If You Don’t Tell Your Story, Your Competition Will

MYTH: Having the BEST tool, service, or product will make you successful in business. 

I’ll say it again, being successful in business is not about what you do and how well you do it. It’s about how well OTHERS THINK you do. You could be the best pianist, the best coffee roaster, or the best real estate company, but if people don’t hear about you then you aren’t going to make any money or be successful. That’s why it is so important to tell your story and market to your clientele as often as possible. Being successful in business doesn’t mean that you have the best product or service, or even that you’re the cheapest or the most expensive. It has everything to do with how many people THINK that you’re the best. We see this proven time and time again across industries.

Biggest = BEST

We often equate the BIGGEST company to being the BEST company, but what makes us think that a company is the biggest company? Exposure. Let’s take a couple of companies, for example, that everyone is relatively familiar with - Amazon and Zappos. 

Zappos is world-famous for their high level of customer service and it’s fair to say they provide the best customer service in the world, however, they are a long way from being the biggest or most successful company in the world. Amazon, however, has overtaken Zappos in their own market space (shoe sales) several times over. Although Zappos has the best customer service, which is a feature that most people look for in a company, Amazon still outperforms and dominates in that market space. Why? Marketing. 

When we see or hear about a company more often in many places - the TV commercials, the billboards, on social media, in a magazine ad, etc., we consider them to be the most successful and therefore the BEST in the market. 

Take attorneys for example - Have you seen a mega-firm on a commercial or on a billboard? Can you recall their name or perhaps their catchy slogan or phone number? I can think of several from memory. There are probably other smaller firms out there with just as good, if not better, attorneys who may even be experts in exactly the type of litigation you need, but who do you think of first when you need an attorney? Most likely it’s the mega-firm. 

Tell Your Own Story - Over and Over Again

Let’s face it, we aren’t all Amazon or one of those mega legal firms, but we can still carve out our piece of the market by marketing consistently. Whether you have a small to medium-sized business or are a real estate broker or agent, it’s necessary to get your name and story out there to your audience. 

Often we find this difficult. Sending messages out in the universe and sometimes with little or seemingly no response. You have to remember that there is not one magical marketing plan or message that will work overnight. It takes time. 

Just when you think you are beating a dead horse and you sound like you are repeating yourself, just when you are getting sick of what you are sending out there...that’s actually the precise time that your ideal customers are just starting to pay attention to what you are putting out there. It’s a proven fact.  There are studies and studies that have proven that it takes at least 7 times and up to 20 times of someone hearing, seeing, reading something before they start to recognize and remember that something. 

You cannot expect that that one postcard, that one Facebook ad, or that one business card you get out to your clients will make them remember you. You need to judge your marketing efforts not just one time, one month, or even one year. It takes a long gradual build up of recognition and exposure to build credibility in the market space. So you have to stay consistent.

Set Yourself Apart, Don’t Sell Yourself Short

Every company in the world is probably the greatest at something. So, when you are thinking about marketing for your company you need to identify what you do the best and what story you want to tell your ideal customers.

Speaking from experience in different industries and different companies, it’s really hard to identify that one thing that we do better than others. We sell ourselves short. That’s why you need a mentor or consultant from the outside to see what’s actually in your “blind spots”. They will help you sort through your messaging and see what makes your company special. They can even help you formulate a marketing plan to gain exposure in your market.  

Recently, I was talking to a client about their phone system and how it uniquely handled calls, which was just another service they offered in the client’s mind, but all of sudden this phone system become a differentiator for them in the recruiting space in real estate - the way they are using their phone system absolutely changes the experience for their agents and makes their life easier and there was that Ah-ah moment! 

I know for myself, I struggle a lot with marketing and being consistent with my messaging. Sometimes you need to consider having someone help you, even if it’s someone from the outside of your company, to get your story and your name out there. Remember, just get started, it doesn’t have to be perfect. Don’t let the competition tell your story.

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If you need help with your messaging and marketing your business, I can help you see your blind spots and develop a successful strategy.

3 Mindsets for Effective Leadership

A Leader Needs 3 Mindsets to Effectively Lead: Clarity, Calm, and Confidence

Matt Magee, a 16-year Firefighter out of Miami was a guest on The Phillip Gagnon Show podcast where we pulled aspects of his day-to-day practices as a firefighter and related them to leadership in everyday business. In further discussion, I discovered that there are 3 mindsets that a leaders needs to effectively lead: clarity, calm, and confidence.

Clarity

I am fascinated by the decision making process that many leaders in business adopt. Some will have a systematic approach, some will just, “ready, shoot, aim and we’ll figure it out later”, and some often never make a decision because of analysis paralysis. 

As firefighters can’t show up to the scene, they need an ultra clear, almost militaristic approach, to making decisions. Of course, this is accomplished by standard operating procedures and training within everyday business, but sometimes the Fire Chief who is the decision-making authority on the scene has to go off book depending on what’s happening. Sometimes we have to make those executive decisions. 

My advice is to find your “Why”. What’s the ultimate goal? Why do you want to meet that goal? What does meeting that goal mean to you or your team. When you define your “why” it makes those executive decisions easier. You could do this personally too. Why do you do what you do? Why are you in the industry you are in? Is it to help a million people before you die like Matt Magee’s goal is? Knowing your why puts you in the right mindset to make effective, direct decisions which will overall help you and your team be more efficient.

Calm

When Matt Magee was starting out as a rookie, the call would come in and he would rush, rush, rush to get ready and get to his seat on the truck. This would get his adrenaline pumping - and the greatest advice he received from a veteran was, “Walk to the truck. Take a beat and slow down.” 

