The majority of agents I know who don’t hire help say it’s because they don’t want to “manage” anyone. Well, I suppose that’s good as I know hardly anyone who likes being “managed.” And yet, we still need to ensure that things get done, don’t we? Obviously, yes.
If we don’t want to manage people, and we need to make sure things get done, how? Well, it starts with you and your team being 100% clear on expectations. I actually don’t like to hold people “accountable.” I like to hold them “able.” I mean, hasn’t “accountability” come to mean “blame” in general parlance? OK, so how do I hold my people able?
First, what are the clear, measurable goals and actions your team needs to have completed every week, month, quarter and year? That’s a great place to start. Does your admin need to hit 100% of deadlines in every contract until it closes on time? Or collect at least 1 review from every client? Maybe you have a standard of “the phone never rings unless it’s someone calling with an offer on a listing, or sending us a referral.” (ok, you may never hit this one, and yet the more proactive your communication, the happier your clients.) Maybe it’s a certain number of signed buyer representation agreements every week. (appointments can be fudged, signed agreements are a bit harder). Get the idea? For each role, know exactly what you expect and communicate that clearly. Let them know if they are behind or stuck, let you know early, not late. If you’ve read The 4 Disciplines of Execution, our job is to clear the obstacles and we can’t if we don’t know what they are.
Approached this way, “accountability” conversations are a collaboration and you’ll never be surprised again by not hitting your goals. Oh, and one more book I’ll throw in here. The 15th Protocol. If you get to the mid-point of your week, month, or quarter – and are not on track for your goals, what will you start doing and stop doing until you’re back on track?
With these tools in your toolbox, I’ll bet your accountability conversations get a whole lot easier.
