Talking to brokers and managers throughout
The truth of the matter is agents will always ask for more, and once they get it, more never seems to be enough. Neither you nor any of your competitors can survive in this environment. It is destined for failure. Thankfully, there really is a better way.
Becoming a Leader
When the subject of the manager’s role arises, many different descriptions follow. Traditionally, the manager is responsible for finding new agents, training them and then casting them off to fend for themselves. When a question, problem or crisis arises, the manager becomes the fireman, reacting to the given situation to extinguish the flames. This “reactive” approach to management doesn’t quite epitomize “leadership.”
Conversely, in the model I call “The Coach Approach,” the manager is a leader. The manager is a business consultant and a coach who realizes that his or her company is comprised of many small businesses — the agents — who need expert guidance to properly run their businesses. By truly helping your agents reach their full potential, you can help them enrich their lives both personally and professionally. In turn, agents’ loyalty is increased and their performance attracts other like-minded, top-producing professionals.
Creating a Culture:
Critical Questions You Must Ask On the Road to Becoming a Good Coach
Before you can guide others, you must set an example yourself. That’s why a crucial element of the coaching process is being on your own path of personal growth. Work on yourself first — become more attractive, more successful, more balanced, more alive. You need to constantly absorb new, good information. Have a coach. Read. Attend more seminars.
The biggest challenge you’ll have in coaching others is having a strong base of information to share with people. You have to be constantly growing yourself. That knowledge, inspiration and constant growth is what will make you attractive to others and give your guidance real value. Here are several questions to help get you started:
- What is your office culture? Can you define it?
- If I asked your agents to define your office culture, would they all give me the same general answer?
- Do you meet regularly, one-on-one, with your top agents?
- Do you have a scheduled plan for bringing new ideas to your agents?
- Do you regularly recognize good performances and compliment your agents for their effort?
- Do you have a marketing plan for your company?
Answer these questions honestly and thoroughly, and you’ll be ready to begin. The first thing you need to realize is that, as a leader, you are in charge. The office is yours. Your agents should be a reflection of yourself, a mirror for your philosophies and vision. The question then becomes, as the leader, what is the role you’re going to take on in the office? What is the culture you want to create? What kind of environment do you want in the office? Whatever you create will become a large part of your recruiting efforts.
Operating within The Coach Approach, you become a mentor to your agents. By taking an active role in your agents’ careers, you bond with your agents on a personal, emotional level by providing them with the insight and guidance that can elevate their careers to the next level. Your role is to maximize an agent’s talent.
In turn, they grow and become more productive and balanced. In the process, the relationships you create will breed loyalty to you as a manager, mentor and confidant. The personal, emotional bond you create becomes a very powerful thing — something they couldn’t imagine themselves without. Suddenly, leaving for a little better commission split doesn’t seem nearly as worthwhile to the agent. They realize that under your tutelege, their potential is unlimited.
When competing agents see the culture you’ve created and what you’re doing for your agents, they will be attracted by the unique environment that nurtures agents and allows them to blossom.
Manage Toward A Position of Strength
The tendency among managers is to try to coach the agents you feel could use it the most. A better approach, however, is to devote more of your time to the top producers in your office. Employ the 80/20 rule: Spend 80 percent of your time working with the top 20 percent of your agents. Spend the remaining 20 percent of your time coaching the other 80 percent in a group format.
Often, you’ll find the better producing agents are often those most receptive to coaching. Ask yourself who you would be interested in investing yourself in? (That’s a great question for recruiting as well). Do you want to be around this person? Are they going to contribute to the environment?
Developing Your Coaching Style
How you coach will depend greatly on who you’re coaching. New agents often need more direction, as in specific steps to achieve your objectives.
The more experienced and successful people already have many of the answers. Your role with them will most likely be that not of teaching, but of inspiring them and guiding them in the right direction to foster their personal and professional growth. Ask them questions and then put the responsibility on them for creating their own answers. When you notice they’re getting off track, steer them back in the right direction, but don’t give them the answers.
Five Keys to Effective Coaching
One of the most important aspects of coaching is having a tremendous amount of patience. You’re going to have the same conversations over and over and over again. The people you are coaching may get it the first time or the hundredth time. Your job is to keep saying it until they get it.
Second, make yourself an incredible resource. Bring your agents a wealth of information. Provide the tools and sophisticated techniques so they are able to build their businesses. Even the best salespeople are not as efficient as they can be in all areas. Help them fill the gaps. Help them become more than they are. In turn, they will not be able to imagine their careers without you.
Third, be confident in the direction in which you guide your agents. It’s only natural that they question whether or not you’re putting them on the right path. Have confidence and remember to “focus” — Follow One Course Until Successful. If they stick with one thing long enough, they have a much greater probability of success. Along those lines, one of the biggest downfalls of many agents is having a “next deal” mentality rather than a long-term plan. You can help them create that long-term plan by supporting their marketing efforts and helping them formulate a winning mindset.
Another thing you must remember is to tailor your guidance to each agent’s strengths and weaknesses. No not take a “one size fits all” mentality to coaching. Pay attention to what works and what doesn’t work. Your job is to find what works on each individual basis, recognizing agents’ skills and abilities and then playing to their strengths.
Finally, help your agents have a life. Help them create balance. You must have balance in your life first. You want to be an inspiration. Without your example, you can’t guide.
The Circle of Growth
This new approach may sound like a lot of work. And it is. But The Coach Approach isn’t for those who are content to simply oversee the office and react to agents’ needs and questions. The Coach Approach is about taking a proactive approach to your career and realizing and accepting your purpose in life. Ultimately, it’s tremendously more rewarding and gratifying to feel that you are part of a winning effort and that you contributed to the success of others. The success of your agents will lead to your own personal success as well.
The more you grow, the more your agents will grow. It forms a wonderful circle of growth that continues as long as you’re willing to grow. The result is better relationships, increased fulfillment and enjoyment of your career, and a better life. Now it’s up to you. Are you content to continue the status quo, or are you willing to challenge yourself and make the commitment to being the best manager you can be?
