, what are some ways brokers can alleviate the strain on their agents’ time and create more effective results?
A panel of industry experts recently gathered to discuss ways to boost productivity and streamline the sale process as 2024 winds down.
“At the end of the day, I think a really good salesperson wants to win, right?” said Heather McColaugh, a REALTOR® with BF Realty. “What we do is really about being competitive and making a difference, and those goal settings are so important.”
Her comments set the stage for a panel packed with solid advice for boosting agent productivity at RISMedia’s 36th Annual CEO & Leadership Exchange this past September. Among the topics discussed were goal setting, training, marketing and technology.
Being accountable to yourself fosters action
According to McColaugh, “(My broker) sat me down and said, ‘What’s your goal for 2024?’ I told her my sales number, and it was, of course, $10 million higher than last year. And she said, ‘Actually, I don’t think that’s your goal. I think we’re going to branch out and have you earn money in different types of ways this year.’”
How did they hope to accomplish that? McColaugh elaborated: “In sales, the number is accountability. That’s the scorecard.”
Her sentiments were parsed out by other panelists.
“You really need the agent to set their own goals. If they’re independent contractors, they’re independent minded people,” said Matthew O’Connor, COO of Terrie O’Connor REALTORS®. “If we tell them what they should do, it doesn’t really have traction.”
The idea of accountability was front and center, with the brokerage playing the role of a coach and the agent being the player who goes and does the work in the trenches.
“To me, one of the main things coaching can provide is something we can do pretty easily if we just make sure we take the time every year to help the agent set goals, help them make a business plan, help them do all those things that we can to help keep them accountable to their own goals, and to their own business plan. So that’s definitely part of what we do,” said O’Connor.
“If you really look at your goal and you actually know…what I am going to do this week that actually allows me to nail my goal—and you really stay super focused on that,” said John Clidy, executive vice president for Growth at Keller Williams Realty, Inc. “I heard earlier in one of the panels about your morning routine. Maybe you’re the kind of person that you’ve got to nail that morning, your workout and your health part, and then everything else will be simple.”
“We have a whiteboard and everybody goes up and they write down what their goals are for the year,” added Jackie Louh, COO of Lamacchia Realty Inc., who moderated the panel. “We take a picture of it and send it to the agent, then every month we’re doing check-ins with them.”
Louh expanded on that idea, claiming that having the agent be accountable to his or herself, in addition to being publicly accountable to other people fighting for a common cause, was a key piece of the puzzle as far as connecting daily activities with a larger picture.
“Every quarter we’ll do a follow-up meeting with the entire group as well,” she said. “Again, it keeps them focused, it keeps them on track, and nobody wants to admit publicly, ‘I haven’t been doing what I said I’m supposed to do.’ That accountability will definitely help them increase their business.”
Louh also spoke about the importance of tracking your goals in a way that’s manageable and efficient.
“They just set a goal of, ‘I’m going to sell $20 million this year.’ Well, great, how are you actually going to do that? What are you going to do every single day? How many calls does that equate to per day? Having those steps outlined to achieve the goal is really important,” she explained. “Something I always do before I go to bed is make a list of the top six things I need to accomplish tomorrow. And if all those things aren’t checked off in my day, then my day is not complete.”
Having the right technology streamlines productivity
Making sure agents are equipped with the right tools and processes was another topic discussed by the panelists.
“At the end of the day, I think agents need tools that are going to reduce complexity and not add it. And there are a lot of ways to do that,” said Aaron Kardell, GM of Innovation & Strategic Partnerships at Lone Wolf Technologies. “Sometimes fewer tools is just a good place to start. There are other approaches though. You can look at integrated platforms that bring things together, but I also think there’s kind of a shift that’s happening in the industry from more of a closed platform model to more of an open platform. And I think really challenging your vendors to integrate with others and integrate openly…(i)t seems like a no brainer to me.”
Kardell’s opinion on tools was seconded by O’Connor.
“We have a lot of tools,” said O’Connor, who agreed with the comment about simplifying and keeping the list short. “Most agents, what you really want them (to) focus on is not the technology, you want them focused on their high-gain activities. Technology won’t replace agents, but agents that use technology effectively will replace those that don’t.”
O’Connor also talked about how he tries to optimize the technology tools he uses, in every facet of his business. “I try and have every system I bring into my company be something that benefits every agent, even if they don’t ever touch it themselves.”
O’Connor offered specific examples of how the tools he uses in his business contribute to a smooth workflow for his agents as well, pointing to testimonials as a simple example.
“We have a testimonial system (that) goes out and solicits testimonials on their behalf,” he said. “A lot of them do a good job of doing it on their own, getting a lot more than we would get for them in our simple automated way. But over the years, we have agents who’ve never touched it, never reached out, never asked for it, but they have a whole collection of (testimonials) in their online profiles because that’s something we’ve done for them in an automated way that really is helpful. So I think automation is key from the brokerage. Doing things on behalf of the agent from the brokerage perspective is super important.”
‘Grassroots’ marketing is the most effective marketing
Asked to provide insight into her marketing background and how she leveraged it in the real estate space, McColaugh gave a few key examples.
“What we do at BF Realty is we put hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of little drops in the ocean, then it makes a tidal wave of amazing in our community. So this is a goofy example, but this is exactly what BF Realty and I do. So I got a text from the superintendent of one of our schools in the area. He said, ‘Hey, the building is out of air conditioning. There’s 695 students, 50 teachers, can you bring popsicles?’ Does that have anything to do with houses? No, but the superintendent of a school knows my phone number and thought, ‘We have a problem. I’m going to call Heather at BF Realty.’”
She said that making a difference in the community is a way to be remembered, and that being remembered can have tangential benefits that can link up with a sale. She said to never forget the power of a giving mentality.
“It rarely has anything to do with the house, but when people think ‘I need to sell my house,’ they’re going to be like, ‘Those people are amazing. They actually care.’ So the marketing of what we do looks very different than what maybe a lot of you guys are talking about,” McColaugh said.
Wrapping up the panel, each speaker provided a quick agent productivity tip:
O’Connor: “From the brokerage perspective, I try and make sure the brokerage is a force multiplier for the agents. We should be doing things that help increase their productivity—providing things, automating things, doing everything that helps them be better at what they do. Things they can’t do on their own.”
Kardell: “Reduce complexity with simple tools and automation.”
Clidy: “I like to work with committed people. Uncommitted people tend to do uncommitted things in action, so I like committed people.”
McColaugh: “Get in the weeds with your people. Sit there with them when they’re having a stressed out moment. That will go way farther toward increasing agent productivity than talking to them about their systems. Are you there for their chaos? If you are, they will produce for you.”
