Scaling means adding people to your team. That’s true no matter what industry you’re in. But, entrepreneurs begin to face real challenges when they start to add members to their team.
Building a real estate team is no different. There will most certainly be obstacles. Unfortunately, there’s no way to avoid them altogether. The key is to navigate them as nimbly as possible.
How do you do that? Well, that’s exactly what we’re going to talk about today.
Like any other team, building a real estate team hinges on finding good talent. We’ll talk about how to find the best people for your real estate team positions. We’ll also talk about what specific positions you should be looking to fill.
There’s a lot of information out there on building and leading an all-star real estate team. We’ve taken the time to sift through all that and provide you with simple, clear-cut steps for you to build your team and take it to the next level.
Every real estate professional knows that building a real estate team can make your business take off. And we’re here to help you with the steps to take.
But, there’s a lot of information for us to cover. So, let’s get started.
Before You Start
Before you move forward with building your rockstar real estate team there are some things you’ll want to consider. Building a team is a great step forward. But, you want to make sure you’re ready for it first.
Business Volume
The first thing you’ll want to look at is your volume. Is your business currently doing enough volume to support bringing on extra team members? You can have the best talent in the world, but if there isn’t much for them to do their talent will be wasted.
So, how much volume is enough volume? Well, most experts say you can start to look at building a team when you’re doing somewhere between 3 and 4 transactions per month. When your business is operating at that level it might be a struggle for you to handle any additional leads coming in.
Aside from sales volume, you’ll also want to make sure that you’re generating enough new business to warrant team members. If you’re just starting, and not doing a lot of business yourself, you may want to hold off on adding team members.
Marketing and lead generation take a lot of trial and error. Get your “lead generation machine” firing on all cylinders. Then, you can focus on bringing team members onboard.
Are You Ready?
Leadership presents its own set of requirements and challenges. The qualities of a great leader are skills that need to be honed over time. The good news is, if you don’t feel ready they are skills that you can learn.
But, starting a team before you’re ready to handle it could end poorly. Even if you’re currently a top agent in your company, being a top agent and being a top team leader are different roles. People are usually surprised at the amount of personal transformation that needs to take place to adapt to the leadership role.
If you feel you have what it takes, or you’re willing to develop those skills, then starting a team might be right for you.
Your All-Star Team
Things might be a bit overwhelming if you’re just starting your journey to form a real estate team. There are so many things you do daily as a real estate professional. It can be difficult to figure out what tasks to hand off to other people.
Building a team is like building a building. You have to start with a good foundation. Let’s take a look at two key positions on your team. These should be your first two hires to make sure you get the proper foundation in place.
The Assistant
Your first hire should be an assistant. This person can either work virtually or in the office with you. That part is up to you. The important thing is that you get an assistant.
Now, as we mentioned above, don’t hire this person before you do your first transaction. You should be able to handle all of the running around at first. But, once you start to feel overwhelmed, it might be time to bring on an assistant.
For any business to thrive, each person needs to be working in their “highest and best” role. For you, that’s talking to customers, recruiting more business, and closing more sales. Let your assistant handle the day-to-day administrative tasks.
What can you have your assistant do? Well, anything really. But, the key is for them to take things off your plate that are getting in the way of your productivity. Think of things that absolutely need to happen for your business to run but you hate doing.
Some examples might be managing your calendar, booking appointments with customers, booking showings, and handling follow-up. You can also train an assistant to run comps, put together paperwork for listing appointments, and more.
It’s important to check your local State laws before hiring anyone. Your assistant may need to have a real estate license if they’re performing more complex, “real estate-related” tasks.
It takes some planning and research. But, once you get a quality assistant in place, it will be one of the best decisions you’ve ever made.
Transaction Coordinator
This position can sometimes be referred to as a closing coordinator. If you’ve been in the real estate business a while, you know what coordinating a closing can be like. It’s a full-time job in itself.
Especially if your business is doing any sort of volume.
When you’re preparing for a closing there are a lot of phone calls back and forth. You’ll be calling the attorney or title company, they’ll be calling you, and you’ll have to reach out to the seller and buyer as well. It can be time-consuming and take you away from the tasks that drive your business.
That’s why this role should be passed onto someone else as soon as possible. Someone who loves organization and paperwork will thrive in this role.
This role can be done virtually or in person, as well. You’ll also need to check with State laws for your transaction coordinator. Most of the time, handling real estate paperwork doesn’t require a license.
But it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Steps to Building Your Real Estate Team
Now that you know some of the key components of an all-star real estate team, let’s take a look at the steps to build out your squad. Putting the right team in place will take some thought and planning on your end. But, once the platform to scale your business is in place, your “system” will virtually run on its own.
1. Focus on Your Systems
Getting your team started on the right foot depends on having all of your systems in place. As your business grows, you’ll need systems to handle incoming leads, ongoing follow-up, and all the other tasks you do every day.
A lot of real estate professionals start out their business on excel spreadsheets. This is a great place to begin but it’s not going to help your team when they come aboard. You need actual systems you can train other people on so your business can grow and scale.
One of your most important systems will be a CRM. This stands for Customer Relationship Manager. A good CRM platform is worth its weight in gold.
Your CRM will hold all of your customer information in one place. Phone numbers, emails, birthdays, and your last contact with your customers can be easily accessed.
Having one unified platform for customer communication will make training your assistant and other support staff a breeze.
If you’re looking for ways to manage your real estate team, check out the options Office Control has to offer.
2. Get to Know Your Team
When you’re running from appointment to appointment, handling paperwork, and marketing all at the same time, it can be easy to hire the first person that seems to fit the bill. But, it’s important to take the time to get to know your potential hires before you bring them onto the team.
As the saying goes, “Hire slow, fire fast”. A bad hire could cost you and your team a lot of time and money. It’s important to make sure whoever you bring onto the team is a good fit.
This means more than just the ability to perform their tasks. They also need to be a fit for the team’s culture and values. If you don’t have an idea of your company’s culture, values, and goals yet, you might not be ready to hire team members.
Take the time to brainstorm and figure out where you want to go, who you want to be, and how you want to do business before bringing anyone on board.
3. Don’t Get Down
Hiring a real estate team isn’t easy. It may take several tries before you find the right fit for the roles on your team. Keep your culture, goals, and values in mind and the right people will eventually make their way to your team.
One Team, One Dream
Building a real estate team is one of the most rewarding things you can do in your business. Not only does your business grow, but you get to see your team members grow along with you. Some will leave, some will stay, but you’ll feel a sense of pride as you start to help others along their journey.
Do you have experience building your own real estate team? Let us know in the comments. Also, feel free to comment any other topics you’d like us to cover on our blog.