Just like the rookie we sometimes want to rush into a situation and get it over with or keep moving forward no matter what. However, when we take a beat, we take less emotionally charged decisions and can better work the problem. When the pressure is on, we can be a beacon of direction rather than get lost in the chaos. Having a calm mindset will allow us to show up at our best for our team.

Confidence

In his interview, Matt shares with us his experience of getting his Smoke Divers Certification, which Firefighters equate to the Navy SEALs Hell Week. There is no pay raise or accolades that come with this certification, however, my firefighting friend gained a sense of knowing where his limits were and that he could push past them, never letting his mindset or doubts hold him back.  

By pushing yourself to improve your skills, knowledge, and experience, you will find that you can question your limits more and go beyond them, drastically changing how you and your team face obstacles. Often working with a coach, consultant, and mentor can help you look at values, ideas, and action plans from a different perspective and help you move past your comfort zone. Having a mindset of confidence can ensure that you are operating at your highest potential and open new opportunities for you and your team. 

Mindset is a leader's most important components to lead effectively.

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If you are feeling that there is a challenge you are
facing in your business, or you just want to chat, let’s connect.

You Should Date Your Agents*

…What I mean about dating your agents is much like dating your spouse. If you remember when you started dating your significant other you probably got dressed up, did your hair, made sure you had somewhere special to go. You took great care and made intentional choices about where to go and what to do with that person. 

This is much like the recruiting process - taking that agent to lunch, learning about what is meaningful to them, going on golf outings, etc. You make sure you’re on time, that you look professional, and that you have intentional conversations about their goals and dreams. 

Remember, the recruiting process is not the end of the relationship, it’s just the beginning. Once that person makes a commitment to your company and signs their contract, it’s just the beginning of the relationship. Don’t just go back to recruiting someone else and not call. It’s bad etiquette and can make them wonder what they just got themselves into, which is a bad way to start a relationship.

When you’re married and dating your spouse, you have to make time to break out of the routine and do something special. You have to show the same kind of attention to your existing agents as you did when you were recruiting them. Be sure to take some time to go back to those promises you made during the recruiting process and regularly check-in with them.

Whether the agent has been with you 5, 10, or 15 years or they might be a top producer who may seem to want to be left alone “to do their thing”, they will appreciate you taking the time to reinvest in them and deliver on promises that you made when you were recruiting them. 

Set up something on a regular basis with your agents whether that’s once a quarter, once a month. Try and remember what it was that made them join your brokerage in the first place and make sure they understand that they are important to you. 

*Disclaimer: I am not advocating for you to be romantically involved with your agents.

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If you are feeling that there is a challenge you are
facing in your business, or you just want to chat, let’s connect.

Leadership Lessons: Putting Out Fires

I recently had the honor of interviewing Matt Magee, a Firefighter of 16-years out of Miami and we related his on-the-job training and experience to everyday business. Whether you are fighting fires (literally or figuratively), these lessons from an experienced Firefighter can prove invaluable to your everyday business. 

The Value in Being Prepared While “Putting Out Fires”

Being in the firefighting business for so long Matt stresses the importance of training for whatever situation might arise. He says, “Citizens are expecting us to be at our very best when we show up,” just like we should in our everyday life. 

At the firehouse, Matt and his crew will train for 6-8 hours during their 24 hour shift as well as respond to any calls that might come in. They will train by working out, working out in their gear,  go through medical response scenarios, put out several fires to get used to the heat and smoke.

They will run routines constantly, dozens and dozens of times during the day. This not only conditions the mind to know what to do, but it conditions the body to handle the extreme strenuous conditions they are likely to encounter during a call, making everything they do become muscle memory. 

Imagine applying this to the business world. If we identified a skill that we need to strengthen and then dedicated time to run through a role-playing session or a coaching call, rather than “dealing with it when it comes up,” wouldn’t we condition our minds and develop muscle memory for making that big presentation, negotiating that big deal, or having that difficult conversation? As leaders we need to be prepared to lead our team, make really hard decisions, and effectively “put out our own fires” from time to time. In order for that to happen we need to be trained and practice those skills before we jump in. 

The Value of the Post-Fire Debrief

After the work is done, there is one crucial element that perhaps leaders in business can take from the crew - the debrief. Once the fire is put out and all are safe, the crew and the Fire Chief meet in the front yard and go over what went well and what could have been better. Each seat on the fire engine has a specific job and if that job was done well or not well, the whole crew knows who’s responsible. If something could have been done better or differently, that crew member will go back, study, practice, and train to build on that experience. “It’s a very important critique that needs to happen so everyone knows where we can build, develop, and become stronger,” says Matt. 

As business leaders, I suggest, we can gather around in a forum (“the front yard”), talk about overall performance, to specifically identify areas that not only need improvement, but where things were done really well. This shouldn’t happen once a quarter/year during an individual review or evaluation, but consistently over time with the whole team. When presenting critique like this in the workplace, it’s often perceived that we are targeting or zeroing in on one team member and is often taken personally. If the whole team can come together to debrief it can be approached as a unified effort toward the greater goal. 

The Value of Defining “Why” You Fight Your Fires

One of the top responsibilities for a leader is making decisions and just like in firefighting there are a number of crucial decisions that need to be made within business. “It’s important to go out there without a clouded judgement, making adrenaline fueled decisions,” Matt says. When a crew arrives at the scene everyone knows their job and there is a huge amount of trust in the other members of the crew, because they’ve been trained. 

When the Fire Chief shows up to the scene he has to stand back and look at the entire scene without distractions, give precise executive decisions over the radio, and rely on the crew’s training and know-how to get the job done. 

