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REALTOR® Emeritus
Architecture Guide
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Young Professionals
REALTOR® Emeritus | | Becoming a leader HANDLING DIFFICULT EMPLOYEES | | ||
|  Developing Leadership Skills Communicating Like a Leader Leading Others Making Time to Lead Handling Difficult Employees Developing Your Team Dealing with Stress More Resources | Real estate sales is a competitive field, and high performing salespeople often have large egos. If bigheaded sales associates’ behavior goes unchecked, they may create conflict in the office, break the rules, or even try to undermine your authority. 5 Ways to Manage Prima Donnas 1.Don’t hire them. Look for behavior problems during the hiring process. Ask your receptionist to observe candidates’ behavior; often people will show their true personalities to those that they don’t think matter. Ask candidates probing questions: How have you resolved a conflict with a coworker or supervisor? What do customers do that gets you upset? If the answers reveal that the candidate has a low opinion of others or little tolerance for frustration, don't hire that person. 2.Deal with the problem. If you ignore a bad situation, troublemakers will take it as a sign of weakness and may act even worse, while good employees will lose respect for you. 3.Don’t make exceptions to the rules. Although it may be tempting to bend rules for top performers, double standards will demoralize your office. Warn salespeople about unacceptable behavior and make clear what you expect to change. Then stick to your guns. TIP: Document conversations about performance, give a copy to the salesperson, and put one in the personnel file. Proof of what was said could be valuable later if a dispute occurs. 4.Recognize that very aggressive behavior often masks low self-esteem. Try providing regular, immediate positive reinforcement as a way to keep aggression under control, but don’t take insecurity as an excuse. 5.Get rid of them. If a person is causing problems or breaking the rules, one option is to fire them. Terminating a difficult individual often results in higher office productivity. 4 Mistakes When Handling Personnel Problems—and How to Avoid Them Effective leadership sometimes requires discipline as well as praise. Use these techniques to get to the root of problems with sales associates or employees. Mistake 1: Making superficial judgments. Don’t assume that you understand what’s causing a performance problem. Falling sales could be laziness, but it could also be problems at home. Remedy: Take time to listen. Don't let preconceptions get in the way of understanding what’s really going on. Mistake 2: Making assumptions about what someone means. For example, a sales associate who says he’s “having trouble” getting listings may need more training in effective cold calling, may be avoiding making cold calls because he’s afraid of rejection, or may not have good listing materials that convince prospects to list. Remedy: Ask leading, open-ended questions. Draw the associate out, and make sure you're on the same wavelength. Mistake 3: Relying on stereotypes and past experience. Everyone bases their responses on what’s happened in the past, but just because one solution worked for the last associate who acted a certain way doesn’t mean one size fits all. Remedy: Go over the specifics of the associate’s performance. Walk the candidate back through each part of the sales transaction, including prospecting, doing CMAs, etc., to spot problems, weaknesses, or misconceptions. Mistake 4 : Responding based on your "gut feeling." Many people--particularly salespeople--can size people up quickly, but don’t jump to conclusions. Remedy: Don't let your emotional reactions to salespeople—whether you like or dislike them personally, cloud your judgment or your willingness to help them solve problems. 5 Tips to Defuse Unacceptable Behavior
Tips for Confronting a Problem Worker If you choose to work with the problem salesperson who is exhibiting inappropriate behavior, make sure you’re prepared to follow through, so you don't give the person mixed signals.
TIP: Establish a clear company policy describing how behavioral problems will be handled. It may be necessary to adopt two related policies, one for those working as independent contractors and one for employees. Learn more about personnel policies for these two groups, by clicking here . Developing Your Team > | |