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Successful Companies Do It, So Why Don’t Managers Lead with Standards?

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Education & Training with Issaquah, Wa.

In these challenging markets, much of my work has been with management teams, designing actins that move their offices into profitability. I’ve identified three strategies that managers are failing to implement that cause them to go into the red. The most glaring mistake I see managers making is that they don’t have performance standards in place for their offices. What are performance standards?

  • Minimum production standards
  • How well (competency) one performs certain tasks

Do You Know Any Great Companies—of Any Type--Without Standards?

It constantly amazes me that real estate companies don’t have production standards. Would you buy a car from a car maker that didn’t have pretty high production standards for how they constructed that car—and how they service it? Of course not. Would you buy a home from a builder who had just thrown the home together with little regard to production standards (that would be very low standards)? Of course not. Would you buy a home from an agent who was a lousy agent? Of course not.

Three Reasons Companies Need Production Standards

  1. It’s a recruiting magnet (who doesn’t want to be with the best?)
  2. It’s a production incentive (who doesn’t want to stay with the best?)
  3. It’s a performance enhancer (we all do better when we’re around better performers)

Would You Join a Real Estate Company that had Lousy Agents?

Only if you were a poor agent! Likes attract, and good agents know they will do better with other good agents. Good agents are attracted to a company that’s ‘picky’—that doesn’t just take or keep just anybody. Think of the recruiting opportunities companies miss because they don’t have production standards in place……

Pride of Belonging to Something Exceptional

Think of an association, family, business, club—that you were proud to belong to? Did that entity have low or high standards? High standards, of course. Not only do you have pride of belonging, you know that you must maintain those standards to maintain membership!

Question of the day: If Production Standards Have all These Benefits, Why Don’t Companies Embrace Them?

What do you think? Email me and let me know. From my coaching leadership, I’ve found that leaders

  1. Don’t understand the power of standards
  2. Think they actually have standards (when they don’t)
  3. Are afraid of setting standards

From taking over 2 failing real estate offices and one floundering region for one of the world’s biggest real estate franchises (and turning all of them around), I know the steps it takes to turn a red bottom line into a very healthy black one. Let me know your feedback about standards, so we can help the industry put pride of ownership and pride of performance back into our industry.

Carla Cross, CRB, MA, is president of Carla Cross Seminars, Inc. and Carla Cross Coaching, specializing in real estate sales and management. Cross, an international speaker and coach, is the author of 6 internationally published books, 20 productivity programs, and is a winner of the National Association of Realtors’ National Educator of the Year award. Contact her at www.carlacross.com or 425-392-6914.

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Real Estate Training Company        Carla Cross, CRB, MA

Comments (1)

Elaine Koecher
Prudential Florida WCI Realty - Parkland, FL

Carla:

In large companies, managers are required to manage a successful office.  They are required to recruit, just like agents are expected to sell.  Their production, is "eyeballed" just as agents production is tracked.  So this requires them to constantly look for agent, whether new, experienced, full time or part time.

If Brokers concentrated on standards of performances, maybe recruiting wouldn't need to be such a full time job.  In my area, agents are aging - meaning the average age of a real estate agent is "older".  With this awful market, young people are not entering the profession; so where does that leave the company?  At any time, these older agents could develop health issues, decide to retire, leave the area or any number of things.  So if companies didn't recruit- where would they be?

Personally, I believe you build a better mouse trap when standards of performance is a requirement.

 

 

Jun 26, 2008 03:39 PM