The Chief cannot suffer from any “analysis paralysis” or a adopt a “ready, shoot, aim” thought process where they’re just going to wing it and deal with what comes up.  Likewise when we as leaders show up to get really good work done, at the scene, although it may not be as life-and-death in everyday business, it’s proven that teams are much more successful when there is a decision made and a commitment to stick to it. 

Although there is a lot to be said about the amount of industry or professional experience when being able to make great decisions, Matt’s main advice is to define your “why”. Defining your why for doing this, your why for working in the field you do, why you want to become better in the industry, will significantly improve your decision making process. Matt’s, “Why” is defined by helping a million people in his lifetime. 

Have you defined your “Why”? How can you apply what Matt Magee has shared from his days firefighting to your business? 

Listen to the full podcast with Matt Magee here.

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If you are feeling that there is a challenge you are
facing in your business, or you just want to chat, let’s connect.

Real Estate is a Human Business

International agent coaching expert and speaker, Darryl Davis, who’s been coaching agents for over 30 years, joined me on an episode of my podcast. We discussed how important it is for brokers and agents to understand that real estate is a human business and is so much more than just buying, selling, listing, and transactions, production, and volume.

The Big Myth - Agents Leave for Money

It’s often said that agents make their decision to leave based on money, but that’s not entirely true. What’s been confided to Darryl in his agent coaching sessions is that agents feel like they weren’t being “cared for” or their broker “didn’t have enough time” for them. 

It’s imperative for brokers, managers, and leaders, to recognize that listening and engaging with your agents 1-on-1 and recognizing their achievements is going to go farther than a commission split. Brokers who aim to do this will want to consider implementing some systems and processes to stay connected and engaged with their agents. 

If you are concerned with competing solely on commission splits, “You are going to lose,” Darryl says. No matter what business you’re in, if your only advantage is a cheap price, there will always be someone else who is going to do it for less. It’s more important for people to feel as if they are part of something bigger, not just another line item in the income and expense sheet.  

Part of Something Larger 

People want to be a part of something larger than themselves and within the arena of Real Estate, it’s important for agents to feel like they picked the best brokerage in town. 

Developing a company culture requires a few things: 

• Actually writing a Mission Statement: This can just be one sentence, but brokers should define what they want their company mission statement to be. Those who don’t, find that the culture is defined for them and it’s often not what they would like it to be. 

• Define company values and what you stand for

• Developing a language within your culture to help members identify themselves within your culture

If the company culture is, “To positively impact lives and the community through real estate,” and the values of that company are, “Service, Knowledge, and Integrity”, then you can change the language of how agents interact with their clients. They aren’t “selling” they are “serving”. It’s not a “transaction” it’s a “navigation” through the challenges of that transaction. A culture that is purposeful, and enjoyable that makes your agents feel proud to be a part of the team, thus hitting on that human element.

Commitments First - Goals Later

Brokers and managers will usually discuss what an agent’s particular goals are in transactions and volume as a measure of success, but these conversations are often missing the human element, which can eventually lead to agents feeling as if it’s just the bottom line that’s cared about. 

Darryl stresses that brokers and managers should be discussing an agent's commitments to where they see themselves in their personal lives before setting goals based on volume and transactions. It’s important to do this to understand what is really driving your agents, and understanding their “why”. After pin-pointing the why, break down the money it will take to reach that goal and equate that to transactions and volume goals. 

The key part of this, and what is a broker’s or a manager’s key responsibility is to keep them accountable to these commitments, not because of the brokerage’s bottom line, but because it’s your promise to them to help them be successful. Keeping your agents accountable helps them to focus on what they have to do to keep that very important commitment they made to themselves to reach the next level of their lives. 

The Ripple Effect

No one sells a house just to sell a house; and no one moves brokerages just to move brokerages. There is something other than money driving that decision and that’s often their next level of life.  When brokers and leaders approach real estate with the focus on the human element of the business, they can inspire their agents to connect with their clients on that same human level. 

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If you are feeling that there is a challenge you are
facing in your business, or you just want to chat, let’s connect.

Real Estate Disruptors - Part 2 - Cloud Based Brokerages

Steve Murray, President of REAL Trends, and I discussed disruptors in today’s real estate industry. Previously, we considered iBuyers and if they really are different than the disruptors of the past. Today, we will examine the cloud-based brokerage and how this new model might be changing how we recruit and retain our agents today. 

Bundled and A la Carte Brokerages 

There are two basic types of brokerages: 

1. The Bundled Brokerage - the more traditional brokerage, where an agent pays a graduated percentage plan and they are provided with office space, coaching management, technology, software systems, support staff, marketing assistance, etc. 

2. The A la Carte (Unbundled) Brokerage - this is the cloud-based brokerage, where the agent pays a monthly fee and a transaction fee, but if they want office space, a CRM platform, access to a marketing platform, etc., they pay extra per the menu of offerings. 

About 10 years ago, according to Steve Murray, 70% to 80% of the agent population were more comfortable with the traditional bundled approach, but today that number is less than 50%. Steve also says, “In 2019, about two-thirds of realtors did 0-3 transactions in a year and the great majority of them don’t have the desire to invest the time, effort, and money it will take to go beyond that.”

Meaning, that the majority of the agent population out there aren’t interested in the traditional model anymore because the cloud-based model gives agents some flexibility in how little or how much business they want to do. A lot of people are getting licensed and there’s fewer deals at the bottom, but the people who are successful are going to continue to be more and more successful. 

According to Realtor Associations nationwide, there is a lot of churn in the industry. It’s almost for every new member to an association, there is one that drops off.  So it would make sense that most of these agents doing 0-3 transactions a year would consider an a la carte options vs. the more traditional brokerage. Brokers who want to be a large market share brokerage have to rethink some of their offerings to move closer to the unbundled model. 

