GOOD TIMES CREATE BAD HABITS – 6 Things To Do Now

As we began the journey of the pandemic, fear was rampant, jobs were cut, expenses trimmed, and we asked each other crazy questions like, “Is real estate deemed essential in your state?”

Now, jobs are reinstated, businesses are growing, and every team we coach had the best year they’ve ever had in 2020.

Industry-wide, agents seemed to have had one of two things happen:

1. They didn’t act fast and double down, so they lost market share.

2. They wasted no time doubling down, and they gained market share.

The thing is, great results in 2020 came to many solely because the market was good. Great results came not because of what they were doing, they came in spite of what they were doing.

2021 arrived, along with the historically low inventory.

Now we’re seeing the result of “bad habits created in good times.”

• Agents leaving teams to go solo (because a great year made things look easy).
• Agents leaving teams to build their own team (same reason).
• Agents worn out from writing contracts and losing out to other offers.
• Admin not building systems to generate income (being efficient and not effective).
• Admin not creating and executing systems to drive culture and retention.

6 Things Ops Bosses® Should Be Doing Now

1. Reviews & Referrals

Create systems for each. It’s not rocket science, but the same thing must happen on every transaction. Your system must drive leads and commission to your business. (Plus referrals and reviews are the best way to measure whether you’re providing a customer experience as opposed to customer service.)

We teach a Review System in our “BE A BOSS! 10 Secrets of a Mega EA” class and a Referral System in our “Systems Are Sexy” class. Our trainers have personally created systems that have driven millions of dollars in GCI to agents and they share the exact way to do it.

2. Training Schedule

Create a training schedule. In April, there were more agents in the U.S. than active listings. This means the most skilled agents win. Help your agents be prepared to win. Research and provide them with new scripts. Roleplay with them.

Yes, I know you are an admin for a reason, and role play feels like it’s for salespeople. You can roleplay and pretend to be the customer to help them.

3. Lead Generation

Double down and be creative. Many agents slacked off on lead gen when the market picked up last year. They succeeded in spite of that. It’s time to put that habit back in place.

• Help your agents by making it easy for them to circle call around the few listings you have.
• Create door hangers for those doorknocking.
• Come up with client events that provide your agent a reason to call their sphere.
• You should be calling your sphere too!
• A good ‘ol 66 Day Challenge might be in order.
• Cap it off with a Call Night you organize.

4. Help Find Off-Market Homes To Sell

• Reach out to agents outside your team daily to see what they have coming on the market. Then share with your team.
• Write letters for buyers targeting a specific neighborhood.
• Call through your database to see who they know that might be selling.
• Add a Buyer Wish list page to your website and share it on social media.

5. Value Proposition

Ensure your value prop is alive, and that it’s driving culture and retention. Are you clear on what it is? Are you delivering on it? In order to create a great culture and keep retention high, you must “tell them what you’re going to do, do it, then tell them what you did.“

We often talk about value prop during the recruiting stage. Then never discuss it again. As an Ops Boss®, it’s up to you to create a system around this.

• Do you have a 24 Touch Plan for your team? (Most have a plan for their database and forget about the team.)
• Are you purposeful in telling people what you did? (I.e. “John, congrats on closing 101 Main St. Glad we could provide that lead from Facebook ads we ran. Nice work converting.”)

6. Databank

Most have a database. Most do not have a system to feed it. Nor are they tracking and setting goals around how to grow the database, what results it’s providing, and how to increase results.

Every team needs to:

• Know how many contacts are in the database. (It’s not a “contact” without contact info!)
• Know how many deals came from it last year (sphere, past clients, referrals from sphere/past clients).
• Calculate the percent. (Example: 1,000 in database, 10 deals sourced. 10/1000 = 1%.
• Have a system to feed it.
• Set a goal for how many to add and what percent will do a deal / send a referral.
• Put systems in place around goals (touch plan, client events, tracking). Now your database becomes a databank and you can create a predictable business.

Many agents had a great 2020 because the market rocked. If you’re an Ops Boss®, you like to control your destiny. Creating “Good Habits to Avoid Bad Times” now is bossy!

Christy Belt Grossman is the Founder & CEO of Ops Boss® Coaching. Prior to that, Christy was COO of one of the nation's first teams to sell $1 Billion. Ops Boss® Coaching provides classes, group coaching, Elite 1:1 coaching, and an annual conference JUST for real estate operations professionals. www.OpsBossCoaching.com.

This article originally appeared in the August 2021 issue of Kansas City Real Producers. Follow them on Instagram and Facebook.