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Take a Quiz
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Young Professionals
REALTOR® Emeritus | Retaining Top Personnel PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT | | |||
|  The Cost of Turnover Orientation Motivation Coaching and Mentoring Training Goal Setting Performance Assessment Resignation and Termination More Resources: Retaining Top Personnel Code of Ethics: Retaining Top Personnel | Assessing Independent Contractors Cindy Ariosa, vice president and regional manager of the Baltimore region for Long & Foster, offers these strategies for holding sales associates to agreed-upon performance goals. Q: What criteria does your company use in assessing the performance of sales associates? Ariosa: First, we expect every sales associate to complete an annual business plan and review that plan with the office’s managing broker. We even ask salespeople we are interviewing to complete a plan as part of the hiring process. The plan is really a two-step process: first, we help them assess what their personal and business expenses (including our desk costs) are; then, we help them develop a profit and loss statement to determine what income they need. Q: How do you help ensure that salespeople follow their plans? Ariosa: The managing broker at each office holds monthly meetings with each associate to review their production and to offer assistance and training in meeting their goals. I hold the same sort of monthly accountability meeting with all the managers in my region. Q: Do you ever find resistance among salespeople to this level of accountability? Ariosa: Not really. People want to work for our company, and we make it clear in the interview that we expect associates to do annual planning and be accountable for their production. And for most salespeople, it’s a matter of personal pride to meet their goals. Q: What’s your procedure if a salesperson is not reaching goal? Ariosa: It’s the manager’s job to help the salesperson succeed. If an associate is not making sales, the manager will meet with him or her weekly and set up daily activity reports. For example, the salesperson might be asked to make 100 prospecting phone calls and then report back to the manager on the results. Often, the manager will role play or listen in on some of these calls to see where the salesperson needs direction and training. The manager also will suggest training classes that the associate should attend. Q: How long does this intensive coaching process last? Ariosa: We usually spend three months working with the associate to improve production. We also consider other factors during this period—how frequently does the salesperson come into the office, does the salesperson have a strong work ethic and a commitment to professionalism. And, of course, we consider any outside factors, such as a family crisis, that may be temporarily hurting a salesperson’s production. If there hasn’t been any evidence of a commitment to real estate at the end of 90 days, we re-evaluate their business plans. At that point, we also may ask them to let their licenses go inactive or put it in referral. Evaluating Non-Sales Staff > | |