How Should Traditional Brokerages Compete with Cloud-Based Brokerages? 

First and foremost, focus on retention. Working with the agents who have already chosen you is much easier and far less expensive than recruiting agents who do not already know you. Review first what you can do for agents who are on your team. Manage their expectations, make sure you are supporting them with what they say they need to be successful in their business. Offering training, one-on-one coaching, and leveraging the right software to build and strengthen your agent relationships is key. 

Also, it’s important to understand that there will be agents who may already be working with a cloud-based company (i.e. eXp, NextHome, etc.) and they want to do more than 0-3 transactions per year, however they are not getting the one-on-one coaching, training, and systems they might need to get there. They may be looking for a brokerage that can develop their skills. If you can appeal to them, they may be willing to transition to the traditional model. 

The best advice for the traditional brokerage is to recruit great talent and have an extraordinary training model. According to Steve, “The brokerages who are making a 14% margin are being very selective about who they recruit.” Ensuring they are recruiting a team that has the willingness to invest in their business and are not happy with just 0-3 transactions per year. This may mean a more rigorous interview process or making sure that your leadership (sales managers, relocation managers, marketing team, etc.) within the company is talented and compensated accordingly. Also, accountability is crucial for successful brokerages. Define how you are going to measure success and hold the agents to that measure. 

What Should Traditional Brokerages Do Moving Forward? 

Brokers need to learn more about their target recruits. Don’t just ask the question of how much an agent sells. Ask will they fit with who we are? What are their interests? How can we help them get to where they want to go? These are most likely not the touch points a cloud-based company is connecting with. 

eXp is a fast-growing cloud-based brokerage. They have a really, really good recruiting system and presentation. They offer shares of the company with their agents and they can earn more shares by meeting certain standards. According to what they are seeing at REAL Trends, eXp is adding 1,200 to 1,500 agents a month. “In 2019, they had somewhere between 15,000 to 18,000 agents doing 70,000 transactions a year, which is not quite 4 transactions per agent.” These agents may not be the agents to target for the traditional brokerage, but

As a broker, this may mean you spend more than 10% or 20% of your time on recruiting tactics and really identify who it is you want to join your team. There are a number of tools out there where brokers can leverage data and find who is likely to consider a move right now where they are able to cut down the potential from 10,000 people to 500 people that have expressed a desire to move to their company. Use your resources on those 500 rather than the 10,000. 

At some point, companies that are experiencing growth will plateau and level out. The demand for brokerages who can offer more of a holistic approach to support agents who want to do more than a few transactions a year will increase. Moving forward, the traditional brokerage can use the technology there is today to effectively recruit and retain the right agents who want more than what the cloud-based brokerages can offer.

Bottom Line: “The traditional brokerage model is not complicated and hasn’t changed in a long time. You have to be able to recruit talent, you have to develop that talent, and you have to spend less money than you have coming in.” Steve offers as advice. 

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If you are feeling that there is a challenge you are
facing in your business, or you just want to chat, let’s connect.

Real Estate Disruptors - Part 1 - iBuyers

If you’ve been in the real estate brokerage world, you know that a hot topic in the industry is “the disruptors” and specifically the iBuyers of real estate. Steve Murray President of REAL Trends and I discussed some insights to how brokers today can deal with disruptors like the capitol-driven iBuyers. 

How Have Disruptors Changed? 

Disrupters aren’t new but they have changed in scale - they are much larger than they were before. They are also leveraging technology and innovative software to quickly and accurately conduct evaluations for their clients. 

They are purporting they can be more efficient at buying and selling property, but Steve says he’s, “Not sure that’s the case, yet.” There are still many factors that go into buying and selling that are unique to each transaction as well as the factor of great customer service and the personal relationship that most customers still expect no matter what business model there is.

Brokers should be aware that iBuyers as disruptors are not new. There has always been something that has shaken the industry and even caused innovation and positive change throughout history. Although they are not new, they are still a disruptor because we are still in the discovery phase and brokerages still do not yet know how to proceed. 

Fight? Ignore? Embrace? 

Do we fight them, ignore them, or embrace them? Because they are well funded, it’s not likely that their backers will pull funding anytime soon. It may not be wise to go up against them and compete with them - your marketing budget is probably smaller than theirs.  Ignoring them, thinking they will go away, is also not wise, as their backers probably won’t be pulling their money anytime soon. 

But might be worth it for brokerages to see how they can best partner with them and offer even more services to their clients. Think about what service you could offer by leveraging their services. Consider how things could be mutually beneficial to work with an iBuyer. 

How Can Brokers Deal with the Disrupters Today? 

Considering there is a cost to customer acquisition, whether that be making phone calls, advertising online, direct mail each avenue has its own capture rate. Next, consider partnering with a disrupter where they have done all the research identifying and targeting your ideal customer. They are using their advertising dollars to get in front of that lead and then will give you that prospect. Sure they might ask for a 40% referral fee as their capture rate. But as Steve says, “There are plenty of brokerages out there who are more than happy to take those prospects at that price because it’s typically a really good prospect.” 

Partner with a disrupter you are comfortable with, that you can monitor and track, and that delivers excellent service to your prospective customers. Use the information they can share with you to measure effectiveness. Steve says these are much better tools than brokers used previously such as classifieds in the newspaper, which didn’t allow them to track anything. With SEO, lead pipeline tracking, direct pipeline tracking, brokers are able to actually see how much it actually costs them per closing. The ability to maneuver is much better than it used to be in the past. 

Takeaways: 

• Disruptors like iBuyers are not new, but they might be a little different. 

