For Commercial Real Estate Agents

April 3, 2006 Ezine

April 3, 2006
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read by More Than 30,000 Agents

Always be determined to become the
best real estate agent in your territory!

In this Issue:

1) Building a Powerful Commercial Real Estate Team

2) 6 FREE Audio Trainings as a "Thank You" from Me

1) Building a Powerful Commercial Real Estate Team

Sometimes I get ideas for my articles from real-life situations my coaching clients are currently facing in their businesses. As an example, two of my commercial real estate coaching clients are now faced with situations where they're having difficulty finding the right people to become key members of their brokerage teams. One of these clients will probably make over $2,000,000.00 in commissions this year, and the other one will probably make around $750,000.00. But they're both faced with having members of their teams who aren't performing up to their expectations, and they're trying to figure out what they should do about it. And I might also add in both of these situations that it appears the best choice will be to completely let go of these sub-producing agents.

One of the problems inherent in situations like these is the apparent lack of solid new people to replace these sub-performing agents with. When you're the rainmaker, top-producer, and team leader, trying to find new people for your team and taking the time to train them is often not one of the most enjoyable experiences imaginable for you. First of all, how do you know the new person will be a really good performer after you've finished training them? They might be impressive during your interviews, but disappointing after they've been on your team for awhile. And if they're new to our business they may find that they really don't enjoy it very much either after they've been in it for awhile. In addition, you may find someone new to the business who you spend a lot of time training, only to have them leave you and go on their own sometime in the future...taking all that time, energy, and knowledge you invested along with them, too.

So what's the right answer to this dilemma to both find the right people for your team and ensure they'll stick around with a much higher probability? Well, how about recruiting team members from other competitive brokerage companies in your area? This is what good managers should be doing on an ongoing basis, and you can apply this exact same approach for finding the perfect people to join your own team also.

Doesn't it make sense when hiring new team members to want to also maximize the probability that they'll be people who'll want to continue working in real estate for years to come? Well if you hire people who have already been working for years in our industry, and they plan to continue doing so, you'll definitely maximize this probability. In addition, these people will probably require a lot less training from you, too, as compared with an agent who is new to the industry. And furthermore, you'll be able to know the agent's strengths and weaknesses better so you can determine whether or not they'll be a good fit for the position you have in mind on your team.

With this in mind, here's how I recommend you consider going about recruiting new members for your team:

1) Identify the kind of person you need to recruit and write out the ideal skill set and job description for the position you need to fill on your team.

2) Make a list of all the commercial agents you know in your area who exemplify these qualities and abilities, and who you also think may be a good fit for this position on your team.

3) Begin inviting these individuals to lunch one at a time and discuss the possibility of having them join your team.

If you're a top producer, or at least someone who's producing more than they are, they'll probably be very flattered that you'd even consider them as a potential member of your team. In addition, if they've been in the business several years or more, they'll understand the realities of the business as well as some of their own limitations, too. And the idea of working with a team that includes a top producer, and getting involved in deals they might normally never get involved in otherwise, could be very appealing to them.

So when it comes to recruiting your own team members, your best candidates may be the brokers you've already been doing business with in your own territory. You'll probably save a lot of time and energy on training and bringing them up to speed as compared with an agent who's brand new in the business, and you'll also stand a better chance of keeping them on your team for the long run, too.

Agents who are new to the business can sometimes think they're already real estate geniuses, and that they'll really explode their income when they go on their own and no longer have to divide their commissions with other team members. But an agent who has already worked in the business for years on their own, knows the truth of what that's like and the kind of income they can make on their own when doing it. They've been already living this in their own real estate career for years now. And in having this experience to remember back to after they've already joined your team, there's a great chance they'll always recognize that they'd much rather be a part of a top brokerage team now, than return to what their career was like before this...especially if they're making more money now by being on your team.

And always remember...you want to hire team members who complement rather than duplicate the skills you're already good at yourself. When a top producer forms a two-person team with another top producer, they often find they now have two people generating a ton of new business with no one to help them follow-up on it. And this can make things even more difficult for them as compared with when they were both working on their own.

So make sure there are people on your team who are good at activities like marketing, administration, transaction management, and follow-up. These are often the activities that a top producer needs to have taken care of the most, and the people who fill these positions on a team brilliantly are often worth their weight in gold.

And in closing, a top producer often needs to recognize that the person they truly need to hire may not be someone who will bring in a ton of new business for the team. While this still may be possible, it will normally only be a good idea after all the other support team members are in place. Otherwise it will be difficult to follow-up on any additional new business being generated by this top-producing agent who has just joined the team.

With this in mind, make sure you're not evaluating potential new team members from within the brokerage community according to how much money they've been earning on their own. You're not hiring them to be a top producer, you're most likely hiring them to provide great support as a member of your team. So a broker who is meticulous at following-up on transactions once they've been initiated, but who is someone who's just OK at generating new business himself, could be someone who would be a great team player for you to constantly have around you.

Click here for downloadable E-books and live audio interviews with top-producing real estate agents. These interviews are with industry experts who show you exactly what they do to continually make hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars a year.

2) 6 FREE Audio Trainings as a "Thank You" from Me

My friend Jack Peckham of the Real Estate Cyberspace Society has informed me that my speaker session at the Society's Annual Online Convention had the highest attendance of all 35 speakers who were featured at the Convention. Only the keynote address for the overall Convention had more listeners.

With this in mind I asked Jack if I could provide my readers with a "thank you" by giving them links to listen to both of my audio interviews with the Society for free, as well as a link to listen to top real estate technology superstar Judy McCutchin's most recent interview with the Society also. Judy is a residential agent who closes an annual total value of real estate transactions that 99% of all commercial agents would love to be closing themselves. I really recommend you listen to how organized Judy is in her business, and how she applies the most recent technologies to leverage her time also. In addition to being a top-producing agent, Judy vacations about 3-4 months out of every year, too.

To immediately gain access to my two audio interviews with the Real Estate Cyberspace Society, including the one that had the highest attendance at their recent Online Convention, please click here.

My one audio interview dated 10/04/02 discusses how to design and send out a great E-newsletter in your real estate business if this is something you may be interested in.

And to immediately gain access to Judy McCutchin's most recent audio interview with the Real Estate Cyberspace Society, as well as three additional audio interviews she's done with the Society over the years, please click here.

Thank you for your support in making my interview the most listened to interview at the Convention!

Jim

Click here if you'd like more information on my one-on-one coaching program to take your real estate productivity to the next level. One-on-one coaching is available for both real estate agents and company management.

"In just weeks Jim has showed me new approaches that have already generated millions of dollars in new business activity for me."

Hugh Damon
Grubb & Ellis

Click Here for More Testimonials

 
Click here to visit my Web site. There you'll find many articles and previous editions of my E-zine to assist you in taking your real estate career to the next level.

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If you find yourself trying your hardest in your real estate career and still not making the amount of money you know you can, you may want to find out more about my one-on-one real estate coaching program. If this is something you may definitely be interested in, please send me an E-mail and let me know.

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