March 2004 COVER FEATURE
All You Need to Succeed: Management
10 ways to communicate like a leader
10 ways to build loyalty among associates
7 customer service standards your office should have
Tips for hiring support staff
The top producer–broker relationship: make it work
Help from REALTOR VIP® Program partners
12 documents every transaction file should have
10 ways to communicate like a leader
When you’re speaking or writing to your associates and staff, clarity is key. Without it, effective management is an uphill battle.
For clarity in writing
1. Keep it simple. The fewer words you use, the better. Example: “during” rather than “during the course of.”
2. Avoid jargon and big words. “Use” says the same thing as “utilize” more quickly and simply.
3. Stay concrete. Say “I’m following up on a complaint” rather than “I’m reviewing aspects of your last transaction.”
4. Use active voice. “Be on time for meetings” is to the point. “Meetings are a time when it’s important to be punctual” is not.
5. Be sensitive to gender issues. Make sentences plural to avoid choosing between “he” or “she” or mixing a plural subject with a singular verb. Right: “Salespeople who miss today’s caravan won’t be eligible for the contest.” Wrong: “If any salesperson misses today’s caravan, he (or she, or they) won’t be eligible for the contest.”
For clarity in speech
6. Know what you want to say. Talking is typically more informal than writing, but it remains important to formulate your thoughts up front. Listeners will turn off if you ramble.
7. Listen. It lets you know whether your message is getting through and motivates others to listen to you.
8. Be conscious of your posture and gestures. You’ll send a mixed message if your body language is at odds with your words.
9. Match your voice to the task. Talking softly is appropriate for showing understanding. Talking loudly is appropriate for rousing the troops.
10. Connect emotionally. We hear words, but we remember the emotion through which they were delivered.
Source: “Becoming a Leader Tool Kit,” REALTOR® Magazine Online
10 ways to build loyalty among associates
Brokers lose about 15 percent of their sales force every year on average, according to NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® data. That’s costly. How do you get associates and support staff to stick around?
1. Match hires to your company culture. If you emphasize adherence to rules, don’t hire free-spirit types.
2. Don’t paint a better picture of your company than exists. New hires will soon learn they’ve been duped.
3. Seek input. Ask your associates and staff for input on company operations at least twice a year. Then follow up on workable suggestions.
4. Watch for burnout. Signs of burnout include irritability and avoidable mistakes. A good vacation may be all that’s needed. You can also ward off burnout blues by offering new training opportunities orexpanding your recognition program.
5. Nurture talent. Those with the most skills find it easiest to leave. Work with them to keep them challenged.
6. Track turnover. Ask people why they’re leaving and look for patterns.
7. Manage for retention. Create an incentive for managers to work toward strong retention.
8. Train. Don’t make your hires sink or swim on their own.
9. Increase communication.
10. Compensate right. Offer competitive commission splits and salaries.
Source: “Retaining Top Personnel Tool Kit,” REALTOR® Magazine Online
7 customer service standards your office should have
Are you just selling houses—or are you also building a base of satisfied clients and customers? To help ensure repeat business:
1. Always have a real person answer the phone. Don’t make customers punch a dozen buttons to get a live person.
2. When you or your associates make a promise, keep it. A broken promise is hard to repair.
3. Know what your customers expect. That requires your associates to ask up front and match their actions to those expectations.
4. Obtain feedback. In terms of objectivity, it can help to work through a third party. But whether you, your associate, or an outside company does it, you should collect feedback from clients and customers within a few weeks after a closing to determine their satisfaction and learn what you can do better next time.
5. Track performance. Don’t rely on anecdotes from customers and clients. Review regular feedback to identify problem areas, and discuss it candidly with associates who consistently receive poor scores.
6. Correct problems. Mistakes are an opportunity for your company to turn a potential bad impression into a good one by setting the problem right.
7. Recognize good customer service. Reward associates who provide superior service. They’re as good for your business as those who close a lot of deals.
Sources: Larry D. Romito, CRB, Quality Service Certification Inc., San Juan Capistrano, Calif., and Joe Klock Sr., Key Largo, Fla.
Tips for hiring support staff
When hiring support staff, look for detail people rather than rainmakers, say proponents of DISC (dominance, influencing, steadiness, compliance) personality testing. The kinds of detail people you might want and some possible questions to ask to help you identify them:
ANALYZERS. Cerebral and strong at structured tasks such as accounting and technology support.