• Working with iBuyer could be beneficial if it’s the right fit for the brokerage’s business model. 

• Partner with an iBuyer with technology that can be leveraged to monitor and track effectiveness.

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If you are feeling that there is a challenge you are
facing in your business, or you just want to chat, let’s connect.

Tips to Really Be There for Your Team

In an earlier article, I spoke with Anne-Marie Ellison, Managing Partner of ERA King Real Estate, who shared some insights on how she successfully coached 32 real estate agents to grow their business on average of 22% year-over-year. 

We discussed her well-executed plan that inspired consistency and encouraged her agents to develop positive behaviors to grow their business. She also explained how an important software system called 3 Data Pulse has served as the “the backbone” of their company and has been a “game-changer” on how they run their business. You can hear the full interview with Anne-Marie by clicking here.

“It’s created consistency in the information so that the data is easy to digest and we get a big picture idea of what’s really going on with our entire agent population.”  ~ Anne-Marie Ellison

Being 100% dedicated and focused on a goal you and your team have set out to achieve, like coaching agents to grow there business 22%, can be difficult as a leader or manager as you often have other obligations and responsibilities in day-to-day life. Anne-Marie shared some great tips for leaders to help them be there in every aspect of their lives. 

Stay Consistent 

For Anne-Marie’s coaching agents, they met once a month to go over their key performance indicators, prospecting, and goals. However, the rules were that they keep the meeting no matter what and always talk about the same things each meeting. 

Anne-Marie chose one full day a week (Thursdays) to meet with her coaching agents. This would make sure she was in that mindset and “fully there” for them in the meeting. Each meeting would start at the top of the hour and end 45 mins later, leaving 15 mins to record the previous meeting notes and prepare for the next meeting, using the 3 Data Pulse system. 

As leaders, we set the tone for each and every interaction we have with our team and by not cancelling the meetings or moving them around, it shows each person that you are just as invested in their business and success as they are. By talking about the same items each meeting, this generated anticipatory behavior that helped Anne-Marie’s agents know what to expect every single time they met. 

Pro-Tips to Keeping Things Consistent: 

• Choose one day out of the week you can focus on this one mindset

• Keep the meeting no matter what - use virtual meeting tools if you aren’t able to meet in person

• Have a consistent structure for every single meeting that will not change

• Leave time between meetings to record the insights from that meeting and refresh your memory of the upcoming meeting with the next agent

• Use software that can record the meeting information and send automatic reminders between meetings. 

As a leader, keeping things consistent and recording meeting insights in a central system benefits us by freeing up the mental energy that it takes to create a new agenda every meeting; having to find a new date and time to reschedule meetings if they aren’t kept; and trying to remember from a month before what was discussed. 

Use Time Activation

Some may call this Time Blocking but Anne-Marie whose read, listened to, and attended a number of classes about time management, has termed Time Activation and follows this to help her manage her time and energy. 

Time Activation as she explains it, “is where you assign a date and time to accomplish something. When you assign a time to accomplish a project, a task, or a meeting, you move that item off of your to-do list and do away with the mental angst you have of getting that thing done.” As leaders, we have so much on our schedule and can easily be running around in circles or get in the habit of rescheduling meeting after meeting, which can stress us out. It’s important to be intentional with your time so you can be there for your team.  

Here’s how Anne-Marie manages time activation: 

• At the beginning of the month, schedule your “big items” - big meetings, absolutely have to’s, often those are things you don’t have control over their time (i.e. Board meetings, doctor appointments, etc.) 

• Each Sunday or the start of the week, schedule out your meetings, and work backward from those to schedule a time to work on anything you need to prep for those meetings. (i.e. if you have a sales meeting on Wednesday, schedule a block of time the afternoon before to finalize the presentation.)

• Schedule your “busy work” so that there’s nothing left on your to-do list. (Anne-Marie color codes busy work as yellow which is labeled “Banana” in the Google Calendar.) 

By scheduling out the workload on our to-do list we alleviate the stress or worry we have to get that project done. We don’t have the mental angst, as Anne-Marie says, that can develop when we just keep running that to-do list in our head. We therefore can be present for others and be confident that we can get the work done. 

Keep Your Personal Commitments 

A key factor to leaders being there for our team members is being there for ourselves too. If you have a doctor's appointment or you know working out helps you decompress or process ideas, this helps our team members too. Anne-Marie shared that it’s really important to her that she makes sure she shows up for her son and he has her full attention while she’s with him in the afternoons. Make sure the schedule these and keep your commitment to you. 

By staying consistent with your commitments, even your personal ones, and using time activation, we are better able to be there for our team and ourselves too. 

Final Thoughts

Often as managers, brokers, or leaders of any kind, it’s sometimes difficult to manage our time, energy, and resources to avoid being spread too thin when we are working with our teams. This means we have to implement systems, processes, and techniques that allow us to free up energy-sucking activities to be there on a human-level for our people.

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If you are feeling that there is a challenge you are
facing in your business, or you just want to chat, let’s connect.

Leadership Lessons from the Frontlines

In a recent podcast interview, I had the privilege of speaking with Erin Black, a 21-year veteran pilot of the US Marine Corps. She is now the Senior Consultant of Strategy and Business Ops.  During her time in the service, she flew the Cobra attack helicopter, and we discussed how leadership from the frontlines can translate to civilian business ops. 

How You Train in Peace is How You Fight in War

Although running a business or being part of a leadership team of a company isn’t actually like going to war, there is something to be said about looking ahead and preparing for eventualities in business. From Erin’s experience, there are 4 hours of briefing for every 1 hour of flight time. Imagine if you took that kind of time with your team, developing a mission, planning for eventualities, and knowing exactly what you will do for each scenario? 

Some days it may feel like you are going to war as a leader in business, but in reality, there is not the same level of danger and loss of life as going on military missions flying a Cobra Attack Helicopter. But if you could come up with a plan for eventualities, like a shift in the economy or a new competitor hitting the market, would you feel a lot more confident in meeting your mission and goals? Looking at the worst-case scenario, the best-case scenario, and the most likely scenario, like a flight crew does for their missions, you can confidently make those tactical decisions. 

How to Keep from Decision Fatigue 

Preparing for missions with the Cobra, Erin went through hours and hours of briefing and training for each flight. There are numerous decisions that have to be made and there are numerous scenarios that could happen on a mission that needs to have a solution, much like a leadership position in the business world.

The Marines have a system called DAMCLAS, they follow to ensure they have a complete understanding of each flight mission ahead.

DAMCLAS
Decision Making
Assertiveness 
Mission Analysis
Communication 
Leadership
Adaptability/Flexibility
Situational Awareness 

Each area of DAMCLAS presents a checklist of questions and qualifiers that need to be answered before proceeding. Do you have a mission statement in your business or a list of values? That could be your DAMCLAS that acts like a qualifier for all of your decisions to be made. Often as leaders we can get caught in day-to-day decision making but when we look at the bigger picture we see that some of these every day decisions are steering the ship in the opposite direction. Reviewing whether or not a decision meets your team’s mission statement and values will empower you to move forward or think of other options.

Train Them Up and Let Them Fly 

In Erin’s profession as a Senior Consultant in the Behavioral Health Care industry, she finds the leadership coaching she conducts with her current clients the most rewarding aspect. Because of her extensive experience in the military, she’s able to apply the leadership she learned from the frontlines to the private sector. Her biggest advice with leadership is to train your team to the industry standard and then let them take it from there. 

The first time Erin signed for the helicopter she said it was an awesome feeling, “You have a huge responsibility, it’s empowering, very-very exciting, and overwhelming, but most of all  it’s a huge confidence booster.” As a pilot in training, having full responsibility for the aircraft helped Erin see that she had what it takes to carry the weight of that responsibility. If only the most experienced pilots always have the responsibility of being in charge of a mission, no other pilots will ever be able to learn. The same can be said about your team members.

In the military, there is a concept call Commander's Intent. When the Commander asks for something to be done they don’t care how, just that it’s done. Sometimes it’s just something small, but allowing people to take the lead on something it allows them to grow and gives them that confidence booster they need to take ownership of what the team is doing. 

If you train your team to the industry standard and then allow them to use their unique skills, knowledge, and talent to get the job done, your team will be stronger and your people will feel more appreciated. 

Leaders Really Do Eat Last 

The biggest lesson Erin shared about how her military experience can translate to the business leaders today is - Service. The military is a service organization that has a hierarchy structure of command, but no matter what, the most senior leadership members eat last. 

“The little guy eats first. If the business world could do that, leaders and workers can have less friction,” Erin says. As leaders, we have a responsibility to provide stability and direction for our teams. Having a service mindset, your employees, team members, and clients will feel more valued which develops loyalty.  

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How can I be of service to you and your team? If you are feeling that there is a challenge you are
facing in your business, or you just want to chat, let’s connect.

Coaching Your Team to Results

I recently interviewed Anna-Marie Ellison, Managing Partner of ERA King Real Estate who has grown her agents’ business on average 22% year-over-year using a few strategic processes and a software system that kept her fully integrated with her team. 

In 2019, Anna-Marie had 32 of her agents sign up for one-on-one monthly business coaching sessions, to help them develop their business goals. On average these agents have seen 22% growth in their take-home earnings! How did this get accomplished? 

There were two key components to their success: consistency and accountability. Both are hard to achieve without having a well-executed plan coupled with the proper tools to track and measure success. 

The Well-Executed Plan 

For Anna-Marie, her time and energy is used very intentionally and it does not change when it comes to her coaching sessions with the agents. Anna-Marie had a structured plan to keep her commitment to her agents and their coaching. They consistently meet once a month for 45 mins and keep that meeting no matter what. If they can’t be in-person they meet virtually. 

Sticking with the plan helps Anna-Marie’s agents know she’s just as committed as they are to their business plan and just as invested in seeing them succeed. During their sessions, they discuss the key indicators of success and answer these three questions:

1. How many listings did you get this month? 

2. How many buyers did you get this month? 

3. How many offers did you write or receive related to those leads? 

After those are answered, there was one more item - the “Brain Dump”. This is where Anna-Marie will work with the agent to record and pull out the names of other potential business leads, thinking through the process of prospecting. 3 questions and the brain dump is all that’s expected in the meeting, and that normally only takes 20 minutes, but the meeting doesn’t end there. Anna-Marie has specifically added time for the agent to freely talk about anything real estate or non-real estate related.

Anna-Marie, although a superstar in her role, isn’t superhuman and can remember facts from month-to-month. So how does she keep track of all this information? Well, that’s where the right system comes into play.

The Right System

In Anna-Marie’s case, her brokerage’s main goal is to holistically support their agents. They see them as human beings and not just numbers. So they’ve adopted the system, 3 Data Pulse, to help them stay connected and informed, not just for agent productivity but also for recruiting and retention. 

“3 Data Pulse has been a backbone for several of our offices for almost 2 years now. Leadership loves that you can see the notes and what was discussed in other meetings. It’s allowed me to make sure we are giving consistent information to our agents when they come in and ask questions, as well as automatically follow up with agents in the time between our meetings.” - Anna-Marie Ellison 

After each interaction with an agent, the manager, staff member, or key leadership will enter the details of the discussion into the system. Every time there is a company meeting, training, or a fun gathering, participation is entered into the 3 Data Pulse system. “It creates consistency in the information so that the data is easy to digest and we can get a big picture idea of what’s really going on with our entire agent population,”says Anna-Marie.