- Possible question type: Do you typically prefer working at structured or open-ended tasks?
- Analyzers prefer structure.
SUPPORTERS. Calming and helpful, able to keep sociable people on task without ruffling feathers. Good choices for a personal assistant job.
- Possible question type: Do you typically prefer building consensus or influencing others to a certain view?
- Supporters are consensus builders.
IMPLEMENTERS. Like analyzers, but they like to take action and are less likely to overanalyze. They are good at structured tasks but also work well with others.
- Possible question type: Do you typically make decisions based on goals and facts or relationships and experiences?
- Implementers are more likely to be driven by goals or facts.
COORDINATORS. Like supporters but more task-oriented, making them good choices for working with others to get tasks done.
- Possible question type: Do you typically make decisions quickly and spontaneously or slowly and deliberately?
- Coordinators make decisions on the slow and deliberate side.
Note: Questions are examples of possible types and may not be actual questions on a professionally administered DISC test. Also, no single question can determine a personality type; rather, analysts draw conclusions about personality type based on answers to the complete range of questions on a test.
Source: Adapted from “Will Your Recruits Fit In?” Michael Abelson, REALTOR® Magazine, June 2003
The top producer–broker relationship: make it work
Top salespeople and brokers need each other to succeed. To avoid the natural tension that can occur:
FOR BROKERS
- Promise only what you can offer. If you don’t deliver, producers will leave or, just as bad, not give you 100 percent.
- Be flexible. Producers excel for a reason. Don’t drag them down with rules such as prospecting quotas designed to spur on other associates.
- Offer support. It’s not unusual for producers to encounter novel problems. When they do, back them up if they haven’t crossed ethical or legal lines.
FOR TOP SALESPEOPLE
- Promote your company. Helping your broker succeed is important to your success, too.
- Don’t be a prima donna. It colors people’s attitude before they even work with you.
- Set an example. Other associates look up to you. You help them, yourself, and your broker by modeling cooperative and ethical behavior.
Source: Sandy Geroux, Geroux Performance Group, Orlando, Fla.
What your privacy policy should say
A growing number of federal and state laws make it imperative that you adhere to a disclosed policy on how you gather customer information and what you do with it. The Internet is pushing such privacy policies to the forefront. Some policy building blocks:
- Notice and disclosure. If you collect data from customers or visitors to your Web site, disclose what you collect and whether you share it with others, including affiliated and unrelated third parties.
- Choice and consent. Include an opt-in or an opt-out clause that gives customers the right to choose whether their data can be used.
- Access and participation. Give your customers the right to modify or delete inaccurate data.
- Security. Outline methods for preventing leaks of customer data to unauthorized persons.
- Redress. Include a dispute-resolution mechanism such as mediation. Have an attorney look at it for its enforceability under the law.
Source:Darity Wesley, Privacy Solutions Inc., San Diego
Help from REALTOR VIP® Program partners
Manage transactions with TransactionPoint; create a virtual workspace online for commercial transactions with NetDocuments; and avoid liability with help from such publications as Workplace Law and Office Policies, A Guide for Risk Management; Real Estate Assistants, A Guide for Risk Management; and Independent Contractors in Real Estate, A Guide for Risk Management. Visit REALTOR.org/realtorVIP for details.
12 documents every transaction file should have
Keeping a complete transaction file is a good way to minimize your liability risk. For every listing your associates take, here’s what your file should include:
- Listing agreement, including comparative market analysis
- Agency disclosure forms, including dual agency disclosures, signed or acknowledged, if applicable
- Property condition disclosure form, if applicable
- Marketing materials, including newspaper ads and printouts of online listings
- Relocation or referral information, if applicable
- Correspondence and phone logs with buyers, sellers, attorneys, other practitioners, and other parties involved in the transaction
- Inspection reports, if available and applicable
- Lead paint or other hazardous materials disclosure, if applicable
- Copy of purchase contract and addenda
- Copies of invoices for completed repair work required for sale, if available
- Settlement statement (HUD-1 form), if available
- Escrow account records relating to the transaction
Source: “Controlling Business Risks Tool Kit,” REALTOR® Magazine Online