“Tracking is the most important aspect that 3 Data Pulse gives us,” Anna-Marie says. “You can’t measure what you don’t track and we can now be aware of how many times we are interacting with everyone.” How often have you thought that you just spoke to someone a week ago and really it’s been months? 3 Data Pulse enables leadership to follow up with those who may be liable to fall through the cracks. 

The key information that’s collected in the 3 Data Pulse system has helped Anna-Marie and ERA King Real Estate know who their ideal agent persona looks like to recruit agents who will be a great fit for the team. “We don’t need a bunch of agents to work with us, just the right ones, and this system helps us do that.” 

When asked what her favorite “Ah-Ha moment” was in using the software to help their agents’ growth, Anna-Marie mentioned, “Sometimes people just need to hear that we are happy to have you with us and we care about you. These conversations are so important and this system helps us to not only look at their production and KPIs but to also know when someone reached out and said hi.” 

Sometimes as leaders there can be a tendency for us to look at our team members as just top producers or another item on the spreadsheet because there just simply isn’t enough of us to go around. However, we are in the relationship business when it comes to leading a quality team, therefore, making it even more important that we see our team members as human beings. Using a well-executed plan along with a system specifically made to keep you connected and informed, like 3 Data Pulse, will help you and your team grow. 

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If you are feeling that there is a challenge you are
facing in your business, or you just want to chat, let’s connect.

Should You Strive for Conflict Within Your Team?

One of my favorite subjects to discuss is team dynamics. Learning how successful teams grow, work together, and foster longevity within a company is always intriguing.  It is also invaluable when working with my clients as a business consultant. I recently had a chance to sit down and chat with David Hoyt, Principal Consultant of The Table Group about this very subject. (Listen Here)

David and I discussed the principles outlined in one of my favorite books, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, by Patrick Lencioni:  

The 5 Foundations/Virtues of Great Teams

1. Vulnerable Trust

2. Healthy Conflict

3. Shared Commitment

4. Peer-to-Peer Accountability

5. Focus on Collective Results  

Each of these behaviors builds upon each other, with trust being the essential value throughout all of them. Without first building trust, teams will be driven by politics, have little to no dedication to the overall team’s goals, and thus making it very difficult to reach desired results. 

1. Vulnerable Trust

When talking about trust as it comes to teams, it is not your typical kind of trust, it’s specifically vulnerability-based trust. This means that as a team works together they have developed a trust that acknowledges other team members’ strengths and admitting their own weaknesses, requiring team members to show their vulnerabilities as they work together. As they show their vulnerabilities, others are given the opportunity to step up with their strengths, thus leaning on each other to work together cohesively and encourage others while collaborating. 

As a leader, how can you build trust and foster an environment where vulnerability-based trust is expected? 

You must 1) go first and 2) be as vulnerable as you would like your team to be. 

As a leader, you should be the first person to admit you aren’t very good at something, whether that’s communication, follow-through, etc.  So be the first to stand up and let your team know that you aren’t good at something, but also be as vulnerable as you would like your team to be. This is uncomfortable to do, but it’s likely that your team members have already noticed you aren’t very good at this one thing, but they will now know that you are aware. 

2. Healthy Conflict 

“When we have the foundation of trust, healthy conflict is simply the pursuit of what’s best in great ideas. When we have the absence of trust and conflict, that’s when we get politics,” David says.

Healthy Conflict may sound counterintuitive, but conflict is a crucial component of a team that is working effectively toward a unified mission, goal, or important decision. You can think of this as “debate” rather than “conflict”. A strong team will present ideas from opposing viewpoints if they feel comfortable enough (or trust others) to do so. This helps the team to see all sides and perspectives to have enough information to make the very best decision for the team. The biggest pitfall of teams is artificial harmony. Everyone just going along to get along and not striving for greatness.

As a Leader, when you are sensing that someone is holding back, or you may have an intuition that someone has something more to say, encourage them to speak up. Lean into your team and continue to remind them that we are all trying to find the best information so we need to hear everything. This means leaders will need to sit back and observe the team discussion, ask questions rather than assert your opinions, and weigh in from time to time. Healthy conflict is a sign that the members of a team trust each other, and can build on that conflict to achieve the next foundation of great teams.

3. Shared Commitment

Having a shared commitment to the team’s collaborative decisions is the ability for team members to disagree yet commit to the final decision. After there’s been debate and discussion, the entire team - no matter what the opinion is - commits 100% to the decision as if it were their own. Even if there was a lot of debate before the decision. 

As a leader, it’s crucial that you stay committed to the final group decision, too. When it’s time to make the decision, make it clear that all sides have been heard in healthy debate, and this is what the entire team has committed to moving forward, trusting that the entire team is now moving forward to work toward the specified team goal and not their own agendas. 

4. Peer-to-Peer Accountability

When everyone on the team regardless of position, not just the leader, holds each other accountable this is called peer-to-peer accountability. This type of accountability is a direct outgrowth of trust as team members turn to each other for honest feedback and support. 

Overall, when leaders hold people accountable, they establish some structure and stability within the team, however, you can help your team have peer-to-peer accountability by encouraging team members who have some issues with each other to speak to each other rather than run to you with every single problem. Encourage them to have that difficult conversation to identify their issues, take responsibility for their part, and make a plan to move forward.  Also, if a team member is approaching you with a “kind truth” for you to consider about your own behavior, be appreciative of their honesty. 

5. Focus on Collective Results

Although there may be many individuals, teams, departments, groups, and other factions that make up a team, everyone from top to bottom, left to right, department to department, must be unified and focused on the overall team/company’s collective results.  

As a leader, it’s important to trust the overall organization’s results are worth the sacrifice of your individual or your department’s results. Ensure your team that there is a larger picture and a bigger story you are all working on together doing our part. 

Think of trust as a baseline that runs through each of the 5 behaviors, without trust, each behavior will lead to dysfunctional behaviors of your team. Do you feel like your team is functioning well? Are there some values like trust that you feel could be improved? I am happy to offer a free team-building consultation for your organization. 

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If you are feeling that there is a challenge you are
facing in your business, or you just want to chat, let’s connect.

Technology: Help or Hinderance?

Is Technology a help or hindrance in your business today? I recently had the chance to sit with a long-time friend and experienced business development leader, Matthew Ferrara. He’s a Philosopher, Photographer, and long-time international speaker. He shared with me, when it comes to technology, why more is not always better and how being better can get you more. Matthew Ferrara has been in the business development world for 30 years and his professional roles have encompassed training in sales, technology, management, and leadership.

As technology has developed and grown, there have been more and more services available to interact with customers and connect to the community, however has there been a disconnect or a separation within our relationships with our customers because of it? How is technology facilitating or replacing some of these person-to-person engagements? 

Instant vs Trusted

“Traditionally, we bookmark people who do good by us, like our hairdresser, attorney, etc., but technology is replacing those relationships with a different value proposition of Instant vs Trusted,” Matthew says. 

There is a real struggle that today’s business leaders and technology developers are experiencing to find the balance between creating a convenient and instant transaction while still fostering a trusted relationship or experience. Although instant technology tries to prove they are trusted by leveraging reviews and ratings within their apps, which is well and good when we want to make a reservation for a table, change an appointment, or book a rideshare. When it comes to the important things, however, we want to have a great experience. 

Great work isn’t always being rated on a scale - there might be something more we are looking for in an experience or interaction than a 5-star rating. “Efficiency and speed should not come at the cost of dehumanizing the relationship,” Matthew mentions. What businesses and technology developers should remember is that there are people using all of these products. Then work toward finding the balance to leverage the technology to enhance those relationships instead. 

A Technology Enhanced Business Model

“I get email notices all the time to join a webinar about ‘How to Uberize Your Business’ or ‘Grow Your Business Like Amazon.’ There are plenty of businesses who are looking to grow and gain more of their market share, but not everything should be Uberized. We need to look at our business and consider what’s actually appropriate for our business model. Not every business is going to have an Uberized experience,” Matthew points out. 

This is where businesses need to ask, “Is more really better for my business?”

What is the solution? The Yes-And Model

“When developers of tech are working on their next great app, the ideal option would be to develop something that allows us to go back to our trusted contacts, like a trusted and curated Rolodex. This will allow businesses to have better outcomes because they aren't looking for volume, but are building on quality long-term relationships.”

Zappos is a company that seems to have found this balance. They have become a leader in the industry because they discovered that customer service is where they thrive. They give their customer service representatives resources to be able go above-and-beyond. There even is a record-breaking service call that lasted beyond 10 hours. 

Not only does Zappos make it easy to order their products online, but they also make the customer service experience an enjoyable one, which allows more opportunities for them to make a positive impact and strengthen their relationship with their customers who will ultimately be repeat customers. 

Matthew explains there are hotels he stays at loyally, because he can book on the app but when you step through the door it’s face-to-face experience. So the solution is the “Yes-And” Model - using the technology to facilitate the relationship and use the people or experience to carry the relationship from there.

“The idea is to know that more isn’t necessarily better, but better is always better,” Matthew advises. “As a  small entrepreneur I haven’t spent much money on advertising, SEO, or branding in 15 years.  I don’t have a logo, I don’t worry about my website traffic, I have maybe 150 in my address book, I fill my calendar well enough by just keeping in touch with the humans doing business.”

“There is a great book called Rework, by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson and one of the questions they investigate while building a business, ‘Do we want to get big or do you want to be great?’”

What’s the Advice for Service Providers, Entrepreneurs, Soloprenuers?  

“Keep with the core principles of business,” says Matthew. Typically, when you are a service provider in business, most of your business comes from people you already know. “We spend thousands of dollars trying to make contact with people we don’t know and we spend pennies to nothing to stay in touch with people we do know. Sometimes we are missing out on the opportunity to work with someone who highly trusts you and knows you already.” 

3 Things you can do today: 

1. Call a client or past client. 

2. Call a peer (some may call these contacts “competition”). 

3. Call someone you don’t know.

Ask them : How are things going? Is there any way I can be of help or help you in your journey? 

Technology as a Distraction or a Disruption

New technology is often looked at by the business world as a disruption. How can the business world adapt? “I find that technology that actually disrupts the market or our way of business to be very rare,” Matthew says. “I find that most technology is actually a distraction. I don’t worry about disruption - remember relationships will be able to go through changes.” No matter if we use the phone, email, an app, etc. as long as you are applying the right technology for your business model and keeping in touch with the humans you are doing business with, you can’t be disrupted. You are your competitive advantage.” 

The bottomline: All companies should be implementing software, apps, and systems more to create and maintain great relationships rather than just make things easier. Adding back in the basics of doing great business and keeping in touch - and in tune - with the connections they’ve made is doing great business. 3 Data Pulse is a technology that’s on the market today that is empowering business owners, brokers, and team leaders to leverage this very principle to stay involved with their most important assets - their people.

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If you are feeling that there is a challenge you are
facing in your business, or you just want to chat, let’s connect.